by George Runyan | Jan 19, 2015 | 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, 2015 | 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. Do not leave Him behind in your devotions, but make 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 17, 2015 | Devotional, George Runyan
Romans 8:14 – All who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.
Sonship with God is only possible through the Holy Spirit. Children are born to their parents, but a true son is one that obeys his father by following his instructions. The same is true in the kingdom of God. Many have been given power to become children of God (John 1:12), but sonship is a matter of maturity. A father trains his child with the hope and desire for that child to grow up and become a responsible individual. As a father of six boys and one daughter, my great joy was to watch them grow and become mature, able to handle the affairs of life with the values instilled by their mother and me.
Our Heavenly Father is bringing forth sons and daughters with the character of His only begotten Son. The work of the Holy Spirit in the earth is to create a new creation out of the old. He is producing a spiritual race that has the spiritual DNA of God’s only begotten Son. The Holy Spirit is ready to help you as Paul states, “know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you mAdd Galleryay be filled up to all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19). You cannot gain this understanding through human reasoning. Only the Holy Spirit can reveal the love of Christ and only the Holy Spirit can fill us with the fullness of God.
Only in the love of Christ and the fullness of God can we become mature sons and daughters of God. As sons and daughters, we are to carry out the Father’s will and not our own will. There is no male or female in the matter of sonship. Every person who has surrendered their life to Christ has been called to reflect Christ in and through their life. It is in men and women throughout the nations that God is revealing His kingdom purpose in the earth. The Written Word is being lived out in their lives. These are lives which have been recreated in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. God’s purpose is for the nations to come to know Him and do His will. This can only happen through sons and daughters of God that are led by the Holy Spirit.
Today, ask the Holy Spirit to help you know the love of Christ in an ever-deepening way. Ask Him to fill you with the fullness of God so that Christ may be revealed in every facet of your life. Ask that you might have a part in helping others come to know God and to do His will.
by George Runyan | Jan 16, 2015 | Devotional, George Runyan
1 Samuel 16:14 – Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord terrorized him.
This is a difficult passage in that it conveys the thought that both the Spirit of God and an evil spirit were sent from the Lord to Saul. God put His Spirit on Saul when he was anointed as King of Israel. Saul even prophesied when he was among the prophets. Saul turned from the Lord’s commands to his own plans during his reign. His heart became cold and selfish. The Lord withdrew His Spirit because Saul chose to do evil before the Lord. Afterwards, the Lord sent an evil spirit to terrorize Saul.
The God of Heaven is in control of both the good and the evil. Satan and his kingdom of darkness have restrictions placed on them by the Lord. They are confined to the earth in their ability to have influence. As believers, we wrestle against these powers (Ephesians 6:12). Satan and the kingdom of darkness have already been judged by Jesus according to John 16:11 declaring that “the ruler of this world has been judged.” Many Christians are still in bondage to the kingdom of darkness because their hearts have not been fully cleansed and released (1 John 1:5-10). The Spirit of God comes to convince of sin (John 16:8). He also comes to produce righteousness (John 16:10).
Many of God’s people battle continually with evil spirits because they refuse to allow the Holy Spirit complete control in their lives. They remain king of their own circumstances, rather than allowing the Holy Spirit His rightful place of rule in their hearts. Unforgiveness is one of the main bondages giving the enemy a right to control, confuse, and bind up our walk with Christ and our relationship with others. Jesus addresses this in the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:21-35). The King was angry that the servant He had forgiven failed to forgive a fellow servant a much smaller debt. The King turned over the unforgiving servant to the tormentors in jail until the debt was fully paid. Jesus stated in Matthew 18:35, “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from the heart.” The tormentors are evil spirits. The debt can only be paid through forgiveness from the heart.
Today, ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal to you any unforgiveness that would give Satan’s demonic tormentors rights in your life. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you a heart of forgiveness for anyone who has hurt you. Ask God for grace to forgive anyone He shows you. Then bind the evil one and be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God has come to fully establish God’s kingdom reign through the Lord Jesus Christ in each of our hearts today and every day. FOR YOUR PERSONAL COPY OF “HOLY SPIRIT DEVOTIONAL” CLICK ON COVER ABOVE.
by George Runyan | Jan 15, 2015 | 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, 2015 | 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.
