Category Archives: Gifts
His Fruit
John 14:27 (TPT) “I leave the gift of peace with you—my peace. Not the kind of fragile peace given by the world, but my perfect peace. Don’t yield to fear or be troubled in your hearts—instead, be courageous!“
God wants you and I to be peaceful; lasting peace is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, God’s gift to us. You may be experiencing intense pressure, but you remain peaceful in your core and the people around you are puzzled. By the grace of God, there is nothing that keeps me up at night, nothing! Read the rest of this entry
Joy & Peace
Gal. 5:22-23 “ But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”
The joy that overflows, is a component of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. I was reading the work of a renowned theologian Thomas Aquinas, and he said something very profound. He says, “God is happiness by His Essence: for He is happy not by acquisition or participation of something else, but by His Essence. On the other hand, men are happy by acquisition or participation.” Read the rest of this entry
Love & Joy
Gal. 5:22-23 “But the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine love in all its varied expressions: joy that overflows, peace that subdues, patience that endures, kindness in action, a life full of virtue, faith that prevails, gentleness of heart, and strength of spirit…” (TPT)
Love is the first component of the fruit of the Holy Spirit listed in our scripture reference. We looked at a part of it in yesterday’s devotional. Today we will pick up from where we stopped. 1 Cor. 13:8-9 “Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture!” Read the rest of this entry
All Aboard!
Gal. 5:22-23 “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” (emphasis added).
Note that Paul says, “fruit” singular which is different from “fruits” plural. When we looked at the gifts of the Holy Spirit, it was “gifts” plural [Word of Knowledge, Word of Wisdom, Prophesy, and so on]. But when Paul talks about the fruit of the Holy Spirit, it is “fruit” singular. Read the rest of this entry
Harmony
James 3:9-10 “Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!”
Our final thought from yesterday’s devotional is really big and worthy of repetition because it is so important that we get what James is saying to us. And it is this; exhibiting the gifts of the Holy Spirit and not manifesting the fruit of the Holy Spirit is a misnomer. Read the rest of this entry
Character & Charisma
1 Cor. 13:2 “What if I could prophesy and understand all secrets and all knowledge? And what if I had faith that moved mountains? I would be nothing, unless I loved others.”(CEV)
It is so amazing that the Holy Spirit is so involved. Sadly, sometimes we just run off without engaging Him. If we do not engage the Holy Spirit, we cannot get the best that God has to offer. The quality of our lives here on earth as believers, is directly proportional to our relationship with the Holy Spirit, to how much of Him we allow in our lives, to how open we are to Him, to how open we are to His leading, to His direction, to His guidance. Read the rest of this entry
By The Spirit V
Acts 16:18 “This went on day after day until Paul got so exasperated that he turned and said to the demon within her, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And instantly it left her.” (emphasis added).
Today, we will start off by concluding on the story in Acts 16. What do you think would have happened if Paul and the others did not discern the source of the girl’s manifestations? Like we said yesterday, it is not every time that God requires us to address such manifestations. However, the gift of discernment of spirits helps you to be spiritually aware. Read the rest of this entry
By The Spirit IV
1 Cor.12:4-5 “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord.” (emphasis added)
Discerning of spirits means recognizing the source of a manifestation. Why is this important? It is because not everything spiritual is from the Holy Spirit. Recognizing the source of a manifestation is the gift of discernment of spirits and it is so indispensable in this our time. Read the rest of this entry
By The Spirit III
1Cor.12:31 “But earnestly desire and zealously cultivate the greatest and best gifts and graces (the higher gifts and the choicest graces) …” (AMPC)
1 Cor. 12:9-10 “to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.” (NKJV). The third gift is the gift of Faith. There are three types of faith in the scriptures. There is a saving faith. There is the fruit of faith. And there is the gift of faith. Read the rest of this entry
By The Spirit II
1Cor.12:31 “But earnestly desire and zealously cultivate the greatest and best gifts and graces (the higher gifts and the choicest graces) …” (AMPC)
Yesterday, we looked at the gifts of the Word of Wisdom and the Word of Knowledge enumerated in 1Cor.12:8. I cannot count the number of times or the number of people that have walked into my office wondering how I knew certain things, secret things. “If not that my wife and I discussed this on our way to church and we came in the same car. Read the rest of this entry
