The First Fruit Is Love

But the fruit of the Spirit is love….
— Galatians 5:22

When the New Testament was being written, there were four primary Greek words to describe the concept of “love”: 1) eros, 2) stergo, 3) phileo, and 4) agape. These four words conveyed four very different types of love. I want to talk to you today about these four different types of love; then I’ll tell you which of these four is the type of love the Holy Spirit wants to produce in your life.

The first word for “love” in the list given above is the Greek word eros, which is the Greek term for sexual love and where we get the word erotic. In Greek culture, this word referred to sensual, carnal impulses to satisfy or gratify the sexual desires of the flesh. It shares a common root with the word erao, which means to ask, to beg, or to demand. This confirms that eros is not a giving type of love; rather, it denotes a sexual demand. It is not a love that seeks to give or to please someone else, but a carnal love that seeks the fulfillment of its own desires.

It is very interesting that this word never appears once in the New Testament, not even in the context of sex in marriage. Even in Greek culture, the word eros represented a carnal, raw, base, low-level craving, yearning, ache, or appetite for sexual fulfillment. This type of “love” is so flesh-based and so far removed from the level of love that God expects of believers that it is never included in New Testament language.

In the New Testament, regardless of whether the context is friendship, brotherhood, or romance, all believers are urged to continually operate from the perspective of agape love, which is a love more focused on giving than it is on receiving. Because the word eros primarily describes a self-satisfying, self-gratifying, self-seeking, self-pleasing type of sexual appetite found mainly among unbelievers or those who are focused on themselves, it is not the type of love that believers should aspire to in their marital lives.

The second word for “love” mentioned in the list above is the Greek word stergo. The word stergo primarily pictures the love that exists between parents and children or the love that exists between members of a family. One scholar has noted that on occasion, the word stergo portrayed the love of a nation for its ruler or even the love of a dog for its master. Consequently, the real idea of the word stergo is that of devotion.

Although the word stergo does appear in the New Testament, it is very rarely used. We find it used in a negative sense in Second Timothy 3:3, where the King James Version translates it “without natural affection.” This suggests a time that will develop in the last days when strong family ties and devotion to one’s family will deteriorate. By using this word in a negative sense, the apostle Paul warns that one of the principal signs of the last times will be the deterioration of the family and of traditional family values.

The third word for “love” is the Greek word phileo, which describes affection — such as the affection felt between a boyfriend and girlfriend or the affability shared between two friends. It carries the idea of two or more people who feel compatible, well-matched, well-suited, and complementary to each other. Although this word describes the attributes of friendship, it is not representative of the highest form of love, which is agape. Other words derived from the word phileo are numerous. Here are a few of them:

The fourth word for “love” is the word chiefly used in the New Testament to depict the love of God. This is the Greek word agape — and it is this word that Paul uses in Galatians 5:22 when he writes, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love….” This is what I call high-level love, for there is no higher, finer, or more excellent love than agape love.

In fact, the word agape is so filled with deep emotion and meaning that it is one of the most difficult words to translate in the New Testament. Trying to explain this word has baffled translators for centuries; nevertheless, I will now add my attempt to clarify the meaning of this powerful word.

Agape occurs when an individual sees, recognizes, understands, or appreciates the value of an object or a person, causing the viewer to behold this object or person in great esteem, awe, admiration, wonder, and sincere appreciation. Such great respect is awakened in the heart of the observer for the object or person he is beholding that he is compelled to love it. In fact, his love for that person or object is so strong that it is irresistible.

In the New Testament, perhaps the best example of agape is found in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” In the phrase, “For God so loved the world,” the word “love” is the word agape.

This means when God looked upon the human race, He stood in awe of mankind, even though man was lost in sin. God admired man; He wondered at man; He held mankind in the highest appreciation. Even though mankind was held captive by Satan at that moment, God looked upon the world and saw His own image in man. The human race was so precious to God and He loved man so deeply that His heart was stirred to reach out and do something to save him. In other words, God’s love drove Him to action.

You see, agape is a love that loves so profoundly that it knows no limits or boundaries in how far, wide, high, and deep it will go to show that love to its recipient. If necessary, agape love will even sacrifice itself for the sake of that object or person it so deeply cherishes. Agape is the highest form of love — a self-sacrificial type of love that moves the lover to action. In contrast:

Agape is a love that has no strings attached. It isn’t looking for what it can get, but for what it can give. Its awe of the one who is loved is so deep that it is compelled to shower love upon that object or person regardless of the response. This is the profound love God has for the human race, for He loved man when he was still lost in sin with no ability to love Him back. God simply loved mankind without any thought or expectation of receiving love in return.

When you love with such a pure love that you expect nothing back in return, it is impossible for you to feel hurt or let down by the response of the recipients of your love. You don’t love them for the purpose of getting something in return; you shower them with love simply because you love them. This kind of love is much higher than eros love that is based on selfishness; stergo love that is restricted by limitations; or phileo love that is rooted in mutual satisfaction. These three types of love are what I call low-level love, but agape is high-level love. It is a love that has no strings attached, a love that loves simply and purely — the God-kind of love.

In First John 3:16, we are urged to possess agape for each other. It says, “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” This plainly means that we are to love and appreciate each other just as fully and freely as God loves us.

The Father loved us to the point of self-sacrifice. Jesus’ agape drove Him to lay down His life for us. In the same way, we are to agape our brothers and sisters to such a high extent that we would be willing to lay down our lives for them. If we are truly operating in agape and they don’t respond in like fashion, it won’t offend or hurt us. We are not looking for what others can do for us; we are simply focused on how to love others with no strings attached. Therefore, the way other people respond to us has no effect on our desire to shower them with agape love.

Further explaining the role of agape in our lives, John said, “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth” (v. 18). The word “love” is again the word agape, which tells us that when agape is at work, it is a force so strong that it demonstrates itself with deeds and actions. This is not an empty love that talks but does nothing. It is a love that does something, just as God loved us and then did something to save us from our lost and sinful condition.

This is the love that Paul urged us to follow after when he wrote in First Corinthians 14:1, “Follow after charity [agape love]….” The word “follow” is the Greek word dioko, which means to hotly pursue. It was a hunting term that pictured a hunter following the tracks of an animal until he finally gets his game. This means that attaining this high-level love doesn’t come easy. If we want to attain agape love and regularly walk in it, we must hotly pursue it! It must be the focus and the aim of our lives.

If agape is the basis of your sexual relationship with your spouse instead of eros, you will always seek to serve and please your spouse rather than being self-centered and focused only on your needs. If agape is the basis of your family relationships rather than stergo, you will always remain devoted to your family, regardless of the disappointments that may occur along the way. And if agape is the basis of your friendships rather than phileo, you will be a faithful, immovable friend for life rather than a come-and-go friend who is faithful only as long as you get what you want out of the relationship. In fact, if agape is the driving motivation of your life and the force behind all your relationships, it will make you to be the best, most devoted, faithful, and reliable friend anyone has ever known.

You may ask, “But how can I possess such love? Is it really possible for me to regularly exhibit such love in my life for other people?” If you were seeking to walk in the kind of love that originates in the power of your flesh, it would be impossible, for flesh is selfish and self-focused and therefore cannot love that highly. But because the seed of God’s Word has been sown into your own human spirit, the potential for this divine love is within you all the time. Now it is up to you to shove the flesh aside and release the love of God from down deep inside. If you will let the Spirit of God release it from your heart, you will discover and enjoy the fruit of the Spirit called “love.” This high-level love is already inside you. Now it’s time for you to free that love and allow the Holy Spirit to manifest it in your life!

My Prayer for Today

Lord, help me turn my attention to Your kind of high-level love and make it a part of my daily life. Forgive me for those times when I’ve fallen into low-level, “you-scratch-my-back-and-I’ll-scratch-yours” love that gets easily offended. Help me climb up to the higher realms of love that You desire to be manifested in my life. Holy Spirit, it is impossible to continually walk in this kind of love in the power of my flesh, so I turn to You to awaken this divine love inside me and to help me manifest it in my life.

I pray this in Jesus’ name!

My Confession for Today

I confess that I am hotly pursuing agape love in my life. I want to attain this high level of love and regularly walk in it, so I treat this fruit of the Spirit like it is one of the most important aims of my life. Because the seed of God’s Spirit and Word is sown in my own human spirit, I have the potential for this divine love within me all the time. So right now I determine to shove the flesh aside and release the power of God from down deep inside. Because agape is the driving motivation of my life and the force behind all my relationships, I am the best, most devoted, faithful, and reliable friend anyone has ever known!

I declare this by faith in Jesus’ name!

Questions to Answer

1. Can you think of one person who has loved you with real agape love at some point in your life? What kind of impact did that “no-strings-attached” kind of love have on you?

2. Would others say that agape love operates in you or that you have strings attached to your demonstrations of love?

3. What can you do to move up into God’s high-level agape love? Think it over, and write down your ideas of what you need to do to leave behind the place of low-level love and move up to God’s higher realm of agape love.

Prove all things; hold fast to that which is good.
— 1 Thessalonians 5:21

Years ago I was invited to have lunch with a man who said he wanted to talk. As I sat with him, he began to tell me the many reasons why he had abandoned believing in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. At first, I thought maybe he just needed someone to talk to about his doubts, but soon I realized this man was deeply bitter. I finally understood he had asked me to lunch in an attempt to dissuade me, and whoever else would listen, from believing in the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

As I listened to this man, I silently asked the Lord for wisdom to help him. I could tell from the man’s words that he had been disappointed in the past by leaders. Out of hurt, he dismissed them all as a bunch of Charismatic misfits. Like many have done in times of disappointment, rather than separate disappointing behavior from truth, he mixed the leaders and their poor behavior all into one big bag and then rejected the whole lot of them.

But taking this approach is illogical. It’s like someone saying, “You know, I ate food once and got food poisoning, so I’ve made the decision that food is bad and I’ll never eat food again.”

If you go without food, eventually you’ll die, so choosing to reject all food because of one bad experience would be a fatal decision. Maybe you need to be a little more selective in where you eat or what you eat, or perhaps you need to learn a little more about how to correctly prepare your food — but you cannot avoid food if you wish to keep on living.

Bad experiences surrounding false prophecies often have negative consequences, and regretfully do occur in the Christian community. But instead of throwing out our legitimate beliefs, as this man had done, we must obey the words of the apostle Paul in First Thessalonians 5:21. When he wrote to the believers in Thessalonica, Paul was speaking to Christians who felt very disappointed and confused as a result of individuals who had misused the gift of prophecy. Because the Thessalonian congregation was tired of this abuse, they were tempted to throw out the spiritual gift of prophecy altogether — no longer allowing it to operate in their church. So Paul wrote and told them, “Prove all things; hold fast to that which is good.”

As we saw in yesterday’s Sparkling Gem, Paul taught that we have a God-given responsibility to “prove” the prophetic words that are spoken over our lives. God doesn’t expect us to blindly accept every prophecy as from the Lord. But once we have determined that a word we received is legitimate and sound, we must “hold fast” to it because there is something we are to do with that word from the Lord. Paul was so convinced of the importance of authentic prophetic utterances that he urged Timothy to “war a good warfare” with the prophecies that had been spoken over his life (see 1 Timothy 1:18).

I think of words from the Lord that He has spoken to me over the years concerning our ministry. These words have been tested, proven, and shown to be legitimate. Denise and I have walked this walk long enough to be able to discern in our spirits the difference between a real prophetic utterance and a bogus prophetic utterance. And like Timothy, Denise and I have waged warfare with some of the prophetic words that have been spoken over our lives. Certainly prophetic utterances are not equal to the Bible, but they have been guideposts that have helped navigate our journey through good times and bad.

Yes, misguided words are given from time to time. But when prophetic words are spoken over our lives that are proven to be legitimate, we need to “hold fast” to them!

The words “hold fast” in First Thessalonians 5:21 are a translation of the Greek word katecho, which is a compound of the words kata and echo. The word kata means down, and the word echo means to hold or to embrace. When compounded, the new word means to hold firmly or to hold down lest the desired object slip away from you, or to take possession of a thing. It is the picture of figuratively wrapping one’s arms around an object and refusing to let it go. It clearly means if we don’t deliberately embrace these prophetic words and make them our own, they can slip away from us. Therefore, Paul urged us to hold sound prophetic words very tightly and to refuse to let them go.

Paul also specifically told us that we are to hold fast to that which is “good.” The word “good” is from the word kalos, which in this case, denotes something that is sound and in order. It’s been tested, proven, and shown to be authentic. It is therefore to be accepted, like a coin that has been tested and proven and is therefore worthy to be put into public circulation. It is attested, dependable, genuine, reliable, and true. This is the nature of a prophetic word to which God charges us to “hold fast.”

What words have been spoken over you that you know are legitimate words from the Lord? Has life tried to seize them away from you? In order for those words to come to fulfillment, it will require you to hold fast to them — because the devil and the cares of this life have a way of trying to steal the words God has spoken over your life. Just think of the Old Testament characters who received prophetic words, such as Abraham or Joseph. Imagine how determined they had to be to “hold fast” to the words they had received from the Lord in order to see their fulfillment!

Likewise, you must wrap your arms around those prophetic utterances spoken over your life that you know in your heart are legitimate. Just because a word birthed in Heaven is faithfully delivered to you does not mean it will automatically come to pass in your life. That word God has given you will more than likely test you — just as the word of the Lord tried Joseph until the time of its fulfillment (see Psalm 105:19). But that doesn’t matter when you’ve already decided you’re going to stay in faith until you see the manifestation of what the Lord has spoken to you. You just dig your heels in the ground, hold fast to that which is good, and refuse to ever let anything take it away from you!

MY PRAYER FOR TODAY


Heavenly Father, I thank You for speaking clearly to me about my life. I confess that there have been times when I’ve been tempted, out of weakness and weariness, to let go of Your prophetic utterances over my life. Today I am encouraged to wrap my arms around those promises You made to me and to not let them go until I see their fulfillment. With the help of Your Spirit, I will prove all things and hold fast to that which is good!

I pray this in Jesus’ name!

 

MY CONFESSION FOR TODAY


I declare that I will do what God has told me to do. Many forces have tried to stop me, but the Word of God is working mightily in me, and it will accomplish God’s will in my life. I wrap my arms around those prophetic words that I have proven to be true, and I refuse to surrender to the negative forces that try to take them away from me. I will remain steady and on course until I see the manifestation of what God has spoken to me.

I declare this by faith in Jesus’ name!

 

QUESTIONS FOR YOU TO CONSIDER

  1. Can you think of an authentic prophetic word that has been spoken over your life? When was it spoken over you? By whom? Where were you? What was your immediate response to it? How do you know that it was authentic?
  2. Did you find that you have had to hold tightly to keep hold of that word from the Lord for your life lest it slip away from you?
  3. What method did you use to test that word to ensure that it was worthy of acceptance and action in your life?

Here’s What the Holy Spirit Wants To Produce in You!

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

One day while visiting a remote village in southern Moldova, a precious Moldavian family invited our family to come to their home for lunch. When we arrived, we could see a huge table set up outside the house under a veranda. The veranda was covered with luscious green vines laden with the biggest grapes I had ever seen anywhere in the world.

As I sat there with Denise and our boys, I looked up to examine the green, white, red, and purple grapes — mixtures of grapes I had never seen before. Soon it was time for dessert, but instead of ice cream or cake, oversized platters overflowing with grapes were placed on the table right before us. We had never seen such plump, colorful grapes, so at first we just looked at them in amazement. When we finally put them in our mouths and bit down, the juices literally flowed. That was the sweetest fruit we had ever tasted in our lives! My taste buds can almost taste them again as I write about it now.

Fruit is wonderful! It is healthy, beneficial, and delicious. This is one reason the apostle Paul used the word “fruit” to describe the wonderful things the Holy Spirit wants to produce inside our lives!

After Paul discusses the works of the flesh in Galatians 5:19-21, he begins to elaborate about the fruit that the Holy Spirit produces in a believer’s life. In Galatians 5:22 and 23, he writes, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance….”

Just as Paul previously described the works of the flesh, now he tells us what the Holy Spirit wants to produce in us — and what a contrast there is between the flesh and the Spirit! The flesh produces “works” — from the Greek word ergos, which implies hard work or hard labor. As noted earlier (see July 14), a life dominated by the flesh is filled with excess, imbalance, unhealthy extremes, laziness, self-abuse, hatred, strife, bitterness, irresponsibility, and neglect. It is the hardest route for any individual, yet the flesh still cries out to be in charge, screaming to have its own way, demanding to be the boss. On the other hand, a life dominated by the Holy Spirit is filled with benefits and blessings!

Look at what the Spirit produces — fruit! The word “fruit” is from the Greek word karpos, which describes the fruit of plants, the fruit of trees, or the fruit of one’s body, such as a person’s children or offspring.

Regardless of whether it is a plant, an animal, or a human, all fruit is produced from some kind of seed. If there is no seed, there is no fruit — and the kind of seed that is sown determines the fruit that will be produced (Genesis 1:11,12). Apples always produce apples; oranges always produce oranges; dogs always produce dogs; cats always produce cats; humans always produce humans. The character of the seed determines the fruit.

The moment you received Jesus as your Savior by faith, God sowed His Spirit and Word into your heart like a seed, and you were spiritually born again by the incorruptible seed of the Word of God (1 Peter 1:23). And just like apples always produce apples and oranges always produce oranges, God’s seed inside you immediately began to produce God! The kind of seed always determines the outcome of the fruit; therefore, you should expect your life to yield the fruits of the Spirit, for that is the seed God has sown into your heart.

Does a vinedresser worry that his grapevines might produce oranges? Of course not! He knows that grapevines only produce grapes. Does the owner of an orange grove run to the orchard to see if his tress produced watermelons? Of course not! He knows his tress will produce oranges because orange trees only produce oranges. If someone wants to grow watermelons, he has to plant watermelon seeds. Once those watermelon seeds are in the ground, he can rest assured that eventually he will have long vines growing juicy watermelons in his garden.

The same principle holds true in the spiritual realm. To get what you want, you have to plant the right seed, because seed always produces fruit after its kind.

So if God has sown His Spirit and His Word into your heart, you have every right to expect divine fruit to be produced inside you! The fruit that the Spirit produces is wonderful, godly fruit, overflowing with blessings and life. As you allow the Holy Spirit to produce these fruits in you, you’ll find that people love to be near you because you’re such a pleasurable experience for them. Once they partake of the love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance that is evident in your life, they will want to come back for multiple servings of that luscious fruit!

So don’t give way to the flesh and allow it to produce its ugly work in your life. Instead, yield to the Spirit and allow the seed of God’s Spirit and Word to produce the fruit of the Spirit in your life. You are the one who makes the ultimate decision of who is going to rule you, so choose wisely today. Do you want to walk in the cruel, hard, bitter works of the flesh? Or would you prefer to mortify the deeds of the flesh and allow the Holy Spirit to produce His wonderful fruit in you? Which path are you going to choose?

My Prayer for Today

Lord, thank You for sowing Your Spirit and Word into my life. Forgive me for allowing the flesh to dominate so much of my life. Help me yield to the divine seed You have planted inside me. I know that Your life resides in me, longing to be released, so today I make the choice to let Your Spirit start working mightily inside me. Thank You for the life of God that is flowing up from my spirit right now, producing the life and the nature of Jesus Christ in me!

I pray this in Jesus’ name!

My Confession for Today

I confess that the Holy Spirit lives in me and is producing His fruit in my life. The flesh no longer rules or dominates me, for I yield to the peaceful fruit of the Holy Spirit in every sphere of my life. I demonstrate love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance in my life. God has sown His Spirit and His Word into my heart; therefore, I expect this divine fruit to be produced inside me.

I declare this by faith in Jesus’ name!

Questions to Answer

1. Can you think of one person who manifests the character of Jesus Christ so much that when you are with him or her, you feel as if you have been with Jesus? What specific qualities are exhibited in the life of this person that make you feel that way?

2. What steps do you need to take so the Holy Spirit can more readily produce this godly fruit in your own life? For instance, what role do you think prayer or reading your Bible has in developing the fruit of the Spirit in your life?

3. If you were to ask others what kind of fruit they see in your life, how do you think they would answer?

Prove all things….
— 1 Thessalonians 5:21

I once bought a violin that I was sure was an authentic Stradivarius violin. Of course, if it was real, it was worth several million dollars. Before I purchased it, I studied documents about how to recognize a real Stradivarius compared to a well-made copy. After convincing myself that I had found a real Stradivarius in a remote antique shop in Russia, I purchased it. But after an examination by a violin expert, it proved to be nothing more than a very old, fabulous fake. Only an experienced eye would have been able to discern that it wasn’t authentic. Today that fake Stradivarius hangs on the wall in one of my offices as a reminder that everything that looks real isn’t real and that it’s important not to eagerly believe everything we see and hear.

I share this example because someone in the church at Thessalonica claimed to possess the gift of prophecy, but it wasn’t the authentic gift of the Spirit. It was an imitation, but it so closely resembled the real gift of prophecy that people in the church had been affected by it. When Paul wrote First and Second Thessalonians, he addressed this issue. Someone was claiming to speak by the gift of prophecy — and whoever this person or this group of people were, they had apparently prophesied that Jesus had already secretly returned and that the Thessalonian believers had missed His return. Because of this error that Paul sought to correct, we now have the apostle’s teaching on the return of Jesus Christ, as recorded in First Thessalonians 4:15-18 and Second Thessalonians 2:1-17.

The church in Thessalonica had already suffered terribly due to persecution, so the hope of Jesus’ return was very precious to them. We are not sure who was upsetting them, but whoever the person or persons were, they must have been influential, because it seems many believers took their prophecies seriously that Jesus had already come and they had missed His return. The Thessalonian believers panicked, thinking they had missed Jesus’ return. The prophetic utterances must have closely resembled what a real prophetic message sounds like, because it seems the congregation as a whole took it very seriously.

This deeply upset the Thessalonian believers, as it would upset you if someone you respected convinced you that Jesus had secretly come and that you had missed it. When these believers finally figured out that Jesus hadn’t come yet, they were so distressed by these inaccurate prophecies that they were tempted to turn a deaf ear to all prophetic utterances. But closing their hearts to prophetic utterances would have been a wrong response. Even though they had been exploited by bogus prophecy, the value of genuine prophecy hadn’t changed. It was still a real gift from God that they needed. If they shut their hearts to it, it would have robbed them of fresh words from the Holy Spirit that were a part of their necessary supply from Heaven.

Many of us have been negatively affected by inaccurate prophecy at one time or another. But that doesn’t mean all prophecy is wrong or untrustworthy. Lots of things are used inaccurately in life. For example, a car can be driven in such a reckless manner that it results in a collision — but that doesn’t stop us from getting in our cars. It simply makes us more aware of our need to drive more carefully and responsibly. If we decided to never drive a car again because someone was once fatally wounded in a car accident, that would be an irrational response.

When Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, he didn’t put a “ban” on all prophecies because of this negative prophetic experience; he simply told them to check their hearts regarding what they heard and to test prophetic utterances before they embraced them. He told them, “Prove all things…” (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

The word “prove” is the Greek word dokimadzo, which means to approve after testing. In other words, don’t simply believe everything you hear. Test it before you accept it.

The word dokimadzo was used in various ways, but one significant way was to describe the process of testing coins to see if they were real or counterfeit. The counterfeit coins look very authentic — and there was such an abundance of counterfeit coins in circulation in ancient times that it became an accepted practice to test coins to determine if they were real or counterfeit. If tested and proven phony, they were rejected. Only if the coins were tested and proven authentic were they approved, pronounced good, recognized for use, and put into public circulation to be accepted for payment. That is where the word “prove” comes from that Paul used in First Thessalonians 5:21.

By using this word dokimadzo in the context of false prophecies that were being circulated among believers in the city of Thessalonica, Paul was urging these believers to treat every prophetic utterance with caution. He didn’t tell them to reject these utterances, but to test them.

As noted above, we need prophetic ministry, but we have a responsibility to test the content of the utterances spoken to us to ensure they originate from the heart of God. Just because someone says, “Thus saith the Lord,” does not mean it is a genuine prophetic utterance. It could just be the product of a person’s mind, given out of spiritual immaturity. Or in some cases, it could represent a conscious attempt to deceive, just as that fake Stradivarius I purchased was a deliberate attempt to copy something that was real. In both the natural and spiritual realms, the process of testing is crucial to ensure that only the authentic is received.

So if you have been the recipient of fraudulent prophetic utterances in the past, let that experience be a lesson to you and then move forward! Add it to your list of experiences that provided a spiritual education! But don’t let it cause you to back off from legitimate and biblically sound prophetic ministry, which is vital and needed both by you as an individual and by the Church at large. Learn from it and move on. Draw on the wisdom and discernment of those who are older and seasoned in the Lord to teach you how to recognize the difference between the real and the counterfeit. That is what Paul was trying to teach the Thessalonians when he told them to “Prove all things….”

The gift of prophecy is real — described as a gift of the Spirit in First Corinthians 12:10. We need this manifestation of the Holy Spirit to be active among us; in fact, Paul exhorted us in First Corinthians 14:1 to actively desire that the Holy Spirit use us in the manifestation of that specific gift.

So cultivate a sensitive heart so you can test every utterance that claims to be inspired by Heaven, just as Paul encouraged us to do in First Thessalonians 5:21. And once you’ve proven a word to be authentic, do your best to embrace it, meditate on it, and wage a good warfare with it in the name of Jesus!

MY PRAYER FOR TODAY


Heavenly Father, I thank You for teaching me common sense regarding the gift of prophecy. The apostle Paul clearly told us to test all things, and I confess that I have received “words” without testing them in the past. But rather than reject all prophetic utterances because some have turned out to be false, today I assume responsibility to test and to prove what is spoken over me. I don’t want to miss anything that the Holy Spirit has to say specifically to me, so I refuse to reject the gift of prophecy. But I thank You for helping me as I follow a commonsense approach to the manifestation of this gift from this moment forward. Please help me learn how to recognize what is real and what is counterfeit.

I pray this in Jesus’ name!

 

MY CONFESSION FOR TODAY


I declare by faith that I am growing in my personal discernment of spiritual things. I am not as naïve as I once was. I am learning to recognize what is real and what is counterfeit. I release every bad experience I’ve ever had with so-called prophetic manifestations, and I open my heart and my mind to the true gift of prophecy that comes from the Holy Spirit. God gave this gift for my edification and for the building up of the Church, and I refuse to reject it because of past bad experiences. With the help of the Holy Spirit, I am becoming wiser and more discerning in my ability to separate the false from the true.

I declare this by faith in Jesus’ name!

 

QUESTIONS FOR YOU TO CONSIDER

  1. Have you ever heard a so-called prophetic word that sounded authentic, but in the end, you realized it was erroneous? When did you have that experience, and what effect did it have on you?
  2. Has the gift of prophecy been an avenue of God’s blessing in your life in times past? Have you learned to test words given to you before you receive them as inspired by the Lord? What is your method of knowing whether or not you have heard a bona fide word from the Spirit of God?
  3. If you have felt abused by the gift of prophecy, are you ready to release that bad experience to the Lord and start over again in the way you determine the validity of prophetic words that are spoken? Do you see that God wants this gift to operate within the Body of Christ, but He wants you to use your head when it is in operation?

Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
— Revelation 2:16

Today the Church is facing a crisis of morals. More and more, society has no stomach for spiritual or moral absolutes. Pastors and spiritual leaders who decide to “take a stand” and preach the Gospel in its pure, unadulterated form are derided as irrelevant and intolerant hate-mongers.

The public reaction to biblical truth is often so adverse that many pastors are hesitant to take strong positions on issues of morality, even though these truths are clearly stated in the Word of God. Rather than answer difficult moral questions, they are tempted to dodge the questions and skirt around the issues in an attempt to avoid conflict.

This same issue plagued the Early Church nearly 2,000 years ago. Toward the close of the First Century AD, there was a group of spiritual leaders who intentionally “watered down” the message of the Gospel to make it less demanding and more accommodating to other points of view. Because the culture couldn’t stomach the idea of a strict exclusionary faith that claimed to be above all others, this group of spiritual leaders attempted to entice Christians to make their faith more inclusive of everyone else’s beliefs.

The problem grew so rampant at the close of the First Century AD that Christ issued a strong rebuke to the people who were spreading this toxic doctrine when He supernaturally appeared to the apostle John. Addressing these erring spiritual leaders, Jesus sternly warned, “Repent, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth” (Revelation 2:16).

The word “fight” in this verse is the Greek word polemos, a well-known Greek word that describes a full-scale battle that is fought until victory is achieved. This emphatically means that Christ is not willing to surrender His Church to anyone, and He will fight for His Church until it is solidly back in His hands. He refused to stand idly by and let these individuals corrupt His Church. If errant spiritual leaders did not repent of their active or passive tolerance of this false teaching, Christ would rise up against them with His mighty sword.

Christ’s warning to the Early Church applies to the Church in all ages, and it is clear to see why His words are especially relevant to believers today. Although there are many God-fearing pastors, preachers, and spiritual leaders in the modern Christian community, a host of spiritual leaders are replicating the grave errors made by errant leaders in the First Century. In pulpits and congregations around the world, truth is being watered down and altered to reflect the inclusive values of a changing culture. In many congregations, pure, sound doctrine has been completely replaced by soft, “feel-good” messages, and the majority of people in the pews are ignorant of even the most elementary tenets of the faith.

Despite their ability to communicate masterfully, many modern-day ministers lack a basic education in fundamental Bible principles or have simply chosen to avoid teaching sound doctrine in favor of more popular motivational messages. To be direct, it appears that some have been duped into taking a politically correct position on many biblical truths instead of declaring truth — because the truth would put them on a collision course with the society that surrounds them.

This drift away from the Bible has created a doctrinal vacuum in the Church — a void currently being filled with dynamic business ideas, financial advice, and motivational messages instead of the Word of God that the Holy Spirit is bound to honor with signs and wonders. It is certainly true that some of the motivational messages delivered from the pulpit are beneficial in people’s lives, but this help is temporary and can often be found in a book by some psychological guru. When everything is said and done, only the Bible has the power to permanently transform.

Unfortunately, what we currently see and feel is only the beginning of the rift that is developing within the Church world. Unless a major revival occurs, this rift will only grow deeper and wider. If repentance doesn’t melt the hearts of people throughout the Church world, it will eventually seem like there are three churches:

It is not too late for the Body of Christ to make a recovery. In fact, it is never too late as long as there are believers who are willing to hear and hearken to what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Church. However, in order for the Church to receive the divine power it needs for correction, change, and restoration, it must undergo a transformation from the highest to its lowest levels.

The Bible makes it clear that if spiritual leaders refuse to take a stand for truth in these turbulent times, Christ will fight against them with His mighty sword. This is a battle that they cannot win. Absolutely no one may mitigate the truth of the Gospel — even for the purpose of purchasing peace with the world around them. The only true recourse is to surrender to the Holy Spirit and do what is right, even if it is wrong in the eyes of the world.

Early believers endured bullying, ridicule, imprisonment, and were even put to death because they refused to conform to the world that surrounded them on all sides. Although some believers collapsed under this pressure, many steadfastly resisted this coercion to conform and held fast to their faith. God has always had His remnant — those who will not bow to external pressures. In these last times God will have that remnant once again, and those who refuse to fear or to compromise their faith in Jesus Christ will experience previously unknown levels of the power of God as a result of their commitment to stand by truth.

I realize this is a very different type of Sparkling Gem, but I felt it necessary to write and memorialize what I believe are the greatest struggles facing the modern Church. I encourage you to stay faithful in praying for those believers and spiritual leaders who refuse to succumb to the pressures of the age and stand by absolute, biblical truth, regardless of what the world around them dictates. Why not make a fresh consecration to the Lord today that you will always be counted among that faithful number? Make a quality, immutable decision for your own walk with God: “From this moment forward, there’s no fence left to ride! Compromise in my commitment to Jesus is NOT an option!”

MY PRAYER FOR TODAY


Dear Father, I ask You to help me understand the relevance of this word I’ve read today. I pray that You will strengthen the present leadership of the Body of Christ to stand for the absolute truths of God’s Word even if that stance places them in direct opposition to the world. I ask You to raise up strong leaders in the Christian community who will lead the way and courageously stand for truth, regardless of the price that must be paid. I pray for my pastor and for other spiritual leaders. Father, I ask You to help them hear what the Spirit is saying and grant them boldness to call the Church to a time of holiness and separation, even if it is opposed to the voice of the world around them.

I pray this in Jesus’ name!

 

MY CONFESSION FOR TODAY


I boldly confess that I will stand by the truth of God’s Word, regardless of what the world around me tries to dictate as morally right or wrong. A day will soon come when we will all stand before Christ’s high court of reckoning and give account for how we upheld truth or how we forfeited it to accommodate the world around us. I have made my decision! Regardless of what the world says or what names it calls me, I am going to stand by the Christian values that have guided the Church for 2,000 years. Truth has not suddenly changed — it is society that has changed. I am determined to stand by biblical truth regardless of the price I must pay.

I declare this by faith in Jesus’ name!

 

QUESTIONS FOR YOU TO CONSIDER

  1. Today’s television programs often depict homosexuality as the norm. Can you think of other examples in modern society where biblical truths are undermined and exchanged with a new code of ethics?
  2. As a Christian do you believe you should merely go with the flow of what’s happening, or is it your responsibility to uphold the absolute truth of the Gospel?
  3. If it personally costs you to take a strong moral stance that is in line with God’s Word, are you willing to pay that price? How far are you willing to go in your commitment to biblical truth?

A True Child of God Cannot Continue To Habitually Practice Sin!

Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
— 1 John 3:6

A true child of God cannot continue to habitually live a lifestyle of sin! It is impossible! In fact, if someone claims to be a child of God but continues in a life of sin, it is more than likely that he was never genuinely born again in the first place. You see, the Bible makes it clear that it is simply impossible for a bona fide child of God to continue in a life of sin! Today I want to tell you the reason why this is impossible.

First John 3:6 says, “Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.” Do you see the word “sinneth” used two times in this verse? In both cases, the Greek tense indicates continuous action, which means the verse could be more accurately translated, “He who abides in him does not go on continually, habitually sinning as a way of life; he who continually goes on routinely sinning as a way of life has not seen him, neither known him.”

I realize this is a very strong statement, but this is precisely what John said to us in this verse. According to this verse, anyone who continues to live in habitual sin does not know Jesus. It could be that this individual has come close to the Kingdom of God and has even tasted the powers of it. But the fact that he has continued uninterrupted in the practice of sin shows that he has never become a real child of God. The fact that his life never changed demonstrates that his nature was never changed. This is exactly what John wrote in First John 3:6.

John then goes on to tell us, “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God” (1 John 3:9). The tense of the word translated “commit” again indicates continuing action, which means the verse could be translated, “Whosoever is born of God simply cannot go on continually sinning….” And then John tells us why!

John writes, “…for his [God’s] seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” The word “seed” is the Greek word sperma — and yes, it is where we get the word sperm.

According to this phenomenal verse, God injected His own seed into you the day you gave your life to Christ! Just as the sperm of a human father carries the DNA of that father, God’s seed — the Word of God — carries the life and nature of God within it. When that divine seed was implanted on the inside of you, it imparted the very nature of God Himself to your spirit.

Peter referred to this miraculous event when he wrote that you are “…born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever” (1 Peter 1:23). This means the day you got saved, that divine seed came rushing into your spirit, carrying the life and nature of God within it to give you a new nature. Just as a human seed produces a human life, God’s divine seed immediately began to produce the life of God inside you.

In Genesis 1, God declared a spiritual law — that every living thing produces after its own kind (vv. 21,24,25): Humans produce humans; horses produce horses; plants produce plants, and so on. This principle is also true in the spiritual realm. The day that God’s divine seed was planted in you, that seed transported the very nature of God Himself into your spirit, with the full expectation that His very life and nature would be reproduced on the inside of you. This is why your desires suddenly changed after you were born again. This is also why you felt so badly about sin that previously didn’t bother you at all and why you became so driven to possess a holy life. You weren’t the same anymore, because you had a new nature. The nature of God Himself had been planted in you!

This is the reason a genuinely born-again person cannot continue habitually in his past sinful patterns. His new nature will drive him to be different, to be holy, to be like God. His born-again spirit will grieve and sorrow if sins are committed, because such actions violate the new nature that has been implanted in his spirit. If a person continues in sin as though nothing happened inside him, then nothing is probably exactly what did happen! More than likely, he was never really born again, for if he had been born again, that new nature of God within him would not permit him to continue living habitually in sin.

What does this mean for you and me? If a person who claims to be born again continues uninterrupted in habitual sin, we can take it as a strong indicator that he has probably never really been born again. This person may have come close to the Kingdom of God; he may have even learned the lingo of the saints. But the fact that his actions are unchanged indicates that his nature has never been changed. If he had really been infused with the divine seed of God, that life-giving seed would have so changed him that he wouldn’t be able to continue living as he had lived in the past.

This is why I say that people who claim to know the Lord but whose lives never reflect a change should question if they have ever really been born again. The great preacher, Charles Finney, once remarked that most people who attend church are probably not born again. When asked why he believed this, Finney remarked that it was impossible for true children of God to live in blatant sin as many believers do. Finney made this statement over 100 years ago. As I contemplate the amount of sin that is so prevalent in the Church today, it makes me wonder, How many people who attend church in our own day are not genuinely born again?

First John 3:9 plainly declares that an authentic child of God cannot routinely commit and live in uninterrupted sin. Because he has been “born of God,” he is so inwardly changed that it affects him outwardly. He acts differently because he is different. Now God’s seed resides in his spirit, and that seed is producing the life of God in him; therefore, he thinks, behaves, and acts like God’s child.

On the other hand, if a person’s life does not emulate God, perhaps it is an indication that he has never really received God’s divine seed into his spirit. If he had been implanted with God’s seed, that seed would have caused clear and visible changes in his life.

You must remember that in regard to the works of the flesh, Paul said, “…They which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:21). The word “do” is the Greek word prasso, which means to practice. The Greek expresses the idea of a person who performs these things as a matter of routine. These actions are his ritual, his norm, his pattern of life. It means the verse could be translated, “…Those who put these things into practice and who do these things routinely shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.”

This is not the story of someone who has lost his salvation; rather, this is the story of someone who thought he was saved but who never really possessed genuine salvation in the first place. If he had truly been saved, he wouldn’t have been able to continue living a consistent life of sin. The apostle John made this point emphatically clear in First John 3:9.

There is nothing more important than your salvation, friend. If you make a mistake about your spiritual condition, it is a mistake you will regret for all of eternity. Because this is such a vital, eternal issue, I advise you to carefully examine your own life to see if you reflect the life and nature of God.

This question is too serious for you to make a mistake. If these questions disturb you, take the time to let the Holy Spirit speak to your heart and tell you the truth. If your life gives proof that you are saved, then rejoice! But if an honest evaluation reveals that you have only become more religious but have never really changed, perhaps you need to reconsider whether or not you have ever really been saved.

If you find that this last statement best describes you, it’s time for you to make your heart right with God. Don’t let pride hold you back from doing what is right. Many people will have an eternal destiny in hell because they couldn’t bear the thought of publicly admitting they weren’t saved. Don’t let pride stop you from doing what is right. The question of where you will spend your eternity is too important to ignore! Determine to put aside your pride so you can do what God’s Spirit is urging you to do! 

My Prayer for Today

Lord, I thank You for placing Your divine life inside me! You have changed my whole view of life and given me new desires. I am so grateful to You for bringing about such change in me. I am truly a new creature with new desires, new longings, and new aspirations. I am so thankful that when I look at my life, I can see Your life and Your nature working in me!

I pray this in Jesus’ name!

My Confession for Today

I confess that I have a new nature with new desires! I am not the person I used to be. By looking at me, it is evident that God’s new nature is alive and working inside me. His divine seed is reproducing God’s life in me so that every day I am thinking more like God, acting more like God, and possessing less tolerance for any sin that might still be active in my life. I don’t have to wonder if I’m really saved, for my life gives proof that I have received a brand-new nature!

I declare this by faith in Jesus’ name!

Questions to Answer

1. Have you ever known someone who claimed to be born again, but you never witnessed any changes in his lifestyle, behavior, attitudes, or actions? Did it make you wonder if that person was really saved?

2. If you know someone who claims to be a child of God but whose life continues uninterrupted in a lifestyle of sin, what does this person’s unchanged life indicate to you now?

3. What changes occurred in you when you received Jesus Christ into your heart? Why don’t you write down some of the biggest changes that have taken place since you were born again? It might be interesting for you to see how much your life has changed!

For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established.
— Romans 1:11

We saw earlier (see the May 20 Gem) that the apostle Paul deeply yearned to meet the believers in Rome because he believed that if he could spend time with them or perhaps if he could lay hands on them, there would be a spiritual impartation to them. As we discussed then, the word “impart” in Romans 1:11 is the Greek word metadidomi, which means to transfer something from one to another. The only reason Paul would use this word was if he believed he had something inside him that could be transferred to the Romans. Paul believed in what he had in himself, and he was sure that if he could get to them in person, that spiritual substance he carried would rub off on them!

As Paul continued in Romans 1:11, he made it very clear regarding what he wanted to impart. He specifically stated that he believed if he could spend time with them, it would result in the impartation of a “spiritual gift” to them. The word “gift” in this verse is the word charisma — and it is derived from charis, which is the Greek word for grace. When charis becomes charisma, it depicts something that is given or imparted by grace. This is why certain people call themselves Charismatics — indicating that they claim to be gifted with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, or at least that they place a significant emphasis on the gifts of the Spirit in their expression of worship.

Historically, the word charisma was used to describe that moment when the gods graced or donated supernatural ability, favor, or power to an individual. Thus, this word charisma meant a gracious gift — and that is exactly how it should be interpreted in the New Testament. A person who has received a charisma has received a donation or an enablement from God that equips him in some supernatural manner.

Thus, when Paul wrote that he wanted to impart a spiritual gift to the Romans, he was saying that if he could see them in person, God would impart a charisma — a divine gifting — to them.

Paul continued to say, “For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established” (Romans 1:11). The word “established” comes from the Greek word steridzo. It describes something fixed and solid, like a column that holds up the roof of a house. It could also be rendered to brace, to shore up, to bolster, to support, or to uphold, and it fundamentally describes the act of adding strength and support to something that already exists.

In ancient times, the word steridzo was also used to describe a rod that was driven into the ground next to a grapevine to support the grapevine as it grew upward and flourished. That stake gave upward direction to the vine and supported the clusters of rich grapes that hung from the vine. The vines were reinforced and supported by the rod that the vine grew and twined around.

This illustration perfectly encapsulates how I feel when I am around seasoned men or women of God. After being in their presence, I spiritually feel like an iron rod has been hammered into the soil of my heart that helps me keep growing upward in the right direction. I feel reinforced and stronger as a result of being with them. They help me keep my focus where it ought to be, and this all contributes to fruitfulness in my life.

In our backyard in Moscow, Denise and I have grapevines that grow along the fence. As usual, they started out as little twigs that looked every unattractive. But our gardener was certain of their growth, so he acted in faith and firmly hammered tall metal rods next to each little twig. When I asked what those rods were for, he informed me that each rod would provide direction for the vine to grow upward. It was hard to imagine that those tiny little sticks poking out of the ground would one day need such a tall rod to grow on, but he was right! Eventually the vines twined around the rods, growing upward toward the light. Those rods reinforced the growth process — and it wasn’t too long before the vines were producing healthy clusters of grapes.

That’s what the gifts of the Holy Spirit are intended to do for us — to establish us, to reinforce us, to make us stronger, and to help us grow so we can then bear much fruit for the glory of Jesus and for the furtherance of His Kingdom!

MY PRAYER FOR TODAY


Father, I am so grateful for the privilege of being around seasoned men or women of God. After being in their presence, I spiritually feel like an iron rod has been hammered into the soil of my heart that helps me keep growing upward in the right direction. I thank You for the blessing of being reinforced and stronger as a result of their influence. Holy Spirit, help me follow their example in Christ so I can keep my focus where it ought to be, and produce greater fruitfulness in my life.

I pray this in Jesus’ name!

 

MY CONFESSION FOR TODAY


I confess that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are at work on my behalf to establish me, to reinforce me, to make me stronger, and to help me grow. I walk with the wise, and wisdom surrounds and saturates me so that I can bear much fruit for the glory of Jesus and the furtherance of His Kingdom!

I declare this by faith in Jesus’ name!

 

QUESTIONS FOR YOU TO CONSIDER

  1. Can you recall a moment when you felt spiritually reinforced simply by being in the presence of someone who was older and more seasoned in the Lord?
  2. What fruit was produced in you as a result of that righteous influence?
  3. Are the gifts of the Holy Spirit in manifestation in your congregation? If not, is there a reason why they are not manifesting in the church? Is the manifestation of these gifts permitted? Do you know what your church believes about the gifts of the Holy Spirit?

Do You Practice Sin in Your Life?

Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
— Galatians 5:21

When I was young in the Lord and read the list in Galatians 5:19-21 of the works of the flesh, I was afterward afraid that I wouldn’t be admitted into the Kingdom of God if I ever unintentionally slipped into one of these fleshly works. That’s what I thought Paul meant when he said, “…they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” I wondered, Would an occasional, unintentional act of the flesh keep me or someone else out of God’s Kingdom? What does it mean when it says, “they which do such things”? If I fall into one of these vices once, does that mean it’s all over for me?

So when I first started to learn New Testament Greek, one of my top priorities was to study Galatians 5:21 to see exactly what the original Greek was saying. What I discovered brought great relief to my mind, and I believe it will bring assurance to your heart and mind as well.

When Paul says, “…They which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God,” he uses the word “do,” from the Greek word prasso, which means to practice. Had he used the Greek word poieo, which means to do, it would have referred to an occasional act, but Paul carefully chose to use the word prasso, which conclusively communicates the idea of something that is done repeatedly or habitually. These are the actions of a person who has put these things into practice in his life, performing them as a matter of routine. These actions are his ritual, his norm, his pattern of life. Thus, the verse could be translated, “…Those who put these things into practice in their lives and do these things routinely as a manner of lifestyle shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.”

For a review, let’s look quickly at the following list of the works of the flesh that are not to be routinely practiced or habitually performed:

Remember, when Paul wrote, “…They which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God,” he used a Greek tense that categorically means he is talking about those who perform these things as a manner of lifestyle or who are habitually controlled by fleshly thoughts or deeds. To such people, the works of the flesh are their ritual, their norm, their pattern of life. So I must ask you:

If you routinely do these things, you need to be very concerned about whether or not you are genuinely a child of God.

As you will see in tomorrow’s Sparkling Gem, it is impossible for a real believer to continue habitually in sin. If these works of the flesh are the norm, the pattern, the routine of a person’s life, it may be an indication that he was never born again — thus providing the reason he will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

If you occasionally struggle with sin, then go to God and allow Him to show you how He sees your sin. Get a revelation of what sin is — how grievous it is to the heart of God and how damaging it is to your own soul. Then ask Him to forgive you and to cleanse you — and He will! But if you routinely do many of these things as a manner of lifestyle, I believe you need to go to God and ask Him to tell you the truth about your spiritual status! You cannot afford to make a mistake about this eternal question!

My Prayer for Today

Lord, I thank You for saving me by the power of God. Help me put aside the works of the flesh once and for all. Please teach me to walk in the Spirit. I know that You have designed a powerful life for me, and I want to enter into that life in all its fullness. My heart’s desire is to know You better and to walk with You, so today I am asking that Your Spirit propel me forward into this newer and higher way of living!

I pray this in Jesus’ name!

My Confession for Today

I confess that I do NOT routinely perform the works of the flesh. As a genuine child of God, I live to please my Heavenly Father, and I am repulsed by sin when it tries to operate in my life. My spirit is sensitive to God, and my heart is tender to the voice of the Holy Spirit. I hate sin and its consequences, and I do everything I can to live and to stay in the Presence of God!

I declare this by faith in Jesus’ name!

Questions to Answer

1. Are any of the above works of the flesh routinely performed in your life? If yes, how does today’s Sparkling Gem affect you?

2. Has the Holy Spirit been trying to deal with you about certain works of the flesh that are operating in your life? What are those areas? Are you going to permit Him to purge those grievous actions and attitudes from your life?

3. Do you need to take some time today to get before the Lord and confess your sin? If your answer is yes, please don’t leave your quiet place until you have done so. You need to respond to God while your spirit is sensitive to what He is speaking to you.

Envyings, Murders, Drunkenness, Revellings

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like….
— Galatians 5:19-21

When the Jewish leaders turned Jesus over to Pilate to be criminally tried in a court of law, Pilate knew they did it because they were jealous of the popularity that Jesus was gaining in the nation. Mark 15:10 says, “For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy.”

The word “envy” in the above verse is the Greek word phthonos. It depicts a hostile feeling toward someone because that person has something — an advantage, a benefit, a position — that the other does not possess but would like to have. The despicable feeling toward that person with a perceived advantage is so strong that the one who feels “envy” takes action to remove that person’s advantage in the hope that it will pass on to him. This kind of envy is evil, sinister, and full of maliciousness.

Mark 15:10 tells us that Pilate could see the real motives of the chief priests. Pilate knew the real issue: The chief priests felt threatened and insecure because of Jesus’ growing popularity. Pilate knew insecurity was driving the chief priests to demand that Jesus be charged with a criminal offense and that He be publicly declared guilty and crucified. Although the chief priests acted from a different pretense, the real issue was evident. They wanted to remove Jesus so that the publicity that had been focused on Him would shift back to the priesthood, where it had been before Jesus came on the scene. These horrible attitudes and appalling actions are communicated by the word “envy” in Mark 15:10.

Envy:

In Galatians 5:19-21, Paul included “envy” in the works of the flesh. As noted above, the word “envy” is the Greek word phthonos. This word implies a deeply felt grudge because someone possesses what a person wishes was his own. Because the person who feels envy has a chip on his shoulder, he begrudges what that other person possesses and is covetous of the person’s belongings, accomplishments, relationships, or titles in life. Every time he sees that other person, he inwardly seethes about his success. He deeply resents that person’s blessing and tries to figure out a way to seize it away from the person he envies in order to make it his own.

In the example given above, the chief priests were envious of the acclaim Jesus was gaining. To get rid of the competition, the chief priests therefore decided to kill Jesus. That is the way this type of envy reacts. It is so strong that it propels a person to take some kind of action — most often, some kind of evil action designed to do away with the person who has the advantage.

This may explain why the King James Version next mentions “murder.” The problem is, the word “murder” doesn’t appear in the Greek language! So we must ask, “Why did the King James translators insert the word ‘murder’ if it doesn’t appear in the original Greek?” The only possible answer is that they perceived this “envy” to be so strong that it would even drive a person to “murder” in order to get what he wants.

There are examples in classical literature where the word phthonos is also used to represent a person who uses others as stepping stones to get where he wants to be in terms of money, prestige, and power. This is an unscrupulous person who uses and abuses people so he might grasp the things he desires.

Perhaps you’ve seen this work of the flesh manifested at the office, your place of employment, or even at your church. Have you ever witnessed a moment when a fellow employee or believer tried to snuggle up close to you, but you found out later that this person was only feigning friendship? In reality, he didn’t want to be your friend; he just wanted to be close to you so he could befriend someone you knew. To get to that other person, he had to go through you. So he acted like your friend in order to gain his own advantage and then dropped you like a lead balloon.

Or perhaps someone acted as if he wanted to be your friend when in truth all he wanted was your job! This goes on in the secular world all the time, but it should not happen inside the church. Such behavior is hurtful, manipulative, and unkind. It wounds souls; it makes people feel like they have been abused; and it cheapens the concept of friendship. No wonder Paul calls envy a work of the flesh!

The next time you find yourself tempted to get envious over someone else’s blessing or position, call upon the Spirit of God to help you mortify that deed of the flesh. Put it to silence by deliberately choosing to rejoice when someone else gets blessed! What you sow is exactly what you will reap. If you sow anger, resentment, and bitterness, that negative harvest will come back to you in the future. But if you sow joy for those who have been blessed and who are ahead of you, a time will come when blessings will come back to you. Then people will rejoice with you about YOUR success!

Drunkenness:

The word “drunkenness” is from the word methe, which refers to strong drink or to drunkenness. The consumption of wine for the sake of intoxication was common in the first century due to many pagan religions that employed wine as a part of their religious practices.

For example, the religion of Bacchos (whom the Greeks called Dionysos) was centered around wine and intoxication. In fact, Bacchos was called the god of wine. Once the worshipers were completely inebriated due to their consumption of wine, they threw off all restraints and fully yielded themselves to every temptation of the flesh. Nothing was off limits. Plunging themselves into the most vulgar sexual excesses and unnatural acts, the participants attempted to breach every known moral code, committing the grossest extremes of sin possible in order to experience a realm of excess never before tasted or known to man. That was the deliberate goal of this religion; hence, the participants were drawn into perverted and shameless orgies. While under the influence of wine, the people fornicated as the priests beat drums and clanged cymbals, adding to the rage, emotions, and uncontrolled passion of the moment.

Often drugs were mixed together with the wine, which caused the participants to convulse or to dance in frenzied circles. This frenzied condition was called entheos — a compound of the words en and theos. The word en means in, and theos is the word for god. Thus, if a person was entheos, he was “in the control of a god.” Interestingly, this is where we get the word enthusiasm. It was believed that when a participant fell into one of these uncontrolled, frenzied moments, he had passed the moral barrier and was now caught in the control of a god or spirit. This entheos experience was the ultimate goal for those who participated in the religion of Bacchos.

The consumption of wine was a key factor in this pagan religion. But Bacchos was not the only religion that used wine. The use of wine was a widespread practice in nearly all the Greek and Roman religions. Recent archeological digs of ancient cities testify to the prevalent use of wine at that time. Great numbers of homes have been discovered with huge underground caverns designed to hold a vast supply of wine. In some of these sites, the houses were found to have openings in the floor through which a person could dip down into the massive wine supply below. The fact that this much wine was available to individual homes clearly demonstrates the major role that wine played in first-century society.

Paul knew that when flesh became absorbed with wine, a person lost his ability to think rationally, often leading to devastating excess. This is precisely why he told the Ephesian believers, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess…” (Ephesians 5:18). This word “excess” is the Greek word asotia, which when literally translated means one who has lost his ability to save or to spare himself. This is a person who wastes his life, squanders his money, or desecrates his body because he is drunk and cannot think straight. Due to a mind that has been altered by excessive alcohol consumption, this person thinks irrationally, acts irresponsibly, and commits acts of excess that would normally not even be a temptation.

The principal pagan religion of Ephesus was the worship of Artemis. This was another religion that employed vast amounts of wine in its worship. The Bible provides a strong indication that although the believers in Ephesus had been redeemed and delivered from the temple of Artemis, they were allowing the consumption of wine to remain a common feature in their lives. Paul urged them to stop this practice, telling them to put aside the wine and to “be filled with the Spirit” in its place. Paul knew that once these believers were under the influence of God’s Spirit, they would be positively affected! Under that influence, they would be so changed that they would start speaking to themselves in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in their hearts to the Lord (Ephesians 5:19).

A drunken state suppresses the mind’s ability to think correctly and releases the flesh to fully express itself. The believers in the first century were trying to walk free from the power of their flesh. The last thing they needed was to drink wine, inhibit their ability to think correctly, revive the flesh, and then do things that were sinful or damaging! So Paul urged them to leave the wine alone! The undisciplined consumption of wine only leads to the works of the flesh!

Revellings:

Last in his list of the works of the flesh is the word “revellings.” This interesting word comes from the Greek word komoi, which describes a festive procession or merry-making. Most who see the word “revellings” imagine that it refers to drunkenness, street fights, or those who run from one drunken party to the next. Is this what you thought this word means? Let’s look at it and see what it really means in the original Greek!

The word komoi (“revellings”) describes a person who can’t bear the thought of boredom and is therefore continually seeking different forms of amusement or entertainment. This person is actually afraid of being bored, so he constantly contemplates what he can do next to have fun or to be entertained. The word komoi can refer to a person who endlessly eats at parties or who seeks constant laughter and hilarity. Certainly there is nothing wrong with laughter; the problem with this person is that he is consumed with the need for comedy, light moments, fun, pleasure, entertainment, or constant eating. He lives for the next meal, the next restaurant, the next movie, the next vacation.

In Second Timothy 3:4, Paul prophesies that this kind of hedonism would be an especially prevalent problem in the last days. He wrote that in the last days, people would be “lovers of pleasures.” These words come from the Greek word philedonos, which is a compound of the words philos and hedone. The word philos means to love, and the word hedone means something that tastes sweet or something that is pleasant or enjoyable. In classical Greece, it denoted the exaltation of pleasure, especially signified by the freedom to sexually express oneself. Any sexual expression was permissible as long as the parties involved agreed. In other words, there was no moral standard when hedonism ruled ancient Greece. Of the five times where the word hedone is used in the New Testament, it is used in a bad sense to describe the unrestrained seeking of carnal pleasures.

By using the word philedonos (“lovers of pleasures”), Paul tells us explicitly that in the last days people will be obsessed with pleasure — with eating, partying, and entertainment. They will be preoccupied with new methods to alleviate boredom. Life will become so soft and luxurious that people will overeat, be lazy, take unwarranted time off work, exist on borrowed money, and permit questionable moral behavior — all the while thinking that this is a normal, acceptable way to live.

Now do you see why Paul included “revellings” in his list of the works of the flesh in Galatians 5:19-21? The flesh wants to escape responsibility, thrive on fun, and avoid the seriousness of life. If you let your flesh lead you, it will waste your time, your talents, and your energies on things that are not eternal. You’ll spend all your time watching television, going to movies, and eating at restaurants — and in the end, you’ll have nothing to show for it but tons of credit card debt. One day you’ll hold your credit card bills in your hands and realize that you are head over heels in debt because of a few fleeting moments of pleasure. Were all those fleshly pursuits really worth the slavery to debt that you now have to live with for the next couple of years?

You see, that is what the flesh wants to do to you. It says, “Come on, it will feel so good if you do this. It’s true that you probably shouldn’t, but just one more time won’t hurt. Besides, what else do you have to do? There’s nothing to do at home!”

The truth is, there is plenty to do at home! You could be reading your Bible; playing with your children; developing your relationship with your brothers and sisters; visiting your neighbors; volunteering to serve in some area of your church; mowing your yard; learning to cook; cleaning the garage; or reading a book and developing your mind. There is a host of things you could do that would be healthy for you and your family!

So the next time your flesh says “There’s nothing to do! It’s so boring!” — just take a look inside your garage; check the condition of your backyard; or peek into your clothes closet. I think you’ll see that there is plenty for you to do to keep from being bored! Your flesh may recoil from doing these things, but afterward you’ll feel like a champion! You’ll feel so good that you didn’t go into more debt for more stuff you don’t need. You’ll be so thankful you didn’t waste your precious time doing things that don’t matter. And you’ll feel so victorious for accomplishing something that has needed your attention for a very long time! Somebody say, “Amen!”

My Prayer for Today

Lord, help me the next time I am tempted to get envious over someone else’s blessing or position. Help me to keep my head on straight and not to allow things in my life that will recharge my flesh and stir me up to do things that are sinful or wrong. Forgive me for thinking that I constantly have to be entertained. I’m so sorry that I’ve wasted so much of my time and thrown away so much money on things that don’t matter. I don’t want to be dominated by my flesh anymore. Today I am calling on You to help me break away from my past patterns so I can start on a new and higher path!

I pray this in Jesus’ name!

My Confession for Today

I confess that I am not dominated by the flesh but by the Spirit of God. I am completely committed to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and to doing what pleases Him most with my life. I refuse to let my flesh lead me astray, and I have decided to take up my cross and follow wherever Jesus leads me. I am serious about life; I am serious about doing what God wants me to do; and I am a good steward of my time, resources, and talents. 

I declare this by faith in Jesus’ name!

Questions to Answer

1.  The next time you feel tempted to get envious over someone else’s blessing or position, what are you going to do about it? Remember — what you sow is exactly what you will reap!

2.  What changes do you need to make in your life to stop reactivating and recharging the power of your flesh? Is there any habit, hobby, preoccupation, or relationship you have that encourages you to think or to act wrong?

3.  The next time your flesh says, “There’s nothing to do! It’s so boring!” what are you going to do? Will you grab a newspaper so you can see what is being shown at the local movie theater, or will you decide to do something productive and edifying?

…Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
— Matthew 4:4

Many years ago, I was living at such a furious pace that the only time I really opened my Bible was to prepare something to preach. The inspired Word of God was only passing through my brain in much the same way textbook material would go in when I used to cram for a test in school. In other words, I wasn’t studying to learn; I was studying to “pass.” The Word wasn’t really going into my heart.

It’s a very difficult thing to admit that this had become the way I was dealing with the Word of God — reading it and preparing my heart at the last minute. But the Holy Spirit spoke to me and convicted me that this was wrong. As God spoke to me, I made a fresh commitment that there would be no higher priority in my life than His Word. And from that time until the present, I have lived with a self-imposed rule: “No Bible — no food.” In other words, I made a personal commitment that if the Word of God did not go into my heart first thing every morning, then no food at all would go into my body. I simply made a decision to put the Word of God first and make it my highest priority, even “more than my necessary food” (see Job 23:12). This is not a biblical rule. It’s my own made-up rule that I needed to establish discipline in my own life.

Matthew 4:4 says, “…Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Why do we eat “bread” or natural food? We eat food because that’s what our body needs to maintain strength and health. And just as our body needs food every day, our spirit needs the Word of God every day for our spiritual health and vitality.

I want us to pause for a moment to look deeply at Matthew 4:4. Notice that this verse says we live “by every word” that comes out of the mouth of God, which is the Greek phrase epi panti rhemati. I want to take this phrase apart piece by piece so that you’ll get the full impact of what Jesus was teaching us.

The word “by” is the Greek word epi, which means on. The word “every” is the Greek word panti, and it means every. It is a compound of two words: pan, which means all, and the word ti, which denotes the smallest, most miniscule detail. Hence, it is every little piece. The word “word” is the Greek word rhemati and it is plural for the word rhema. It depicts living words.

When all these words are used as in Matthew 4:4, perhaps a better rendering might be that man lives by “feeding on the constant stream of rhema — living words — coming toward him from the mouth of God and by consuming all of it, every little piece down to the smallest detail….”

This verse clearly teaches that we are to take every word of Scripture into our hearts and souls and feed on it. Every little nuance of the Word of God has power in it and brings nourishment to our lives. Just as we must have physical food to survive and thrive, so our spiritual nature must have God’s living Word as our daily sustenance if we are to live in His abundance and thrive. It is essential that we live “on” the Word of God if we want to spiritually flourish. To ignore or neglect our spiritual need for the Word is the equivalent of denying our bodies the food that they need to grow, develop, and prosper in health.

David said, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalm 119:11). Whether we’re talking about a Christian who lived in the First Century or one who lives in the last days of the ages, the answer for living in a sin-darkened society is the same. We must become “people of the Book,” continually receiving God’s rhema — living words — words that He is speaking to us through His Word and His Spirit into our hearts and minds so the very substance of God can be released into our lives. We have to open up God’s Word like we would open a treasure and allow who is inside the written Word to flow within us. This Word is the only thing that will heal us and make us whole, protect our families, and help set our children and our marriages on a blessed, right course.

I encourage you today to renew your commitment to the Word of God like never before. Commit to Him that in these last days, you’ll fill your mind with His creative, restorative substance — His very Person and nature — which will provide you with healing, wholeness, deliverance, protection, and all the answers you need for life. Then the life that resides in you will flow out to others and create a river of blessing for them to participate in and enjoy!

MY PRAYER FOR TODAY


Father, I receive what I read today as a personal exhortation TO ME to renew my commitment to consuming the Word of God on a daily basis. I need “every word that proceeds from the mouth of God,” for it brings healing, wholeness, deliverance, protection, and it provides all the direction I need for my life. I ask You to forgive me for letting my commitment lapse, but today I make a new commitment that the Word of God will be the highest priority in my life, more than my daily necessary food.

I pray this in Jesus’ name!

 

MY CONFESSION FOR TODAY


I make a new commitment today that the Word of God will be the highest priority in my life and that I will consume it on a daily basis. I will fill my mind with His creative, restorative substance — His very Person and nature — which will produce healing, wholeness, deliverance, protection, and all the answers I need for my life. I will put first things first and open up God’s Word like a treasure to allow the Living Word who indwells the written Word to flow within me. God’s Word is the light and life that will make me whole, protect my family, and help set my relationships on a blessed, right course. I confess that I will allow the life of God’s Word in me to flow out to others and create a river of blessing for them to participate in and enjoy!

I declare this by faith in Jesus’ name!

 

QUESTIONS FOR YOU TO CONSIDER

  1. Be honest — how often do you read your Bible? God already knows the truth, so it’s good for you to level with yourself about this question. Is it enough to keep you spiritually strong? If you ate natural food the way you consume the spiritual food of God’s Word, what would your physical state be like?
  2. Do you have a daily Bible reading program to help guide you as you read through the Old and New Testament? If not, why not find one online, or ask your pastor what daily Bible reading plan he would recommend for you?
  3. What do you experience when you read the Bible? Do you sense that God is speaking to you?