Rejoice!: The Fruit of the Spirit

What brings you joy? Do you have joy? It’s not the same as happiness. To me, happiness is a feeling based on circumstances. Joy is contentment regardless of circumstances. That is what Jesus gives us through the Holy Spirit. That is what He gave me. Though sometimes I just need to remember His goodness, listen … Continue reading “Rejoice!: The Fruit of the Spirit”

What brings you joy? Do you have joy? It’s not the same as happiness. To me, happiness is a feeling based on circumstances. Joy is contentment regardless of circumstances. That is what Jesus gives us through the Holy Spirit. That is what He gave me. Though sometimes I just need to remember His goodness, listen to the Holy Spirit, and show it.

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Fruit of the Spirit: Love

The previous posts we talked about hope and faith and how they were intertwined. I also mentioned that faith was part of the fruit of the Spirit, so I thought it would be interesting to go through each one. Let’s examine each component of the fruit of the Spirit. Again notice fruit is singular. We who are in Christ have all of these, not just one, or a few.

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Have faith

We all have faith in something. What or whom do you have faith in? What is faith? In our last discussion we talked about hope, and hope is closely related to faith. Without faith there is no hope. With faith, we can do many things. Through faith in God, we can move mountains. We have hope. And our hope is in the Lord.

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What Do You Hope For?

This is the season of hope. What are you hoping for? A nice gift? Quality time with the family? The greatest gift was given to us some 2000 years ago. The gift of hope. The gift of salvation. The gift of grace. God gave each of us the opportunity to accept that gift. That is hope. It’s not just a wish. It’s confidence, trust, expectation. As believers, we have that confident expectation that one day we will be in heaven with Christ. Not because of anything we have done, but because God loved us so much He sent His only Son to pay for our sins, to die on the cross, and to be raised from the dead, giving us victory over sin and death. It’s not just looking forward to it; it’s already been done.

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Happy Belated Birthday, Jesus!

It’s that time of year when we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Regardless of whether this is truly the date when Jesus was born (and in all likelihood it is not), the important thing is that the Son of God came into this world, born to a virgin, and died on the cross for our sins, and any and all who believe, and trust that we are saved by His death and resurrection, are saved and will have eternal life with Him. So, out of curiosity, when was Jesus actually born? Are there clues in the Bible that tells us? And how was December 25th chosen as the day to celebrate His birth?

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