by George Runyan | Jan 25, 2016 | Devotional, George Runyan
Galatians 5:22 – The fruit of the Spirit is faithfulness.
The fruit of the Spirit flows out of God Himself. Faithfulness originates with our Heavenly Father, as do all of these attributes. When Jesus judged the religious leaders of His day, as recorded in Matthew 23, He pointed out their neglect of the weightier matters of the law recorded in Micah 6:8. He accused them of neglecting justice, mercy, and faithfulness. Faithfulness is associated with humility. Faithfulness relates to another person’s interest. It takes humility in order to be faithful. Our first priority in faithfulness is toward God. We need to be faithful in His interests, faithful to His will, faithful to other believers, and faithful to share with those still separated from God’s love revealed in Christ, the Lord.
We begin to learn about faithfulness as we make reading God’s Word a priority. Through the Word of God, we learn of His desire to reveal Christ in us. The Word of God is the primary way the Spirit of God instructs each of us. He will give us power to be faithful to His instructions as we allow Him to control our thinking and actions. At times, He will reprove us in order to bring our thoughts into alignment with His own. He brings correction as needed, to establish our life in Christ’s righteousness.
Our life of prayer is as important to our relationship with our Father as His Holy Word. We need to hear God’s still, small voice. Every believer is called to be faithful in praying for others. Jesus has invited us to participate with Him in His ministry of intercession. The Scriptures declare, “He ever lives to make intercession for us” (Hebrews 2:17; 7:25). It is our responsibility to pray faithfully as well. There are two specific areas the Lord Jesus commanded us to ask the Father. First, we pray for His kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as in heaven. Second, we must pray faithfully for God to send laborers into the Harvest.
Father, I ask for the Holy Spirit to strengthen me in faithfulness. I ask for a greater commitment to Your interests. I ask for faithfulness toward my brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. I ask for faithfulness to bear witness of Your kingdom to those around me.
by George Runyan | Jan 22, 2016 | 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 21, 2016 | Devotional, George Runyan
Galatians 5:22 – The fruit of the Spirit is peace.
In Romans 14:17, Paul puts peace before joy, but here in Galatians he lists joy before peace. In Romans 14:17, righteousness is mentioned preceding peace. Peace comes as a result of becoming righteous in Christ Jesus. Joy flows from that peace. In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he is speaking of the attributes of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit brings His joy out of His love. When that joy is experienced, supernatural peace becomes the result.
The world is constantly trying to find peace, whether individually or among the nations. The efforts are futile, if they are not predicated upon God’s righteousness. Only God’s righteousness can produce lasting peace. The Scriptures declare that “the peace of God that surpasses all comprehension shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). Peace is not static but dynamic in nature. The peace of God guards our hearts from the intrusion of the subtle deceptions of the enemy and allows us freedom to live freely in Christ.
A number of questions are worth considering: Do you enjoy the peace of your salvation? Do you have peace in your life that the righteousness of Christ is sufficient to cause you to be accepted in the beloved? Do you experience the peace of God guarding your heart? If you have that supernatural peace, rejoice in the Lord and give Him thanks because many people do not have what you have. Make sure you share God’s love with those you meet who do not enjoy the peace you enjoy. Give them opportunity to receive and experience the peace you have received.
If you do not have the peace of which the Scriptures speak, that can change today. Invite the Holy Spirit to show you what you must do to receive the peace of God’s kingdom. Wait upon Him for His counsel. Give up whatever He shows you and receive what He desires to give you.
Father, I thank You for Your peace that is available to me in the Holy Spirit. Teach me how to daily enter into Your peace that surpasses all comprehension and guards my heart and mind through Christ Jesus. Help me to be able to lead others to that peace.
by George Runyan | Jan 20, 2016 | Devotional, George Runyan
Galatians 5:22 – The fruit of the Spirit is joy.
Joy follows love. When we have experienced the love of God and His love begins to take root in our inner man, the natural outflow is joy. “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). His joy is promised to all those who serve Him as Lord. “Enter into the joy of your Master” (Matthew 25:23). Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica, reminding them, “You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 1:6). After David had sinned greatly and sought the Lord with a heart of repentance, his one request was “Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit” (Psalm 51:12). When God’s salvation and rule over the whole earth is finally established, His rule becomes the “joy of the whole earth” (Psalm 48:2). The Psalmist is exalting the Lord and declaring His ultimate purpose.
It is joy that attracts others to the believer who has truly embraced God’s love. The work of the Holy Spirit becomes manifest in a believer’s life when righteousness and peace are established. Joy comes from these two works of the Spirit (Romans 14:17). Joy is not external, but flows from the innermost being of a person. It is part of what Jesus is saying when He declared, “If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:37-38). Although the word joy is not used here, it is there by implication as one reads the references from which Jesus drew His teaching. The literal translation reads “let him keep coming to Me, and let him keep drinking.” It does not take much to lose one’s joy, so we must keep coming to Jesus through the Holy Spirit and keep drinking of this spiritual water that only He can supply.
The joy of the Lord is a supernatural joy and not the happiness that the world promises. Earthly happiness fades ever so easily, but the Lord supplies a continual reservoir of His joy. If you need to repent for anything, do it now. Ask for the righteousness of Christ to rule in you, receive His peace and let the joy that is in the Holy Spirit flow from your life.
Today, why not take a deep drink of the Holy Spirit? Allow Him to establish you in His righteousness and then let the peace of Christ rule in your heart. The result will be to be strengthened in the joy of the Lord! Ask the Holy Spirit for His joy.
by George Runyan | Jan 19, 2016 | 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 15, 2016 | 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.
