Fruit!

Fruit!

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22‭-‬23 KJV

The Inspiration:

An interesting definition of 'fruit' is: "a mature, ripened ovary, along with the contents of the ovary. It would mean that the fruit is the mature and visible expression of the capacity of a thing to produce after its own kind. In the ovary lies the ability to nurture a seed, carry it to full term and then deliver in abundance, beyond the quantity that it was given. In that definition lies the truth that the fruit is not am overnight sensation, or an accident in history, but the product of investment in resources, time and effort. You don't plant a seed and then go yo sleep, ignoring the need for the seed to be nurtured and its environment taken care of. Fruits do not manifest immediately they are planted in the ground, but when they do manifest, the evidence cannot be ignored. Another amazing fact about fruit is that it does not only benefit the one who put in the ground, but a lot of people will benefit from the quantity of the fruit that is produced. All of these facts are true for the physical fruit; just picture the amazing potential and blessings that would apply in the spiritual. 

The Contention:

You don't get the fruit of the Spirit by natural birth, but by spiritual birth. It does not happen by accident, but by deliberate choice. There are blessings that accrue to me by virtue of my being born into this world, but the need for the fruit of the Spirit has to take me on a personal journey of submission and encounter with the Spirit of God, who is able to birth and sustain the required fruit. No amount of money, depth of influence, circle of connections or any other earthly scheme can secure the fruit for me; it does not come by physical inheritance, and cannot be passed down through a man's will or testament. The foundation for a life that shows the fruit of the Spirit is the spiritual birth; where one gives his/her life to Jesus for safekeeping. It means I acknowledge that I cannot take care of my life by my own power, and only God can do so. I give him total control, and invite him in to make my life His dwelling place. There is no limit to how God can use a life that is totally surrendered to Him. In fact, this is what God would have us all do: surrender to Him and take of his power, nature and Spirit.

The Conclusion:

There is a lot that God wants to achieve on earth, but He needs surrendered vessels He can trust. It is to be noted also that the fruit is presented as a single record, not multiple. There is one Spirit, so He would only produce fruit after his kind. Every domain of the fruit is important; nine are mentioned in the verses above. All are important; I cannot pick and choose the one that makes me comfortable and them ignore the ones that put me on the spot. The Spirit of God wants to keep working on and in me until I look like the One I am to represent. The full work of the Spirit is never done all at once, but it is a progressive process of sanctification, purification, usage and relevance, until the time when eternity with God starts, and the fruit is no longer needed. There is no law of man that can ever make the fruit illegal. Indeed, the time to get and use the fruit is NOW. The Spirit of God is mine for the asking, and He will not come into a man's life and leave it the same way. Ask Him in today; earth awaits the manifestation of the sons of God. Am I one? Are you? God's time of favour is here.