JOY!
"The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17
Isn't that cool? GOD Himself is with you, HE gives His love and rejoices over us with SINGING! God is rejoicing over us in song. That is something so personal!
Since we're studying the Fruit of the Spirit, we should probably biblically define what fruit actually is. Fruit is defined biblically as: "reward; price; earnings; product; result." The fruit of the Spirit of God is a result of the works we do in order to please God.
"For you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them...But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says,
"Awake, sleeper,
And arise from the dead,
And Christ will shine on you."
Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is." Ephesians 5:8-17
We must:
1) LEARN what is pleasing to God - what pleases Him is what fruit truly is!
2) PARTICIPATE in fruitful acts only; PRODUCE fruit
3) EXPOSE the ungodly and unfruitful things - yes, that would require a certain form of judgment. *gasp*
4) AWAKEN from our "slumber" becoming wise men and women of God!
To not understand what the Lord wants of us is to be foolish! Ask, seek and knock! Find out what GOD says, not what society says or does. It's sad to say, but I believe that most Christians do not seek God on matters that seem "legalistic." They believe that grace covers all. Yes, grace is given to the Believer, BUT true believers produce fruit! The only way to produce fruit is to FIND OUT WHAT GOD says about anything and everything! "Be Holy because I am Holy." 1 Peter 1:16
Grace is AWESOME! Where would we be without it? But do not depend so much on grace as to miss out on producing FRUIT for God!
