Lesson 32
The Power of Fruit
The Fruit of the Holy Spirit
Part 3
by
Ruth Mahoney Swaim
The Fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5) are the counterpart or matching set to the Gifts of the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 12). You need both sets operating in your life in order to be balanced.
Just as you work with both your left and right hands, so also you need to have the fruits of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit at work in your life.
When you deny either set in the balance of the Holy Spirit, you hurt rather than help the Kingdom of God.
This means you are out of balance and out of balance is going to extremes.
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are skill sets needed to get the job done.
The fruits of the Holy Spirit are Christ-like qualities that help us work together.
Max Lucado says 'Spiritually speaking, you are supposed to be ambidextrous.'
Depending on your faith and the particular situation you are in, you may be able to hand out with both hands many fruits and many gifts. Wow, what a fruit tree!
PEACE
Galatians 5:22, 23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; against such there is no law.
The third fruit of the Holy Spirit listed in Galatians 5 is PEACE.
There are two types of peace in the Bible:
1. Peace WITH God. 'Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.' Romans 5:1. When you are saved, born again, you have peace WITH God.
2. Peace OF God. This peace comes by walking in obedience to the will of God in your daily life. 'For the kingdom of God is not meat or drink; but righteousness, and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.' Romans 14:17, 18.
In this lesson we will be discussing the peace OF God.
When the Holy Spirit is allowed to dwell and work in us, we learn to obey His voice (usually a still small voice in our spirit) and we then experience that wonderful peace OF God.
That is when this particular fruit starts to develop, grow and work in our life. As the peace OF God begins to reign in your life then others are affected by it.
This peace passes our own understanding. It is an enabling directly from the Holy Spirit, beyond anything we could do in the natural.
Peace involves great trust in God.
In John 14:27 Jesus said 'Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.'
The peace that Jesus gives, through the Holy Spirit, is not like what we think of in the world as 'peace.' We use the word peace in the world, usually to mean lack of conflict. To be at peace in a nation means no war, riots, etc. The world thinks of peace as an outward circumstance which results in lack of conflict.
This is not the peace of God.
The peace of God is an inward serenity which manifests itself even in the midst of conflict. The Lord gives peace even when we may be in the middle of chaos. And with His peace there is no fear. No fear that the peace will end and terror might arise. He gives everlasting peace.
This is the peace OF God.
But there is a certain surrender to the reign of the peace of God in your life Colossians 3:15 tells us to 'let the peace of God rule in your heart.'
Jesus said in John 14: 'Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.' In other words, make the decision to refuse fear and invite the peace of God into your life. You have a choice.
These verses indicate that we may not necessarily let this peace of God take root. It is a decision.
Colossians 2:15: 'Let the peace of God rule in your hearts.' To rule means to have authority over something. It is a code of behavior.
The peaceful fruit of the Holy Spirit may shine forth when there is a situation which would cause an absence of peace.
When all is turmoil around you and a crisis is in progress or when you are at a point of decision and must make one, LET the peace of God reign or rule in your heart.
Practical Application
Recently I had an interesting experience as I was praying for someone who was in great turmoil. This person was facing a great crisis in their life and I knew we needed the peace OF God in the situation, as well as His guidance.
I began to pray in the Spirit (in tongues) and a great calm and peaceful atmosphere filled the room.
This person immediately relaxed, began to simply breathe in and out calmly and became so peaceful that I wondered if they had fallen asleep. They seemed to be totally relaxed and a sweet expression of peace was on their face.
Then someone said, 'Hey, look at the dog.' I then looked over at the little dog who had been playfully scampering about and he was lying on his back with all four legs stretched out in total peace.
As humorous as this was, it was a vivid illustration from the Lord of His peace. Even the animals were at peace and it brought to mind the circumstance in the Gospels when the Lord spoke peace to the very elements. Even the animals and nature recognize and respond to the peace and presence of God. (Mark 4:39).
Process
Remember, peace is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. It must be cultivated, watered and allowed to grow. And as I keep repeating through this teaching, trees go through seasons. Your peace will be tested with the pruning process or the chaotic winds of life. But remember, the peaceable fruit of righteousness will come forth in due season.
Great pace have they which love thy laws and nothing shall offend them. Psalm 119:165.
Let me exhort you to feed morning, noon and night on His word.
Communicate with the Lord daily.
Begin to practice His presence in your life and become aware of Him. You will find great peace overtaking you.
For He is our peace... Ephesians 2:14.
What does this mean in our time here and now?
God's peace if yours when you endeavor to walk with Him and obey His word. Does this mean that you must be placid and without opinion and action? NO!
For example, you may find yourself in strong disagreement with someone and your reaction is to win or finalize this argument with an act or statement that is biting or confrontational. You are feeling anything but peaceful. If you feel you are right, do you back down? Do you recant? No. You simply call on the Lord (quietly in your spirit) and allow the peace of God to come into the situation.
In counseling I often find that people refuse to let the peace of God rule. They seem to want to keep chaos at work in their life. It has become a comforting and familiar feeling to them.
Asking God to come into a situation often involves surrender and they simply do not want to surrender to this peace. It challenges their control.
Your desires should be cultivated toward Him and toward His purpose. You may not win the argument or even find that the situation does not result in what you feel is just, but you have won a victory in the Kingdom of God and in your own life.
To use an old adage, 'practice the presence of God.'
Concentrate on Him, include Him in your thoughts, your plans, your desires. Then he will begin to fill you with His Spirit and when you are filled with Him you are filled with peace.
'Peace, Peace, Wonderful Peace
Coming down from the Father Above.'
As the above refrain says, it's from the Father above, not our peace..HIS peace.
And when you are filled with His peace you become a credible, trustworthy and productive tree which people can approach and partake of that wonderful fruit. You can share your peaceful fruit. The peace of God. Let's be ready to hand it out generously.
Prayer: Father, I now open my heart to you. I ask you to invade my life and fill me with your Holy Spirit. I ask for your help in walking daily with you, obeying you and allowing your peace to rule in my heart. Thank you for your presence in my life.
This teaching by Ruth Mahoney Swaim is distributed free of charge and may be reproduced, expanded upon and given out freely.
Copyrighted only for protection from commercial use.
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