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TEN DAYS OF PRAYER

THE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT

INTRODUCTION

Just before Jesus ascended up to heaven He said, And behold I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high (Luke 24:49). In obedience to this command the disciples waited in Jerusalem for ten days before the promise of the Father. The Holy Spirit was given to them.

Let us, too, wait on the Lord during the ten days between Ascension Day and Pentecost and ask the risen Lord Jesus Christ to speak to us about our commitment to Him. This material has been prepared to help us think about the influence that we as the sons and daughters of God can have on the world in which we live. Jesus Christ, our great example, portrayed all the fruit of the Spirit. Let us look to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith as we read and meditate on God’s work and seek to His desire for our lives over the next ten days.

By way of introduction let us now open our Bibles and read Galatians 5:22-26 – the passage we will be meditating upon during these ten days. The Life Application Bible (KJV) comments on these verses as follows:

Verses 22 and 23 “The ‘Fruit of the Spirit’ is the spontaneous work of the Holy Spirit in us. The Spirit produces these character traits, which are found in the nature of Christ. They are the by-products of Christ’s control, and we can’t obtain them by trying to get them. If we want, the fruit of the Spirit to grow in us, we must join our lives to his (see John 15:4-5). We must know him, love him, remember him, and imitate him. The result will be that we will fulfill the intended purpose of the Law – loving God and man. Which of these qualities do you desire the Spirit to produce in you.

Verse 23   Because the God who sent the Law also sent the Spirit the by-products of the Spirit-filled life are in perfect harmony with the intent of God’s Law. A person who is rich in the fruit of the Spirit fulfills the Law far better than a person who observes the rituals but has little love in his heart.

Verse 24   In order to accept Christ as Saviour, we need to turn from our sins and willingly nail our natural desires to the cross. This does not mean, however, that we will never see traces of those desires again. As Christians we still have the capacity to sin, but we have been set free from sin’s power over us and no longer have to give in to it. We must daily commit our sinful tendencies to God’s control, daily crucify them, and moment by moment draw on the Spirit’s power to overcome them. See Galatians 2:20; 6:14.

Verse 25   God is interested in every part of our lives, not just the spiritual part. As we live by the Holy Spirit’s power, we need to submit to every aspect of our lives to God – emotional, physical, social, intellectual, vocational, Paul says, “You’re saved, so live like it!”. The Holy Spirit is the source of your new life, so walk with him. Do not let anything or anyone else determine your values and standards in any area of your life…

Verse 26    We all need a certain amount of approval from others. But those who got out of their way to secure honours or to win popularity with a lot of people show they are not following the Holy Spirit’s leading. Those who look to God for approval will not need to seek it from others. As God’s sons and daughters, we have his Holy Spirit as the loving guarantee of his approval.”

 

Day 1    (May 10, 2018)

The fruit of the Spirit is LOVE…..

John 15:10; 1 John 4:10,11,19

Paul lists love as the prime fruit of the Spirit. The fruit that Jesus showed on the cross was agape love, the unconditional love of Jesus for all mankind that took him to Calvary. He laid down His life for every single human being, including those who had screamed “Crucify Him”. He died for you and for me. John 3:16

This same love then is poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5) when we commit our lives to Jesus. The Holy Spirit convinces us that God loves us, quietens our fears, and frees us into love, and power and a sound mind. His love replaces the selfish love that the natural man has and brings His blessings to the penitent believer. It is when we receive this love that we can be bridges or channels of love to others.

Let us mediate on….

John 15:10; 1 John 4:10,11,19

Let us ask ourselves, whether we have been convinced that Jesus died for us because He loved us in spite of what we were. By His death on the cross he obtained forgiveness of our sins so that we might be blameless before our Heavenly Father and be reconciled to Him.

Let us Pray that we may experience the outpouring of God’s love in our lives and that we may be willing to be channels for that love to flow through us to others.

Day 2    (May 11, 2018)

Fruit of the Spirit is …..Joy

John 15:11,12, Romans 14:17; Romans 15:13; 1Peter 1:8,9

Death on a cross was both painful and humiliating, yet Jesus endured the cross for the joy that was set before Him. This joy was the result of doing the Father’s will, i.e. reconciling man to God. When a repentant sinner turns his life over to Jesus and is in the center of God’s will his joy is complete. John 15:10-12. When the Holy Spirit pours the love of God into our hearts and we allow it to be poured out to others we are filled with joy. This is the joy of the Lord that is infused into us by the Holy Spirit who is given to them that obey Him (Acts 5:32).

This joy is different from happiness. The Bible tells us to “enter into the joy of your Master”. In spite of our disappointments and our heartaches and the daily pressures of life this joy remains. It is a continuous joy that defies life’s pressures. Nehemiah 8:10 tells us that the joy of the Lord is our strength.

Let us meditate on:

John 15:11,12, Romans 14:17; Romans 15:13; 1Peter 1:8,9

Are we filled with the joy of the Lord? If we have been robbed of this joy, it may be because we may have stopped sharing God’s love with others. Could it be that there is unconfessed sin in our lives? If so, bring it to the foot of the cross, confess it, and hear the Father says “Your sin is forgiven… – Enter into my joy.”

Let us thank God for this secret ingredient that He pours into our hearts to help us live joyful lives in a joyless world.

 

Day 3    (May 12, 2018)

The fruit of the Spirit is …PEACE

Galatians 1:3; Romans 8:6; Romans 14:7; John 14:27; John 16:33; Philippians 4:7; Romans 5:1; Ephesians 2:14; Colossians 1:20; 3:15

Jesus is called the Prince of Peace. On the cross he wrought Peace between God and man. He died to set the right the broken relationship between the Father and creation, when that relationship is restored; when an individual repents and accepts the forgiveness that Jesus offers peace fills his heart.

We have seen that God’s love floods our hearts and in turn should be poured out to others. Also, the unconquerable joy from the Spirit fills our hearts even when things look bleak. In the same way God’s Spirit fills us with a peace that passes all human understandings our disturbance. It means being still and knowing that God is there. It means resting in Him and trusting that He is in control, even though circumstances may seem to be indicating otherwise. Jesus said “Peace I leave with you. Let not your heart be troubled” Jesus also said “Peace, be still”.

Jesus’ peace is a gift only He can give by the indwelling Holy Spirit. It is a peace that keeps us calm in the face of all calamity and disaster and comes from the knowledge of our security in our Lord who loves us. This sense of well being is something Satan would like to snatch away from us. That is why we need to go quietly into prayer when our peace has become disturbed so that by “prayer and supplications with thanksgiving (we might let our) requests be made known to God, And the peace of God that surpasses all comprehension shall guard (our) hearts and minds ….in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6,7.

Let us meditate on:

John 16:33; Philippians 4:7; Colossians 1:20; 3:1

(i)                  Do I lack peace because I do not know Jesus as my Lord and Saviour

(ii)                Am I demonstrating this peace in my life to those who have not experienced it for themselves? In other words, am I sharing the peace of Jesus with those who are troubled and lost in their sin by my lifestyle and by the message that I share.

Let us thank God for the gift of peace that He gives to His children.

 

Day 4    (May 13, 2018)

The fruit of the Spirit is ….PATIENCE

Colossians 1:11; 2 Timothy 4:2; 1 Corinthians 13:4; Romans 5:3,4;

1 Corinthians 13:4; 2 Peter 3:9; Romans 2:4; Ephesians 4:2; 1Tim 1:16; Romans 9:22; 2 Corinthians 6:6; 2 Peter 1:5-7

We now know that we are loved and are enabled to love. The knowledge of sins forgiven has filled us with joy and we are at peace with God and man. Rest assured that He has our well-being at heart. So by the Holy Spirit we can be patient with co-workers who are difficult, a husband or a wife who is hard to live with, or a child who is giving trouble. Knowing that God shows patience with us in our sin and selfishness and immaturity every day, we owe a debt to those perhaps display the same behavior towards us. Our patience demonstrated towards others grows out of a conviction of God’s patience towards us, just as our willingness to forgive others comes after we have tasted God’s forgiveness of our own sins. God patiently waits for the fruit in our live to ripen….so let us be patient with others.

Let us meditate on:

1 Corinthians 13:4; 2 Peter 3:9; Ephesians 4:2; 1Timothy 1:16; 2 Peter 1:5-7

Patience is something the Lord has to work into our lives. Are we spending enough time with Him and with His Word and are we allowing Him to work His patience into our lives?

“Do ye unto others as you would have them do unto you  –

“Do we reflect the patience of Jesus in our dealings with those who differ from us?

Day 5    (May 14, 2018)

The fruit of the Spirit is ……….KINDNESS

1 Corinthians 13:4; Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:12; 2 Peter 1:5,6,7;

Kindness is another character quality produced in us by the Holy Spirit. Paul teaches that the root of this kindness is the unsearchable kindness of God that leads us to repentance (Rom 2:4). This is the idea that God has withheld judgment in great patience, not giving sinners the consequences of their sin that they deserve to impress upon them how much He loves them. In the same way the Holy Spirit can produce a kindness in the believer that is thoroughly unexpected and therefore makes a great impact. The believer has a wonderfully opportunity through the Spirit to surprise the unbeliever with the kind patient love of God. The kindness of God compels the unbeliever to repent and so by the power of the Holy Spirit we are able to carry this kindness to the world.

Let us meditate on:

1 Corinthians 13:4; Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:12; 2 Peter 1:5,6,7;

The believer is enjoined to be kind, that is he is to have a regard for human personality and for human need. Ask the Holy Spirit to make you aware of the needs of others. A warm smile, a gentle word can reveal the love of God to someone who is lonely and lost.

 

Day 6    (May 15, 2018)

For the fruit of the Spirit is ……….GOODNESS

Romans 15:14; Ephesians 5:9; 2Timthoy 1:11; Philippians 1:11; James 3:17

Not only is kindness through the Holy Spirit brought to a needy world, but goodness as well. A holy God who “ is of purer eyes than to behold evil” (Habakkuk 1:13) demonstrated His goodness to us by sending His Son to die for us that “we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2Cor 5:21). It was goodness, which is nothing less than perfect love, which caused Christ to make the supreme sacrifice for us.

If, we have tasted the goodness of the Lord in His good gifts to us, especially the gift of the Saviour, we find ourselves motivated to do good to others, because the Spirit fills our hearts with love that constrains us to do good. Paul defines the whole community of believers as those who are “zealous for good works”.

Let us meditate on:

Romans 15:14; Ephesians 5:9; 2Timthoy 1:11; Philippians 1:11; James 3:17

Our good works should not be done to win God’s favour “For by grace are ye saved through faith – and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:8,9). Rather, it should be the fruit of what the Holy Spirit has worked into our lives, the desire to share the goodness of god with others.

Let us pray that by our behavior and the fruit of goodness in our lives it may be known that we are Christians.

 

Day 7    (May 16, 2018)

For the fruit of the Spirit is ……….FAITHFULNESS

2 Thessalonians 3:3;  2 Timothy 2:13;  Hebrews 2:17; 10:23

The last three of the fruit of the Spirit, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control are Christ-like qualities that help us conquer our self-life. These are the final fruits of the Spirit that are produced in our lives as a mark of our Christian maturity. The Spirit of God helps us fight our flesh and the final victory is His.

Faithfulness is doing what we commit ourselves to do, carrying out all we are responsible for. Jesus’ own life is an example of this, for He died everything He said He would do. We see His faithfulness to His father and His mission when He laid down His life on the cross.

In society today we see a lock of faithfulness; people lie easily, hold promises very lightly and undo marriage commitments in a flash of discontentment.

We need to allow the Holy Spirit to work in this area of our lives, because faithfulness is not a human character trait; it is a trait that belongs to Jesus. It is one that only the Spirit of Christ can develop in us especially since the hallmark of our society is “unfaithfulness” Romans 1:31

Let us meditate on:

Are we faithful about the time we spend with the Lord every day?

Are we committed to spending time with Him and His word daily?

Are we faithful in the way we teach our children by word and deed to love Jesus and to walk in His footsteps?  Or do we teach our children to lie, to take marriage commitments lightly and go back on our work by the very life style we lead?

Are we afraid to stand out as being “different” and therefore find it easier to be unfaithful?

Let us allow the Holy Spirit to turn His searchlight on our lives and reveal areas of “unfaithfulness” to us so that we can bring them before our Father, confess them and leave them at the foot of the cross.

 

Day 8 (May 17, 2018)

The fruit of the Spirit is …GENTLENESS/MEEKNESS

Isaiah 53:7;  Matthew 11:20, 2 Corinthians 10:1;  James 3:13;

Luke 6:29; 1 Thessalonians 2:7, Titus 3:2

“Blessed are the Meek”

The Spirit of Christ is gentle.  He is like a dove.  And the child of God in whom His spirit dwells is blessed because He is meek.  His gentleness is reflected in his lifestyle.  He is not sensitive about

himself.   He is not looking for insults where none are meant, and if they are, he can forgive.  So, we see that He is not always on the defensive —- all that has gone from his life.   One who is truly meek never pities himself, and is never sorry for himself.   He never tells himself “Look, I am having such a hard time, how unkind these people are.  They never understand me.”

He does not think “How wonderful I really am, if only other people gave me a chance.”  Self-pity!  What hours and years we waste in this!  But the man who has the Spirit of god abiding in his life is finished with all that.  To be meek in other words is to see that you have turned your life over to the Lord. You are under new management.  You realize that you have no rights.  You have relinquished all rights to pride and to jealousy.

Do we want to be meek like that?

Let us meditate on:

Matthew 11:20,  Isaiah 53:7,  1 Peter 3:4,  Matthew 5:5;  Titus 3:2

Have you turned your life over to Jesus?  Then you are under new management.  The old management, the “I” will have to go.  And our self-pity and our pride will go with the “I”.

The new management will take over.  As the Spirit of Christ makes his home in us, our minds and our lives will be renewed, so that we become more like Jesus.

To be meek is to acknowledge that we have made a mess of our lives and that we want Jesus to forgive us our past and to help us live our lives according to the standards He has set out in His Word.  It is our pride that keeps us from doing so.  “Blessed are the meek” for it is the Holy Spirit alone who can bless us with this character trait of Jesus.  He was led to the cross like a lamb to the slaughter; who being reviled, reviled not and who forgave His persecutors in the hour of His death.

Oh! Spirit of Christ make us like that!

Day 9   (May 18, 2018)

The fruit of the Spirit is ……………………………SELF-CONTROL

Proverbs 16:32;  1 Corinthians 6:12;  Romans 6:12;  James 3:2

1 Timothy 1:7  For God has not given us a Spirit of fear again unto bondage, but of love, of power and a sound mind (self-control),

Finally, we come to the last fruit of the Spirit – self-control  It means to seize control of one’s own passions and desires and to harness them.  It is only by the power of the Spirit that we can exert control over our tongues, our sexual passions, and desires, and our selfish ambitions for glory and position.

Proverbs 16:32 “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and He who rules his Spirit than he who captures a city”.

Because the Christian is under the management of the Holy Spirit, this new self in Christ can expect to be strengthened by the Spirit to exert lasting control over our selves.  Samson failed to master himself when it came to women.  Joseph on the other hand conquered himself by submitting to God even though the consequences were dire.  Like Joseph, may we conquer our “selves” by the power of the Spirit.

Let us meditate on:

Proverbs 16:32;  1 Corinthians 6:12;  Romans 6:12;   James 3:2

Self-control is not only limited to the use of our tongues, our sexual passions and desires and our selfish ambition for glory and position.  How do we see it in relation to other excesses such as the television/video programmes we watch, the books and magazines we read, the negative thoughts we think about others, and bitterness?  3The Holy Spirit gives us a sound mind, an orderly mind.  This sound mind is given to us by the Holy Spirit so that we can reject what is not right.  We can reject many of our fleshly desires in the name of Jesus when the thought occurs for the first time.  Once the seed is sown in our minds it takes root and grows into a tree.   Is there any desire or habit that has taken root in your life that you cannot get rid of?  Confess it before the Lord, then ask the help of the Holy spirit to let you relinquish your dependence on whatever it is you are bringing to the Lord, and allow the Lord to say to you “He whom the Son sets free shall be free indeed”  John 8:36.

Stand back free in the liberty wherewith Christ has set you free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Day 10  (May 19, 2018)

John 12:24;  John 14:16, 17, 18;  John 15:2

Tomorrow the Christian Church worldwide will celebrate Pentecost.  This feast was celebrated by the Jewish people fifty days after the Passover to present to God the first fruits of their crops as a token

Of thanks to God for the harvest they had reaped and to acknowledge that all they owned belonged to God.

For the last nine days we have been meditating on the fruit of the Spirit.  As we have thought upon each one of the fruit we have seen that they were all manifested in the Life of Jesus.  His teaching and His life were consistent with one another and this is what drew the disciples to Him.  When we manifest the fruit of the Spirit in our lives we, too, will be able to draw people to Jesus.

Jesus said, “I am the vine, ye are the branches.  You cannot bring forth fruit unless you abide in me.”  The fruit of the Spirit can only be manifested in a Spirit-filled life.  The Holy Spirit could only be poured out after Jesus had been raised from the dead and ascended into heaven.  In overcoming death Jesus became the first fruits of them that slept (1 Corinthians 15:20) and opened the way to heaven for all who believed on Him.

On the first Pentecost, as the disciples were gathered together in obedience to Christ’s command to wait until they were endued with power from on high, the Holy spirit fell upon them and they began to speak in foreign languages.  Gathered in Jerusalem at this time were Jews from all over the known world who were amazed to hear their languages being spoken by these simple folk. Peter inspired by the Holy spirit began to preach and witness for Jesus.  How the resurrection life of Jesus had changed him from a coward into a bold and courageous man speaking without fear!!  The result – the first of harvest of souls – three thousand people were saved.

When we allow the Holy spirit to have full mastery of us we, too, will not only manifest the fruit of the Spirit in our day-to-day lives drawing people to Jesus by the quality of our lives, but we will also be endued with power to witness and win souls for Jesus.

Cyprian, a third century Christian, writing to his friend, Donatus, told him that in the midst of an incredibly sick world, full of thieves and dishonest men, he had come across “a quiet and holy people”.  He wrote “They have discovered a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of this sinful world.  They are despised and persecuted, but they care not.  They have overcome the world.  These people, Donatus, are the Christians, and I am one of them.”  Obviously Cyprian had encountered a unique group of people whose lives had made a huge impact on him not by their money or worldly influence, but by their character.  God used these Christians to change his life forever by the fruit of the Spirit.  They had a quiet holiness and joy about them that caused him to abandon everything and follow Jesus.

Let us meditate on:

1. When the Holy Spirit works there is movement, excitement and growth.   He gives us the motivation, energy and ability to get the gospel to the whole world.  Ask yourself “How am I fitting into God’s plan for expanding Christianity?  What is my place in this movement?”
2. Power from the Holy Spirit is not limited to strength beyond the ordinary – it involves courage, boldness, confidence, insight, ability and authority.  We will need all this to fulfill the Great Commission.  If we believe in Jesus Christ we can experience the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Do we?