Fruits of the Spirit

Nehemiah 9:20 (NET) - You imparted your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths; you provided water for their thirst.

The Holy Spirit is the least understood member of the Trinity.

But the same Holy Spirit who helped those who came before us helps us as well.

Moreover, we do not need to fully comprehend the Holy Spirit in order to know Him. .

That is because He has been given to us,

John 14:17 (NET) - the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it does not see him or know him. But you know him, because he resides with you and will be in you.

It is the Spirit that enables us to learn and do things for God.

It is the Spirit that enables us to learn and do things for our fellow man,

But there is a difference.

God is omniscient, so He knows absolutely everything we do.

Our fellow man however is not omniscient.

He is most likely aware only of what we specifically do for him at the time.

He might even identify us that way.

For example some know me as an employee, a coworker, a teacher, an author and so on.

In fact, a friend at church recently identified me as a “tech guy”.

I am sure everyone can relate.

We might even feel frustrated by this from time to time, but this does not have to be so.

We just need to allow the Holy Spirit to work through us in everything we do.

Then the things we do become “fruits of the Spirit”.

This means that they become evidence of the Holy Spirit to others.

Galatians 5:22-23 (NET) - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Doesn’t today’s world need to witness more of these things?

Just remember that Jesus reminds us of something important in one of His parables.

Luke 12:48 (NET) - But the one who did not know his master’s will and did things worthy of punishment will receive a light beating. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required, and from the one who has been entrusted with much, even more will be asked.

There are times when we might feel like there is no room on our plate to do one more thing for anyone.

That is when the Holy Spirit can truly surprise us.

He can choose to make our plate bigger and surprise others as well.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at https://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com/ on Friday, September 11, 2020.

I’ll be back here on Friday, September 18, 2020