For the past month, we have been looking at Ghost Stories. These were instances in the book of Acts, where we could see the power of the Holy Spirit working in the early church. We learned in that series, that the power of the Holy Spirit was for us as much as it was necessary for the early church. It is still in operation today and when we have experienced it, there is evidence.
Our new series, “Hunger Games”, in many ways it is a continuation of what we have been talking about with living a spirit-empowered life. We are a pentecostal church and believe in the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through our lives. And while we know that the initial evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is speaking in tongues, there are other evidences that it has happened in your life. One of those being that your life begins to exhibit or display the Fruit of the Spirit.
It is the anointing of the Holy Spirit that changes everything about us, even the source of lives begins to change. One thing I have learned over the years, is whatever has gone into your life comes out when you are squeezed. Whenever life gets tough or situations begin to press in on you, you will show what is truly on the inside. You cannot separate who you are at the core with what is shown on the outside. It will come out.
I use a phrase sometimes, you can’t hide crazy forever. Eventually it will show out to others.
The anointing is the power of the Holy Spirit. It changes everything about us. It can take the gift that God has put on your life and give it meaning and power. You can be called to something and not really operate in the anointing that makes it work. It is the anointing of the Holy Spirit that helps us do the extraordinary in the name of Jesus.
Remember Jesus himself said that GREATER works would come from the HS generation.
John 14:12 (ESV) “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.
Why? Because He said when He went to the Father, that He would send a helper!
To the spiritual person, the supernatural seems natural. Because they are connected!
But that leads us to where we are today.
Why the Hunger Games? I believe that all of us hunger for something in our lives. You may simply hunger for more of Jesus. Others may be hungry for connection and companionship. Others still hungry for meaning in their lives.
In this series, I want to show you that appetites have everything to do with what is driving your life. It’s true in nature and in the spiritual. Because they are parallels. What is true in nature is true in spiritual and what is true in spiritual is true in nature. You cannot separate them. Remember we are told that we must worship God in SPIRIT and in TRUTH.
What you crave comes down to what you feed your body. The more junk food that you eat, the more you will crave. I went a year without drinking a soft drink. At first it was difficult, but with time, I began to crave water more than the soft drink. Whatever you crave is due to what you feed. If you feed the spirit man, you will crave more for him. He will drive your desires and impulses.
If you feed sinful man what he wants, it will create a desire for more of things that separate you from God.
But whatever is on the inside of your life, will come out and it shows what is there. You can’t be spiritual and live with sin dictating all that you are.
Matthew 7:15-20 (ESV)15“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
One thing that I have found over the years is that what you are connected to will dictate everything. The hypocrite is the one who tries to have it both ways.
What is produced by your living and your actions are what you known by. You can't get good from an evil source. It why need the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He is the HELPER who helps us grow in the areas that we are week. He connects us to a source of life that lives in us. That river of living water that Jesus talked about, brings life to your situation and those that you come in contact with.
When we think about the life of a Christ-follower, you need to know that you are known by what you produce…A Christ-follower does not produce:
Dissension
Gossip
Hateful Speech
Those are evidence of being connected to something other than Christ. His spirit will not bear witness to those things. Show me someone who is mired in these things, and I will show you someone who really is struggling in their walk with Jesus.
Jesus said, you are known by your fruit and will produce what you are connected to in life. Its the reason as a church we have been seeking the power of the Holy Spirit. We want the connection of our church to be greater what we have known. The source has to be powerful to overcome our shortcomings.
So as we launch this series, we are going to look at the type of fruit that is in keeping with the Holy Spirit being in our lives. Just so you know, these are non-negotiable in the spirit filled and empower life. And you will see why in our text today. The scripture does that might be in our lives, but will be produced in our life if we are connected to spirit of God.
Galatians 5:16-26 (ESV) 16But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.25If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
As you read this text today, what are you hungry for. In that short text, if gives us some evidences of what drives our lives. If you see certain things in operation, then your hunger is driven by those things. Jesus said that those who did not produce good fruit would be cut down and thrown into the fire. He is talking about eternal judgment not just gardening.
It is important to understand what you are showing others and what drives your life. The bible tells us that “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be satisfied. (Matthew 5:6) That also gives us some indication that hunger for the unrighteous things of life will leave you unsatisfied. Which means you will keep going after more. There is no end.
Just as there is a FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT, there is FRUIT OF THE FLESH. The difference is the motivator behind what you do. So let’s look at what Paul calls the desires of the flesh. (Fruit of the flesh)
FRUIT OF THE FLESH:
Sexual Immorality
Impurity
Sensuality
Idolatry
Sorcery
Enmity
Strife
Jealousy
Fits of Anger
Rivalries
Dissensions
Divisions
Envy
Drunkenness
Orgies
Etc.
Paul wants us to understand, don’t wonder what you are connected to, it’s easy to see. You can see it in your actions and in what is produced around you. Let me say this, these things don’t happen overnight in a vacuum. There are well-meaning Christians who can find themselves moving into these areas in their lives. It takes time to grow and cultivate things in your heart.
2 Corinthians 10:3-6 (ESV) 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 6 being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.
We are supposed to take captive the thoughts that come to our minds. Why? Because a thought will soon be an imagination, and an imagination will become a stronghold in your life. When something has become a stronghold, it is difficult to break through.
Strongholds are defended or situated in a easy way to defend. In ancient times, it was about the high ground. Its why you see fortified position in the middle east on mountain sides or on the tops of ridges. You can see what is coming and make it difficult for the enemy to topple you.
When an imagination has moved to that place, it’s difficult to let it go. And it will take your life in directions that you never intended. I don’t believe any person uses a drug thinking it will radically ruin their lives. But with time, they control everything.
When you look at the list of what are the works of the flesh, you see a progression of ideas that will destroy you. At the end, Paul says, that those who are controlled by those thoughts that become the fruit of their life, will not inherit the kingdom.
But he gives us some hope, and that hope is found though the spirit working in our lives. As we connect to him, our source changes. Our desires change. The same is true of these fruit, at first they will appear immature and not perfect. As a matter of fact, you will never walk in perfection in this world. You will continue to make mistakes.
But the fruit shows what is the source of your life.
As we live and walk in the spirit, we begin to produce fruit in keeping with a spirit filled and empowered life. Because he produces it in our lives. We don’t. We can only produce what we are connected to.
You can fake the fruit, but eventually someone is going to notice that you are not producing what really is in your life. It’s going to come out.
The Fruit of the Spirit does not say FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT. Because this is not a pick and choose what you will display. You will grow what you are connected to. If your tree was a pear tree, it can’t produce apples.
If you are connected to so many works of the flesh, you cannot produce fruit of the spirit without a heart change.
What is produced in the life connected to the Spirit?
Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
The Apostle Paul, against these things there is no law. That means that they conform to every situation. It is in keeping with Christ and his spirit that lives in us. There is no contradiction happening.
Understand something, there is a real battle going on for your soul. This battle is happening over your heart. Whatever has your heart, has you. Because what goes into the heart, comes out in your life.
Matthew 15:17-19 (ESV) 17Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? 18But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.
The fruit of the spirit will bring benefits to your life, just as natural fruit brings benefits to your life. But the main thing it will bring is a renewal of the heart that is in you. This heart will commune with God directly. The spirit helps us in our weakness.
Our weakness comes from what has always plagued us in our heart. There are parts of my life that are still attacked. They come from my life from years ago. Things I was exposed to and allowed to control my life. If I am not careful, they can take control. Especially if I am not renewing the infilling in my life.
Our hunger defines us in all actuality. It will define our future and what we will strive for. Even in your natural health its the same. If we went for an apple as opposed to a little debbie, it would drastically change everything about our lives. When you crave the fruit of the spirit and the spirit himself in your life, you will drastically change how you live.
The byproduct of a life that has been filled an infilled with the Holy Spirit is spiritual vitality! When you have real substance, you dont need all the fillers to keep you going. The touchy feelies are not important when you have the real thing deep inside.
The fruit of the spirit is not a plural thing. It is an all in proposition. Those things that Paul talked about all follow the spirit empowered life. Not some. We dont get to pick and choose what we want. Its not a buffet. This a non-negotiable for the spirit filled life.
It doesn’t mean that you are operating in perfection. Fruit takes time to mature on the vine and in your heart. That’s why you do fall in a moment, but there is a progression. To produce fruit in keeping with the Holy Spirit, it will progressive growth happening. And it will produce according to how you cultivate it in your life.
There is commonality that links our spirit and us to Jesus…that is found in the fruit that we produce as a result of the infilling of the Holy Spirit. You will not be the same after he touches your life.
Understand something, just because the Holy Spirit is in you does not mean that you life will be trouble free. The best fruit in the world comes from growing in hot environments. The same is true in your spiritual life. When the heat is on and the pressure is at it’s highest is when the sweetest parts of the spirit come out in your life.
It doesn’t matter what may be happening around you even now, you need the spirit to help you through it. And he does, he makes way for the message of the gospel to shine through even your roughest moment. We don't go through the spiritual grocery aisle choosing what we want in our lives. We get it all and are expected to allow the HS to cultivate it into growth for the right time.
He is the one that brings it out in our moments of need. And he uses it to the glory of God.
The holy spirit living in our lives produces the fruit. Its because we invite him to have his will and his way that we begin to change into what He needs us to be. The fruit cannot be separated, its all there for us to access and to show out.
The moment that the holy spirit is hindered in His work in our lives, we will hunger for other things that will take us away from him. The fruit that he had produced will begin to die away. Where there was love, there will now be dissension and disunity. Where there as patience, now angry outbursts. You see they go hand in hand. If the fruit of the spirit is not there, something else will take its place.
So, what are hungry for?
PJ