We started another mini-series this week. We started in Numbers 33:55-56, where God
tells the Israelites that if they do not drive the enemies out of the land
(remember the promised land is now in our hearts) then they will have the fruit
of those things. We discussed our heart
being separated like the temple, one section being the holy place, where our
soul is, and then the holy of holies where God’s presence exists. The things we will drive out are mostly in
our soul. The soul includes our mind, will and emotions. Our mind receives input and goes through the
emotions (the flesh), then the will. The
mind listens most to the voice that is most familiar. This is why we need to spend regular time
with God so we know His voice better (remember Hebrews 3:10 from the previous
series). Mind, will and emotions are
tools given by God to us. They should
not be altogether put down.
We focused on the fruit of the Spirit, especially love, from
which all the others are derived.
Galatians 5:20-23 is where we spent much of our time. God has given us His Spirit and the fruit in
abundant, so we have all we need to live the life He has for us by pulling on
what He has already given us. The flesh
will always have the same desires, but we have to teach it to submit to the
Spirit (just as we teach our children to submit to us).
Today we are focusing on drawing on God’s love in order to love
others. Galatians 5:13-14 reminds us
that our purpose is to “serve one another in love.” Only our spirit can love like God loves. We can live with one command, love your neighbor
as yourself. 1 John 4:13 and following
describe the type of love God has for us and which we should have for others. If “perfect love drives out fear,” then often
lack of love indicates some type of fear.
Romans 5:8 shows the epitome of this.
When man outright rejected God, Jesus was sent to die for us. God has given us the fruit of love so that we
CAN love like He does. None of us can do
that of ourselves, but we have to let Him do it. Ephesians 3:14 and on demonstrates that there
is a connection between love and power. We
have to choose to submit to His Spirit and let His fruit flow from us. The fruit of the Spirit is not a list of
rules, but a list of tools available to us.
We have inside of us the same Spirit that raised Christ from the
dead! That is powerful.
To listen to the entire sermon go to http://ahwatukeechurch.com/ and click on online media. To learn more about Living Word Ahwatukee, visit http://ahwatukeechurch.com/.
To listen to the entire sermon go to http://ahwatukeechurch.com/ and click on online media. To learn more about Living Word Ahwatukee, visit http://ahwatukeechurch.com/.
To listen to the entire sermon go to http://ahwatukeechurch.com/ and click on
online media. To learn more about Living
Word Ahwatukee, visit http://ahwatukeechurch.com/.
