Friday, April 13, 2012

Passion Fruit

Nail your old passions to the cross.


Galatians 2:20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.

So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Galatians 5:22-25  But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  23  gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

24  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to His cross and crucified them there.  25  Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives.

As gruesome as it is, the cross was a necessary destination, there are two people that needed to be crucified: Christ and my old self.

The crucifixion of Christ was necessary, not for his own benefit but for my benefit. Jesus gave me eternal life and he taught me the extreme nature of love.

The crucifixion of my old man is necessary to show my love for Christ. As a believer, I have the Holy Spirit living in me to guide me, I don't want to do the things that the old man "enjoys." The Holy Spirit gives me power to live differently, I no longer want to live the life that is described in Galatians 5:16-21, that kind of lifestyle will not get me into my eternal home. (Romans 8:6, Galatians 5:21)
 
When you nail your old passions to the cross you should become passionate for the things that bring him glory, the fruit of the spirit should be my "passion fruit." Check out the awesome flavors of the fruit that the Holy Spirit will produce in your life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

The fruit will give away your spiritual condition.

Matthew 7:16-20 You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act.
Can you pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? 17 A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. 19 So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire.
20 Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.
I cannot hide my spiritual condition for too long. The choices that I make will prove who I am and who is in control or my life. The Holy Spirit wants to produce good fruit in my life but he won't bully his way in to do it. The spirit wants to lead me but he will never push.

Help me to nail my natural man to the cross and give the Holy Spirit complete control so that I can produce the fruit that will please you Lord.