The Fruit of the Spirit

As you can see, my focus today is the "Fruit of the Spirit".  I was actually brought here by spending more time contemplating Romans 8:11-17.  I can't remember if I wrote about it here or not, but I was recently once again taken to the idea that I am God's adopted daughter!  The Good News Translation says it this way:

^"If the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from death, lives in you, then he who raised Christ from death will also give life to your mortal bodies by the presence of his Spirit in you. So then, my friends, we have an obligation, but it is not to live as our human nature wants us to. For if you live according to your human nature, you are going to die; but if by the Spirit you put to death your sinful actions, you will live. Those who are led by God's Spirit are God's children. For the Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid; instead, the Spirit makes you God's children, and by the Spirit's power we cry out to God, “Father! my Father!” God's Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we are God's children. Since we are his children, we will possess the blessings he keeps for his people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for him; for if we share Christ's suffering, we will also share his glory."

Paul makes it pretty plain in this passage that if we have indeed accepted the Spirit into our lives, we can expect to see changes in our lives.  We will no longer be ruled by human natures, but by the Spirit.  Today's passage in Galations clarifies what these "deeds of the flesh" versus "fruit of the Spirit" are.  The Amplified Bible puts it:

"Now the practices of the sinful nature are clearly evident: they are sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality (total irresponsibility, lack of self-control), idolatry, sorcery, hostility, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions [that promote heresies], envy, drunkenness, riotous behavior, and other things like these. I warn you beforehand, just as I did previously, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.  And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature together with its passions and appetites. If we [claim to] live by the [Holy] Spirit, we must also walk by the Spirit [with personal integrity, godly character, and moral courage—our conduct empowered by the Holy Spirit]. We must not become conceited, challenging or provoking one another, envying one another."  Gal 5:19-26

It's a pretty tall order - some seem relatively easy, but others are incredibly challenging.  But I want my life to overflow with these fruits.  According to Strong's concordance, the original Greek adds these meanings - capitalized words are taken from the NAS version - words in parenthesis are either my own thoughts (italicized) or dictionary definition of the preceding word:

1. LOVE - affection or benevolence (a kindly act, a gift given out of generosity)
2. JOY - cheerfulness, calm delight
3. PEACE - peace literally or figuratively - freedom from war, harmony between individuals, security, safety, prosperity (Thank You, God! It's an interesting thought that prosperity is linked to peace.  More food for thought there.), tranquility of the soul.
4. PATIENCE - endurance, forbearance (patient self-control, restraint and tolerance), perseverance, longsuffering (patience in spite of troubles - especially those caused by other people), slow to avenge wrongs
5. KINDNESS - usefulness, excellence in character or demeanor, integrity
6. GOODNESS - good, virtue (behavior showing high moral standards) or beneficence (the state or quality of being kind, charitable, or beneficial, the act of doing good)
7. FAITHFULNESS - from word meaning "to convince" - persuasion (I get the picture of not only behaving in a faithful way, but that behavior being a persuasive testimony to others of the power of God in a life), belief, fidelity (the character of one who can be relied on), moral conviction
8. GENTLENESS - stems from a word meaning "mild" - gentleness (considerate, amiable), by implication - humility (the state of being humble - Marked by meekness or modesty in behavior, attitude, or spirit; not arrogant or prideful.  Showing deferential or submissive respect, unpretentious)
9. SELF-CONTROL - self-control (restraint over ones feelings, emotions & reactions) - especially continence (abstinence or restraint in regard to sexual activity), temperance (moderation and restraint - especially regarding yielding to ones appetites and desires)

Clearly, I can only fully live this way through the direction and power of the Holy Spirit and allowing Him full reign in my life!

Father, I am so grateful for the gift of Your Spirit within me.  I want to be very fruitful, Father - to have my life overflow with the fruits of the Spirit in me.  I know there are weeds that have sprung up attempting to crowd out some of this fruit, but I trust your Spirit, Father, to work with me to root out those weeds and cultivate the fruit that brings life.  I am so grateful for Jesus life here on earth, Father.  He lived such a clear example of what it means to live this way.  Father, with the Psalmist, I ask "Search me O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." (Ps 129:23,24) Sometimes it seems like you won't have to search very hard to find areas where my human nature tries to assert itself!  Father, I ask that these areas be rooted out that the fruits of the Spirit may grow abundantly.  Thank you, Father!

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I recognize God giving me some opportunities to cultivate the Fruits of the Spirit through drawing the grapes on this page!  I started out trying to draw the grapes directly on the prepared page (prepared with gesso as usual) and quickly discovered that pencil marks would NOT erase!  I know my human nature would have been quite upset about all those marks on my page that I couldn't erase, but I recognized the opportunity to "be thankful in all things" and simply chose to create a "sticker" to cover it.  I took a plain piece of paper and put double-sided adhesive on the back before cutting it to size.  Then I drew on that - colored it with watercolor pencils when I was happy with it - drew the names of the "fruits" with my Millennium Pen, and put the sticker in place over the marks that wouldn't erase.  I was able to create the grapes without anxiety (despite my lack of drawing experience) in part because I was creating it on the "sticker" and could easily just make another if I wasn't happy with it!

A big "thank you" to the editors of Publications International Ltd. for their article on "How to Draw Grapes".  Creating this art in my Bible would have been much more difficult without your help!