Saturday 29 Dec 2012

Saturday Reading: Galatians 5:22-23

Key Verse: Galatians 5:22
22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

Devotion:
When John saw the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus, I wonder whether he knew at that stage just how much was meant by that occasion? We know that God will endwell us through the Holy Spirit when we believe and trust in Him and as such we should know what this means just like John. But we are always fighting a battle with our old ways and we need constant reminders of what God actually means to us.

The fruit of the spirit is described in these verses as being all purity and loveliness, and that is what we should have upon being saved. Yes we will know that there is a difference and as long as we are willing to continue on in God's ways then others around us will see that difference as well. But we still have that sin nature battling within us and we will still give in to that from time to time. We don't need to, but because of the way that we are, we probably will do.

Christ, on the other hand, never did give in to those human weaknesses because He knew exactly where they would lead. We are the ones who need the reminders about where it would lead and how much we do need to continue trusting God to show us the righteous ways. When we feel the urge to go off and do things that would undermine teh Holy Spirit's presence within us, we need to be reminded of the things that He stands for and the gifts that He bestows on us when we trust Him.

God does not turn us away when we sin but rather calls us back and reminds us that we are doing things wrong. When we realise that we should be turning back to Him and asking for forgiveness so that He can wipe those sins away and continue to indwell us with an openness instead of being shoved back into a corner.

Points to Ponder:
Do you keep in mind that God is in you?

How often do you have to ask Him for forgiveness?