by George Runyan | Jan 23, 2017 | Devotional, George Runyan
Galatians 5:22 – The fruit of the Spirit is kindness.
Out of patience flows kindness. Impatience always produces unkindness, whether it would be in in words or in attitude. The Lord has shown great kindness in Christ to all humanity. Throughout the Scriptures, we are reminded of God’s kindness toward His people. I love what the Psalmist wrote: “He is gracious and compassionate and righteous. It is well with the man who is gracious and lends” (Psalm 112:4-5). Kindness speaks of graciousness and compassion. It is so easy to forget the needs of others and get caught up with our own situation and circumstances. The kind person not only has a pleasant attitude, but is aware of other people’s needs, always ready to help when possible.
The Spirit of God is never harsh. At times, He may be stern in His correction, but it is always in the spirit of kindness. The Holy Spirit desires to help us control our words. Have you noticed how easy an unkind word can slip from your mouth? This is especially true with family members or people with whom we have a close relationship. Familiarity causes one to speak before we think. The apostle James provided a good understanding concerning the use of words. “Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger” (James 1:19). Again in James 1:26 we are warned that we are “deceived” if we think ourselves to be religious and do not bridle our tongues. This type of deception is a deception of the heart.
The Psalmist David experienced the kindness of God. David declared that God’s kindness is better than life itself. “Because Your loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You. So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name” (Psalm 63:3-4).
Celebrate the kindness of God as David did. Meditate on His kindness. How many ways has He been gracious and compassionate toward you? How often have you not responded with kindness toward others? Will you let your lips praise Him and will you bless the God of your salvation? Will you allow Him to release His kindness through you to others as you encounter people in your daily walk? Many experience unkindness on a daily basis. Let kindness rise up in you and give another this part of God’s character through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Pray and ask the Holy Spirit for kindness to be developed in you all the days of your life. Share the kindness which your Heavenly Father has extended to you. Ask for His help to express kindness to others. Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth and keep the door of my lips!
by George Runyan | Jan 22, 2017 | Devotional, George Runyan
Galatians 5:22 – The fruit of the Spirit is patience.
Patience is a direct result of peace. In fact, you really cannot have patience unless you’re walking in peace. We begin to see how the fruit of the Spirit is singular and cumulative. In other words, one part of the fruit leads to another.
James said, “Count it all joy when you encounter various trials” (James 1:2). True character is formed in the trenches. An older friend who is a minister was listening to a younger man talk about his own ministry experiences. The older minister was intently looking at the younger man. The young minister asked, “What are you looking at?” My friend answered, “I am looking for the scars.”
The Scriptures teach, “The testing of your faith produces endurance” (James 1:3). In the King James Version, endurance is translated patience. I am grateful for all the difficult times I have known in my life although, at the time, I did not like it one bit. Today, I can see how the Lord used tests beyond my strength, and wounds too deep to heal without His grace. Each trial became a new challenge to overcome, an instrument of the discipline of God’s great love. I now know each trial and wound helped to form Christ in me. I like what Paul said, “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-15). In this verse, Paul captures the essence of what patience is about.
Paul was a man who knew rejection, prison, and beatings. He was misunderstood and was even left for dead. Yet, he never lost sight of the goal; he never turned back and gave up. He cried out to the Lord three times for help. After the third time, Jesus spoke to Paul and assured him that His grace was sufficient. The Lord told Paul that “His power is perfected in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:8-9). Today, those words are for us as well. Determine to be a man or woman of patience. Ask the Holy Spirit to strengthen you as you walk through the various trials of your faith. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you grace sufficient for each situation that comes your way.
Pray, thanking the Holy Spirit for being your helper in all things. Verbalize that you submit your weaknesses to Him. Ask Him to help you receive patience out of every trial so that His character would be manifested in your life.
by George Runyan | Jan 19, 2017 | Devotional, George Runyan
Galatians 5:22 – The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
This is a mouthful to chew all at once. As we devote ourselves to this meditation, we want to consider each aspect of the fruit of the Spirit, one at a time. It should be understood that these are not nine individual fruits. Notice that Paul says, “The fruit” singular, not plural. The Holy Spirit does not distribute only one of these qualities, but these attributes are the very character of the Spirit of God in us. All should be the character of God’s children when they allow the Holy Spirit to control their lives. Each attribute needs to be considered on its own merit, but at the same time, they are interdependent.
We begin with love. God is love! The entire verse states, “We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 John 4:16). To know does not mean simply knowledge, but experience. The love of God through the Holy Spirit is revealed to us as we experience His forgiveness and acceptance.
We begin to grow into belief by accepting God’s offer of salvation through forgiveness. As we receive His promises, beginning with the reception of the Holy Spirit, we come to have many experiences of His love for us. Some have only known salvation, but have not pressed on into the love of the Father because of hurts and unforgiveness that yet control their heart toward others. Not only do we receive God’s love of forgiveness, we must forgive others. The key to abiding in God is abiding in His love. Forgiveness is the first step toward that abiding life.
Today, if you cannot testify of the abiding love of God in your life, ask the Holy Spirit to examine your heart and see if there is any unforgiveness which you are holding. Allow the Holy Spirit to reveal hurts that have been covered up over time. Let Him bring those hurts to the surface. Although it might be painful for the moment, He will give you the power of His love to forgive and to let go so you can experience the fullness of God’s love in your life.
Father, I pray that You would reveal any unforgiveness I might have. Give me grace to forgive anyone against whom I have been holding a grudge. I ask for the Holy Spirit to fill me afresh to overflowing with the love of God for that individual. This is a great time to ask the Lord if there are any others you need to forgive.
by George Runyan | Jan 18, 2017 | Devotional, George Runyan
Galatians 5:16 – I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
Walking by the Spirit is our great challenge! Our human tendency is to trust in our humanness. Our human nature is made up of our natural senses and our human reasoning, which some call common sense. Paul teaches us that “a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him” (1 Corinthians 2:14). The natural creation is always battling with the spiritual creation. Daily, we must ask the Holy Spirit for His help. The Lord Jesus called the Holy Spirit “the Helper.” Jesus said, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever” (John 14:16). God answered His Son’s request when the Holy Spirit was given on the day of Pentecost.
A mistake that many believers make is to assume that all the promises of God are automatic. They are not! He has given us His promises, but He wants us to seek Him for their manifestation in our lives. This truth is no different concerning the Helper. We must ask for His help. Do not assume that the Holy Spirit’s help will automatically be there. He desires us to develop a relationship with Him.
Daily, and many times throughout the day, ask the Holy Spirit for His help. We do not have to be limited to our natural senses, but can receive supernatural help by simply learning to ask the Helper. He has helped me many times by solving problems that were beyond my scope of understanding. Nurture a consistent discipline of asking for the Spirit’s help day or night. In your devotions, do not neglect asking His help. Give Him first place in all of your life’s activities (Matthew 6:33).
Father, I thank You for sending the Helper. I ask forgiveness for how often I have trusted in my own reasoning and for how I have failed to invite the Holy Spirit’ help in my life. I commit myself to depend more and more on Your-ever present help in my times of need.
by George Runyan | Jan 15, 2017 | Devotional, George Runyan
Ezekiel 11:24 – The Spirit lifted me up.
Ezekiel was a prophet of the Lord with many experiences in the Spirit of God. The Spirit of the Lord led him to act out much of what he saw and heard. The Holy Spirit is still lifting up men and women dedicated to doing God’s bidding. Testimonies are received from around the world of visions and dreams God’s people are having. Testimonies of healings and miracles are becoming common place throughout the body of Christ. The Lord is speaking to His people through unusual events and experiences. As in Ezekiel’s time, the Lord wants to draw near to His people. He wants to lift His people into realms of the Spirit and show them how to accomplish His work.
The Spirit of the Lord does not bring revelation that is contrary to God’s Written Word, but confirms the Word of God by supernatural means. The writer of Hebrews addresses this issue when he asks the question, “How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will” (Hebrews 2:3). The Holy Spirit breathes life on the Word of God. Many try to use the Word without the life-giving power of the Spirit and are left with legalism and death. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 3:6, “who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
Some important questions to consider are: Is there life in the word you carry for God? Has the Spirit of God lifted you into places of fellowship and revelation to hear what the Spirit would say to you? Do you minister out of your head knowledge or by the Spirit of God quickening you with a message and deeds that produce life in the ones to whom you are ministering?
Take time to seek the Holy Spirit and ask Him to release His life in and through you. Prepare to allow the Holy Spirit to do unusual things through you. Expect Him to confirm the Word of God that you speak to others with His signs and wonders according to His will.
Father, I pray that your Holy Spirit would be free to speak words to me that are filled with Your life. I pray that I may hear your voice guiding me and that You would confirm your Word through me with Your life-giving power. Protect me and others from the “letter of the law which kills” and fill me with the knowledge of Your Holy Spirit.
by George Runyan | Jan 14, 2017 | Devotional, George Runyan
1 Samuel 10:10 – The Spirit of God came upon him mightily, so that he prophesied among them.
Saul was sent by his father to find some lost donkeys. Saul sought to find the Prophet Samuel to see if he could help in finding the donkeys. Instead Saul encountered the Word of the Lord spoken through Samuel. Samuel told Saul that “he had been chosen to rule over God’s people.” As Saul left Samuel, he met a group of prophets who were prophesying. Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Saul mightily and he prophesied with them. Saul was changed into another man.
Revelation 19:10 states “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Prophecy is directly related to testifying of God’s will and purposes. Samuel prophesied God’s will regarding Saul. When Saul got close to the prophets, he too prophesied and was counted among the prophets. All the Scriptures point to Jesus as God’s one and only King. When we declare the Lordship of Christ, we are prophesying. God wants all His people to have the spirit of prophecy. Moses declared, “Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them” (Numbers 11:29)! Paul taught that we can all prophesy in 1 Corinthians 14:31.
A prophet is a spokesperson for God. We are all called to be led by the Spirit to speak for God. The Scriptures are abundantly clear of how God has willed for His sons and daughters to be filled with His Holy Spirit and be His voice to a lost and dying world. In summary, Jesus is the Prophet Moses spoke of in Deuteronomy 18:15-18. Prophecy is the “testimony of Jesus” (Revelation 19:10). “You can all prophesy one by one” (1 Corinthians 14:31).
Let me encourage you to spend time in the presence of God asking Him for the spirit of prophecy. It is one of the gifts of the Spirit God desires for all His people to embrace and use to testify of Jesus and His will. The gift is not motivated by emotions or individual opinions. The Father desires for His people to be able to hear His voice and testify of all He has given through His Son.
Father, fill me with the Holy Spirit and cause me to speak with a prophetic voice of the Lordship of Jesus Christ for Your glory.
