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[nChrist]

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September 30

Doing What Is Right

For reading & meditation - Philippians 2:5-16

""... continue to work out your salvation ... for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose."" (vv. 12-13)

    We ended yesterday by saying that the biblical response to all of life's problems is to take advantage of the unfailing grace of God, and turn our setbacks into springboards. I know that some will respond to that statement by saying, ""It sounds good in theory, but it's hard to put it into practice. What about the hurts that some people carry inside them, that make it difficult or sometimes impossible for them to make use of God's grace to turn their problems into possibilities?"" I do understand and sympathize with the wounds that people have, which sometimes militate against their desire to respond to life in a biblical way. I know from firsthand experience the arguments that people can put forward to avoid doing what God asks in His Word. However, I must take my stand, and so must you, on the authority of Scripture, and affirm that God never asks us to do what we are incapable of doing. Much of evangelical Christianity, I am afraid, is man-centered. We need a return to a God-centered position which does exactly what God asks, whether we feel like it or not. I freely confess that there are times when I don't feel like obeying God. I know, however, what is right - that God has redeemed me and that I belong to Him - and I do what He wants me to whether I feel like it or not. What controls you in your Christian life - your feelings or what you know God asks and expects you to do? Your answer will reveal just who is in the driver's seat!

Prayer:

    Gracious and loving heavenly Father, teach me the art of responding to life, not with my feelings but with a clear mind and a clear resolve. Help me to do what is right - whether I feel like it or not. For Jesus' sake. Amen..

    For Further Study

    John 14:15-31; Luke 12:11-12; 1 Cor. 2:13
    1. How do we express our love for Christ?
    2. How are we enabled to do this?

[nChrist]

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October 1

The "harvest of the Spirit"

Galatians 5:13-26

"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." (vv.22-23)

    We begin today a detailed study of the fruit of the Spirit -- the nine ingredients which go to make up Christian character. These nine qualities are the natural outcome of the Holy Spirit's indwelling -- not a manufactured one. When Paul speaks of the manifestations of the flesh, he describes them as "works," but when speaking of the manifestations of the Spirit, he describes them as "fruit." "Works" suggests something that is an effort: "fruit" suggests something that is effortless. Some translations use the term "harvest of the Spirit" rather than "fruit of the Spirit," pointing to the finished product, the outcome. Most people, myself included, prefer the word "fruit" to "harvest," but there is a special truth locked up in the word "harvest" that we must not miss. You see, it is what we finally reap as the result of an attitude or course of action that is important. What happens along the way, such as good feelings, are part of the Spirit's purpose but not the greatest part. It is the end result that matters.

    And what is that end result? It is a quality of being. Jesus once said: "Love your enemies, do good ... and your reward will be great ... you will be sons of the Highest" (Luke 6:35, NKJV). Note the phrase, "you will be." The reward is more than just having -- it is being. Remember, the goodness or badness of an act is determined, not just by what it does to others but by what it does to you. So having the Holy Spirit within us is not just being the recipient of pleasurable emotions -- it is being a better person.

Prayer:

    O God my Father, help me right here at the beginning to get my focus right and yearn, not so much for better feelings, but to be a better person. In Christ's Name I ask it. Amen.

    For Further Study

    Psa. 1:1-6; 92:12-14; Eph. 5:9
    1. What is the key to producing good fruit?
    2. What does "prosper" mean in this context?

[nChrist]

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October 2

The primacy of love

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

"... the greatest of these is love." (v.13)

    The fruit of the Spirit is just one aspect of the Spirit-filled life.

    It is an over-simplification, but the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christian moves in two important directions -- to produce purity and to produce power. The power aspect can be seen in a study of the gifts of the Spirit and the purity aspect in a study of the fruit of the Spirit. Both are of equal importance. So be assured that in emphasizing the fruit of the Spirit, I am not intending to divert attention from the gifts of the Spirit and their miraculous nature.

    Having the Spirit within results in many things but, as we saw yesterday, one of the most important results is a quality of being -- a quality of being which has nine characteristics. The first of these is "love." This emphasis on the primacy of love fits in with Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians 13 -- "the greatest of these is love." If one examines the chapter in which these words are found, it will be discovered that every fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5 is involved in this supernatural love. Indeed either directly, or by synonyms, each of them is mentioned. All the fruit depends on the first. Note the connection: love suffers long -- long-suffering. Love is kind. Love does not envy -- goodness. Love does not parade itself, is not puffed up -- meekness or gentleness. Love seeks not its own, is not easily provoked -- self-control. Love rejoices in the truth -- joy. Love bears all things, hopes all things -- faithfulness. Having love, we have all the fruit of the Spirit. Without it we are nothing.

Prayer:

    Gracious Father, I see that whatever else I possess, if I do not possess love I am nothing. Help me to keep all my channels open to You, so that love -- Your love -- may grow in me. Amen.

    For Further Study

    Col. 3:1-14; John 15:9; Eph. 5:1-2
    1. Write out your definition of Christian love.
    2. What was Christ's command to His disciples?

[nChrist]

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October 3

Mature -- only in love

Ephesians 4:7-16

"... speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him ..." (v.15)

    We are seeing that love is the first outcome of the Spirit within, and if this is lacking, everything is lacking.

    The first indication of the fact that we are growing spiritually is that we are growing in love. If we grow in love, then we grow -- period. Without growing in love, we cannot grow in God, for His essential nature is love.

    Our passage today, in the Moffatt translation, tells us that we are to "hold by the truth, and by our love to grow up wholly into Him." There is only one way to grow up wholly into Him, and that is "by our love." We remain immature if we are immature in love. If the love is ingrown and focused on itself then the result is an immature personality. If the love is selectively applied to certain groups, again the result is an immature personality.

    We are mature to the extent that we can love. Indeed all other growth, without growth in love, is what someone has described as "sucker love -- growth that bears no fruit." J. B. Phillips' translation of 1 Corinthians 8:1 puts it this way: "While knowledge may make a man look big, it is only love that can make him grow to his full stature." There is a great emphasis on getting knowledge in today's Church. A lecturer in a leading British theological college recently wrote: "Know the facts of the faith and that will redeem you." I know many Christians who are good at giving facts in relation to the faith but not so good at giving love. Knowledge looks big, but it is just big barrenness unless love is behind it.

Prayer:

    O Father, I sense that You are bringing me to the very crux of things. Hold me to it, for unless I grow in love then I do not grow in You. Help me, dear Father. Amen.

    For Further Study

    Eph. 3:1-19; 1 John 4:16; Jude v.21
    1. What are we to be rooted in?
    2. What was Paul's desire for the Ephesians?

[nChrist]

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October 4

What compels you?

2 Corinthians 5:11-21

"For Christ's love compels us ..." (v.14)

    What exactly does Scripture mean when it uses the word "love"? In English, the word "love" has a variety of meanings. It is used for the mighty passion that moves in the heart of God but it is used also to describe such things as the flutterings of the adolescent heart in spring, an extramarital affair, or a homosexual relationship. The one word "love" has to be spread over a multiplicity of diverse meanings. The Greek language is much richer in this respect. It has four words for love. One is eros, meaning love between the sexes. Another is philia, meaning affectionate human love. Then there is the word storge, meaning family love. The most powerful word for love, however, is agape, which means unconditional love -- the love that surges in the heart of God. When Paul says, "the fruit of the Spirit is love," the word he uses for love is agape. He means that the love we are expected to experience and demonstrate when we are indwelt by the Spirit is not just love in general, but love of a specific kind -- the love which we see exemplified in Jesus.

    In the text before us today, Paul says: "For Christ's love compels us." This cuts deep. It is possible to be compelled by the love of achievement, of success, of a cause, of a fight. What compels you -- the love of a cause or the love of Christ? The enemies of the early Christians complained that "these followers of Jesus love each other even before they are acquainted." They did. They couldn't help it, for the very nature of the faith they had embraced was love.

Prayer:

    Father, as I look into my heart in these few moments to see what controls me, help me to come out with the same answer as the apostle Paul -- "the love of Christ." Pour Your love in so that I may pour it out to others. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

    For Further Study

    1 Pet. 1:1-9; John 15:13; 1 John 3:16
    1. What is the ultimate expression of love?
    2. What was Peter's testimony of the scattered strangers?

[nChrist]

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October 5

Love cannot fail

John 13:1-17

"Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love." (v.1)

    The love which flows in our hearts when we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit is not a general love but a specific one -- the love of Christ. This love dulls the edge of disappointment and enables us to be invulnerable to many things, not least a lack of appreciation. The poet was thinking of this high degree of love when he wrote: Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds,Or bends with the remover to remove.

    O, no! It is an ever fixed mark,That looks on tempests and is never shaken.

    Let's follow this thought through a little more deeply. The nine ingredients of the fruit of the Spirit were all exemplified in Jesus' life on earth, and it is the present purpose of the Holy Spirit to engraft them into us as we abide in Christ and maintain a close, day-by-day relationship with Him. When we do this, the very first evidence will be that of agape love. This is not a give-and-take kind of love, a love that is reciprocal; it is a love that descends from above and is showered on the deserving and the undeserving, the agreeable and the disagreeable. Christians who dwell deeply in God find that they are changed from people who just love occasionally, when it is convenient, to people whose controlling purpose is love. Love becomes the organizing motive and power in their lives. Such love "never fails," for it always finds a way of expressing itself -- and when it expresses itself, it is itself the success.

Prayer:

    O Father, I see that in expressing love, I become more loving even if the other person doesn't accept my love. I cannot fail in love even if love seems to fail in accomplishing the desired end. I am so thankful. Amen.

    For Further Study

    1 Thess. 3:1-12; John 13:35; 15:12
    1. What is the hallmark of the true disciple?
    2. What was Paul's prayer for the Thessalonians?

[nChrist]

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October 6

Love must be realized

Luke 23:32-46

"And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him ..." (v.33, NKJV)

    How can we ensure that the love which surges in the heart of God surges also in us? We must not strain to love, but allow the love of God to love within us. Dr. W. E. Sangster, the famous Methodist preacher, said that those who best manifest God's love are those who have had a blinding realization of the love of God and whose own love flames in response.

    If that is true, then how do we come to have a blinding realization of the love of God? We must go to Calvary. Here the heart of God is unveiled. We may have become used to the phrase "God is love" and after a while it is no more exciting than saying that the sun gives light -- it is simply part of the order of things. There is no wonder in it and no realization either. Then, one day, we stand at the foot of the Cross and the Spirit illuminates the love of God to our hearts in such a way that the scales fall away and we look into the eyes of the world's most aggressive Lover. The thing we knew all our lives -- namely, that God is love -- now takes hold of us and for the first time we realize it.

    Have you ever had a moment in your life when you have been blinded by the love of God? If not, this may be the reason why love does not surge in you and through you. Stand at the foot of the Cross today and ask God to give you a blinding revelation of His love. You have known it for so long -- now realize it.

Prayer:

    O Father, how can I realize it unless You reveal it to me? As I sit in contemplation before Calvary, let Your love take hold of me afresh. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.

    For Further Study

    Isa. 53; Eph. 2:16; Col. 1:20; Gal. 6:14
    1. What have we received through the Cross?
    2. Read Isaiah 53 in several different translations.

[nChrist]

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October 7

God -- the aggressive Lover

1 John 4:7-21

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us ..." (v.10)

    When we perceive how much God loves us, an amazing effect is produced in our personalities -- we begin to love like Him. We cannot help it. Love -- agape love -- is not the fruit of labor; it is a response. When we stand at the foot of Calvary, the place where the love of God is fully focused and caught up, the scales drop from our eyes and our own love flames in response. We love Him because He first loved us.

    Teresa of Avila tells how one day, going into her private room, she noticed a picture of our Lord being scourged before His crucifixion. She must have seen it hundreds of times, but in that moment of revelation she saw it as she had never seen it before. She saw God suffering -- suffering for love and suffering for her. The revelation sent her to her knees sobbing in pain and wonder, and when she arose, she was a changed woman. The revelation of Calvary's love was the great divide in her life. She said that she arose with a sense of "unpayable debt" and went out to share God's realized love with others.

    Don't try to manufacture love. Linger in the shadow of the Cross. The love of God finds its most burning expression there. Meditate on it. Contemplate it. Remember that heaven knows no higher strategy for begetting love in mortal hearts than by granting us a vision of how much we are loved, a vision strong enough to evoke a response in our hearts -- and by that answering love begotten in us by the Holy Spirit, we are freed and purged and saved.

Prayer:

    Gracious Father, I see that before I can love, I must comprehend how much I am loved. Help me be aware that in my heart I have the most aggressive Lover in the universe. I am eternally grateful. Amen.

    For Further Study

    Rom. 5:1-8; Jer. 31:3; Eph. 2:4-5; 1 John 3:1
    1. How has God demonstrated His love for us?
    2. What kind of love is God's love?

[nChrist]

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October 8

Always a reason to rejoice

Psalm 105:1-15

"Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice." (v.3)

    The second fruit of the Spirit is joy. It is no mere accident that "joy" follows the first, love. Joy is a by-product of love. If you concentrate on getting joy, it will elude you. But if you concentrate on getting love, then joy will seek you out -- you will be automatically joyful.

    The nine qualities of the fruit of the Spirit are not natural attributes, but supernatural ones. You cannot manufacture them -- they just appear in our lives as we allow the Holy Spirit to have His way within us. I know many Christians who find it difficult to embrace the fact that the fruit of the Spirit is joy. They not only don't expect joy -- they don't want it. One grim Christian said to me once: "At the heart of our faith is a Cross. This means we ought to be spending our time weeping, not laughing."Well, it is true that there is a Cross at the heart of the Christian faith, and that following Christ involves some rigorous self-denials, but it does not alter -- and cannot alter -- the fact that the fruit of the Spirit is joy. We cannot deny that there is a good deal of suffering in Christianity, but beneath the suffering is a joy that will, if we allow it, burst upward through everything. I am bound to say that if there is no joy, there is no Christianity, for Christianity is inherent joy. The empty tomb takes away our empty gloom. We have an Easter morning in our faith, and that means there is always a reason to rejoice.

Prayer:

    Father, I am so thankful that Your Holy Spirit applies redemption right to the roots of my being. Thus I can be glad even when I am sad. Thank You, dear Father. Amen.

    For Further Study

    Luke 10:17-22, 15:4-6; Heb. 12:2
    1. How did Christ relate joy to the Cross?
    2. What brings joy to His heart?

[nChrist]

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October 9

Joy -- always there

Psalm 30:1-12

"... Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning." (v.5)

    Joy is a central characteristic of the Christian -- and yet so many know nothing of it. They are under the lash of duty, and not unabashed delight. They are artificial, not artesian. Someone once described such Christians as "creaking in body and soul as they limp along the highway toward glory." They walk the road to glory but they are certainly not walking the glory road.

    The word "joy" (Greek: chara) is a strong and robust word. It is not resignation wearing a wan smile. It means a joy that is exuberant and overflowing. The summons to rejoice is sounded no less than seventy times in the New Testament and the word chara occurs close on sixty times. The New Testament is a book of joy. Dr. William Barclay says that joy is the distinguishing atmosphere of the Christian life. He wrote: "We may put it this way -- whatever the ingredients of Christian experience and in whatever proportions they are mixed together, joy is one of them."Even in the first year after the death of my wife, I was wonderfully conscious of Christ's joy quietly breaking through the layers of my sadness and grief. Joy is always present in the heart of a Christian. It may not always be felt or recognized -- but it is always there. And eventually it will break the surface, no matter what our situation or our circumstances. I have always maintained that joy is an inevitable part of the Christian life. Now I am sure. Oh, so very sure.

Prayer:

    Father, thank You for reminding me that when joy has its roots in You, then its fruits will eventually appear -- no matter what happens. Eternal honor and praise be to Your wonderful Name. Amen.

    For Further Study

    Psa. 126:1-6; 16:11; Neh. 8:10
    1. What does joy bring to our beings?
    2. How are tears linked with joy?

[nChrist]

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October 10

Joy -- more than pleasure

John 16:17-33

"... I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy." (v.22)

    One of the reasons why so many Christians do not experience the delights of spiritual joy is because they do not expect to. A woman who came into the experience of Christian conversion: "Strange, but I never associated joy with God before." How sad that many do not expect their faith to make them basically and fully joyful now. They think that joy is reserved for the hereafter. Our Lord pointed out to the disciples that it was for the present.

    We can better understand this supernatural joy if we distinguish it from the pleasures of life with which it is sometimes confused. Spiritual or supernatural joy is quite different from pleasure or happiness. A worldling can experience pleasure and happiness but he cannot experience supernatural joy. Indeed, worldly people often pride themselves in knowing how to experience pleasure. Yet pleasure and Christian joy cannot be equated. Look with me at some of the differences. Pleasure depends on circumstances. It requires a measure of health and wealth. It demands that the life conditions be kindly and thus it can be stolen from us by things like lack of money -- or even a toothache. Christian joy is completely independent of circumstances. It is there in the believer even when "strength and health and friends" are gone; when circumstances are not only unkind but savage. Out of all the miracles I have witnessed in my life, none is more wonderful than the miracle of seeing Christ's exuberant joy burst forth in those who are caught up in pain or persecution. The springs of Christian joy are deep within and can exist, no matter what the circumstances.

Prayer:

    O Father, how can I thank You enough for imparting into my sadness Your unconquerable gladness. No matter what happens -- all is well with my soul. I am so grateful. Amen.

    For Further Study

    Acts 5:12-42, 16:23-25; 2 Cor. 6:10
    1. How did the apostles respond to persecution?
    2. How did Paul express it?

[nChrist]

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October 11

Changing pleasures

Hebrews 13:1-16

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." (v.8 )

    We said yesterday that pleasure and Christian joy cannot be equated because pleasure depends on circumstances -- Christian joy does not. Another difference is this -- pleasures come and go. Look back over your life for a moment and think of the changing things that have given you pleasure over the years. Perhaps, when you were a child, it was a bicycle that brought you pleasure. Or a football. Or a doll. Then when you entered your teens, it was something else. A relationship, perhaps -- or a sport. In later years, the things that gave you pleasure changed again. The theatre, books, an armchair ... the things that give us pleasure change with changing years. But the joy of God is constant.

    Yet another difference between pleasure and joy is this -- pleasure satiates. It is easy to have too much. And when the point of satiety is passed, a sense of revulsion sets in. The things for which we crave become repulsive to us. Joy, however, never satiates. A Christian says: "We have enough, yet not too much to long for more." A final difference between pleasure and joy is that pleasure always remains superficial. It is like a Christmas party in a home where there is no true understanding of Christmas -- a party, but a party without purpose; a coronation, but no monarch. Joy, however, is deep. It bubbles beneath the personality, no matter what the circumstances. Joy, supernatural joy, is true bliss.

Prayer:

    Gracious Father, fill me with this joy as I go out to face the world today. For the world is sad and I must not add to its gloom. Help me to radiate Your joy wherever I go. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.

    For Further Study

    Hab. 3; Heb. 10:34; 1 Pet. 4:12-13
    1. What was Habakkuk's testimony?
    2. Why could he say this?

[nChrist]

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October 12

Enjoy yourself?

Psalm 105:26-45

"He brought out his people with rejoicing, his chosen ones with shouts of joy." (v.43)

    A minister tells of standing outside his church one Sunday evening, shaking hands with the worshippers as they dispersed. It had been a joyous evening when God had come very close to His people and the awesome hush of His presence was upon them as they made their way home. A crowded motor coach, returning with revellers from the seaside and held up by the traffic, stopped outside the church. Some of the occupants, flushed with drink, put their heads out of the windows and shouted to those who were leaving the church: "Why don't you learn to enjoy yourself?" The preacher said: "Two ways of life met there for an instant. The coach moved on with the question hanging in the air: 'Why don't you enjoy yourself?' "Little did the men who shouted that question realize that it is those who think they are artists in enjoying themselves who signally fail. The Christian has more joy to the square inch than others have to the square mile. And it is pure, unalloyed joy without a kick-back in it. No Christian who has spent time in the presence of God in a church or among his fellow Christians the night before ever gets up in the morning and says: "Oh dear, I wish I hadn't been a Christian last night. My head is aching from the effects of spending time in the presence of God and among my fellow Christians. Why ever did I do it?" Christian joy is the kind that gives enjoyment without a hangover. It is a kick without a kick-back. Bliss, perfect bliss is the prerogative only of the people of God.

Prayer:

    Father, I sense that Your joy is a joy that will outlast all earthly joys. I will still be singing when the sounds and pleasures of earth are silent and gone. Thank You, dear Father. Amen.

    For Further Study

    Isa. 61:1-10; Psa. 126:2; Ezra 6:22
    1. How did Isaiah express his joy?
    2. How will unbelievers respond when they see true joy?

[nChrist]

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October 13

Joy is Jesus

John 15:1-17

"I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." (v.11)

    The words of our Lord in the text before us today point to the fact that His joy and our joy are not different joys -- but one and the same. He says: "My joy may be in you and ... your joy may be complete." His joy and our joy are not alien, but allied. And you cannot take His joy within you without your own joy being made complete. We are made in the inner structure of our beings for the joy of Christ; His joy completes ours."All things were created by him and for him" (Col. 1:16). This exciting verse tells us that the stamp of Christ is upon all creation -- we were made by Him and for Him. I sometimes imagine that if we could design an instrument that could look into the human spirit, we would see stamped there the words: "Made by Christ and for Christ."Christian joy certainly awaits us in heaven but we can also experience it as we make our way toward heaven. Christian joy is a joy that flows out of a sense of well-being, of harmony with the sum total of reality, of direct and immediate contact with His joy. Rendell Harris says; "Joy is the strength of the people of God; it is their characteristic mark." And when that mark is absent, then the characteristic of a Christian is absent. The best definition of joy I have ever heard, one that comes close to the text before us today, was given to me by a thirteen-year-old boy: "Joy is Jesus." What better definition can one want? Jesus!

Prayer:

    My Father and my God, help me day by day to come closer to Jesus -- then I will come closer to Joy. Show me any blocks in my life that may be hindering that desired closeness. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.

     For Further Study

    Acts 8:1-8; John 17:13; 1 Pet. 1:8
    1. What brought joy to Samaria?
    2. How does Peter describe this joy?

[nChrist]

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Limp in -- leap out

Nehemiah 8:1-12

"... the joy of the Lord is your strength." (v.10)

    Joy is part of a Christian's armor. Jealousy, for example, can quickly find a lodging place in a heart which is unsatisfied. The joy of Jesus banishes all that. This particular fruit of the Spirit secures us from the sins which can so easily beset us. Brimming joy, for example, helps to cancel out any envy that may arise within us. Instead, our souls long to share the treasures that we ourselves have found.

    Joy keeps us alert and alive spiritually. Disease germs, we are told, penetrate most easily into a body debilitated by despondency. So do the termites of the spirit. They enter without ceremony and eat away the health of the soul. Joy gives them no room. It immunizes the spirit against attack. Joy is not just the bloom of health; it is its protection also. Remember, you are made for joy and if there is not joy in your life, then there is something wrong: joy is being blocked. Clear away the blocks and joy comes automatically.

    If you are conscious that you lack this deep abiding joy, then look within. Ask yourself: how close am I to God? What steps do I need to take to deepen my relationship with Him? Give yourself to Him fully. If He is to transfer to you His total joy, then He must have the total you. A garage has a sign: "Limp in -- leap out." That's what will happen to you when you surrender yourself fully to Him. You will limp in and leap out. God is not withholding Himself and you must not withhold yourself. Where the two meet, joy is inevitable.

Prayer:

    O Father, forgive me that I go bumping through life on the broken springs of pleasure when I ought to be cruising in joy. I submit my life to You today for spiritual repairs. I limp in -- help me to leap out. Amen.

    For Further Study

    Acts 3:1-10; Isa. 12:3, 35:10; John 16:24
    1. What was the testimony of the lame man?
    2. What are we to do so that our joy may be complete?