The Lord has been impressing upon me of late the need for the Holy Spirit in our lives to do such a work that the fruit of the Holy Spirit be revealed! Beloved, it is not the gifts of the Spirit upon which we need to focus, but the fruit. Why do I say that? First of all, in Matthew 7:15, we are told that we shall know them by their "fruit". And Galatians 5:22 lists the fruit of the Spirit. Beloved, I truly believe that as we allow the Lord to grow His fruit within us, the gifts will be made manifest.
And why do we need the Holy Spirit? To put to death the flesh which wars against the Spirit. Galatians, Chapter 5:24 "And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." Now, take a look at Gal. 5:20 - What is one of the works of the flesh listed that WILL NOT inherit the Kingdom of Heaven? "SELFISH AMBITIONS" What is the mentality of the church today that we so often hear and that many itching ears want to hear? In a nutshell, it's the "All About Me" Doctrine. And I commit to you that this is the doctrine of demons, because we hear about "my blessing, my healing, my new this, my new that, my, my, my, my...The Blab It and Grab It Doctrine of self! ....." I tell you the truth, the Lord told us to pray, "THY WILL BE DONE AS IT IS IN HEAVEN"....He did NOT say, "my will be done as it is in heaven". Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane that IF the cup could be removed, He asked the Father to remove it, yet, not His will, but the FATHER'S will be done. And as a result, our enemies are are defeated in Jesus submitting to the Father's will.
Beloved, do we truly get it? Our lives ARE to be in obedience to the Cross; NOT our will, but the Lord's will. This is truly where the power of the Holy Spirit will be displayed....IN THE CRUCIFIXION OF OUR FLESH! And then, we will be fit vessels through whom the gifts of the Holy Spirit shall flow...for we shall not glory in our flesh - our name - our prestige - our notoriety - our reputation - our promotion, but IN THE LORD GOD THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD AND SAVIOR BY THE WORKING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT! Beloved, Jesus made Himself of NO reputation in coming to this earth in the form of a man! Therefore, if Jesus made Himself of NO reputation - really, what is ours?!!
Beloved, there is only one way to truly know the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit in our lives to raise the dead....there MUST be a death...the death of our flesh to our selfish motives and desires...and a turning to the Cross to where we cry out with everything which is within us...the Spirit crying out..."FATHER! NOT MY WILL, BUT THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH - THROUGH THIS VESSEL WHICH YOU'VE CREATED BY YOUR OWN HANDS - TO SERVE, GLORIFY AND MAGNIFY YOU - THAT YOUR WILL BE DONE AS IT IS IN HEAVEN! TO YOU BE ALL THE GLORY, ALL THE HONOR AND ALL THE PRAISE FOREVER AND EVER, AMEN!"
I am going to leave you with this quote: "You shall be witnesses unto Me" is not handing out tracts. It is demonstrating this - that "I AM God, though invisible, and the truth of Me is exhibited by your obedience in this earth, particularly when it flies in the face of your self-interest, and will more likely earn for you discomfort or suffering." That is a witness unto Him that the principalities and powers of the air cannot abide." "APOSTOLIC FOUNDATIONS-The Challenge of Living an Authentic Christian Life", Arthur Katz, Burning Bush Press, c. 1999, page 150.
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