How to Hear from the Holy Spirit Session Three
Once we learn to hear and listen to the Holy Spirit our next
job is to learn to cultivate the nine fruits He has given to us as believers.
This means we need to make a conscious effort to not only cultivate these in
our lives but to keep studying them as we mature in the faith.
The nine gifts of the
Spirit according to Galatians 5:22-23 are: 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is
no law.
I have studied these characteristics several times over the
years. One thing I learned early on is that these fruits build on one another.
The more love you have the more joy you have. The more joy you have the more peace
you have and so on. So, the fruit of self-control is built upon the strong
cultivation of the others. The Holy
Spirit is the teacher and the counselor there is no human way to truly and
deeply cultivate these fruits without His leadership and guidance. This is not
something we do it is something we are given when the Holy Spirit resides in us
and helps us to learn how to cultivate them and live in them every day.
I believe holiness is the living and walking consistently in
these gifts and being able to consistently be able to walk in them.
God told us to be holy as He is holy.
13 Therefore, preparing
your minds for action,[a] and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the
grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As
obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former
ignorance, 15 but as
he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it
is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And if
you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to
each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your
exile, 18 knowing
that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your
forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with
the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or
spot.
1 Peter 1:12 ESV
As this verse tells us that being
holy is about how we conduct our lives. The fruit of the Spirit are the nine
ways we are called to conduct ourselves in our interactions with other human
beings.
Over the course of my life I have
often struggled with a competitive spirit. This is different from being
competitive in a healthy way. Instead this is a fear or a dread of being less
than to the point you do things which are contrary to he word. When I was in my
twenties there was a young lady who was dating my cousin and another friend of
mine at the same time. Now, I was offended mostly because I was jealous to be
honest. So, I told both men about the other. Of course, I justified my actions
by saying she was sleeping with them both and the new disease AIDS was on the
scene. But, really I was jealous. I behaved ominously. There was no reason for
me to shout her out to these guys. When I say the Holy Spirit was not pleased
with me, I am telling you there is no way to convey to you the seriousness of
His displeasure. However, even with this He corrected me within the bounds of
the fruits He was attempting to help me build in my life. I was ashamed of my behavior
and apologized to all involved at the time.
I also learned how to pray and give and seek forgiveness. It was a tough
lesson to learn. But, I did learn it and never bore witness against someone
based on my high mindedness again.
Maturity calls for us to grow up
and put way childish behavior. Acting with love, joy, peace, patience,
goodness, kindness, gentleness and self-control requires we develop a mature
walk with God. It is not easy, it not
always fun. But, it is worth it and makes it easier to live life.
Question
for this Session and Beyond:
This question is to help you move
beyond these sessions and to use the information to improve your lives from
here on out!
What does it mean to
be mature in the faith? What does that look like in your everyday life and how
will you build on it daily?
Things
to take away from this lesson:
1. The
fruits of the Spirit are as much about behavior as they are about feelings.
2. These
fruits are given to us by the Holy Spirt because He wants to teach us how to
cultivate them.
3. The
frits and holiness go together.
4. The
level to which we act and govern our lied by these nine characteristics shows
forth our maturity level in spiritual things.
5. Our
lives are best lived by communing with the Holy Spirit and knowing exactly what
He is telling us about every aspect of our lives.
Would
you like to expand your learning?
Teaching our children to hear
from the Holy Spirit is the number on thing we need to do to protect them from
the things the world would try to do to influence them. It is our ability to
hear directly from God which allows us to resist the suggestions the word
throws our way. We need to teach our childen to har from God Himself. PT&A
is offering a six-week series called:
Teaching
your Children to Hear from the Holy Spirit!
Teach
about the real Spirit of Christmas!
This classes focuses parent on
taking deeper steps into soaking and hearing from the Holy Spirt themselves and
becoming a living example for their children.
Gives parents tips, ideas, and
discussion starters for young children, older kids, and teens.
And
much more!!
You
have until February 3 to join the class at the introductory rate of 2 payments
of $49 2/3 and 3/3.
or
one payment of $98. After 2/3 the class goes to two payments of $122. This
class could keep your child from enter in into the wrong crowd or taking that
one hit of crack because the Holy Spirit is talking to them and giving the courage
to resist!
Our next class starts February
13, 2018.
Believe in Parenting
Want more information-ptanda.org
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