Gentle Spirit

Philippians 4:5 "Let your gentleness be known to all men."

We are made in the image and likeness of God. He Who made us loves us so much, so that He came and dwelt with us to pave the way and give a faithful standard of what we ought to be.

In Matthew 11: 29, our beloved Lord Jesus said, "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." He specifically asked us to learn from Him; so let us become like Him, gentle and lowly in heart.

We usually refer to the nobility as gentlemen for we know that they belong to a lineage of high social status. We, as children of God, belong to the family of God and are called to rise up as gentle spirits. We have to become a people known for our gentleness, meekness, humility and lowliness of heart.

What does it mean to become a gentle spirit?

As a gentle spirit, we are to have refinement, elegance and class; we should be characterized as someone who brings ease, comfort or quiet; we are to have integrity and capable of being led and taught; we are delicate, generally pleasant, sweet in a mild and subtle way; we are marked by eminence, distinction, honor and excellence.

As the apostle Peter says, [1 Peter 3:3-4] "your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle [calm, tender, moderate] and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."

We are not difficult to endure; we are not coarse, hard or rough; we do not use wit intended to cause hurt feelings toward others; we are never threatening in voice, manner or appearance; we are by no means scathing; we are free from harshness, sternness, or violence.

[1 Peter 3:15] "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect."

It is my prayer that we all seek the Holy Spirit to help us cultivate our hearts for bearing the fruit of gentleness in our lives. There is no passivity in gentleness, we shall stand up for Christ, we shall not compromise; but with all meekness and humility that is in our hearts, we shall conquer the hearts of the people. This world has seen too much brutality and harshness; it is time we rise up as gentle children of God - consistently living in righteousness. Let us remember, people of the world are watching us, so let our gentleness be known to all men.

Righteousness

Matthew 5:6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."

The word of God says we must hunger and thirst after righteousness, only then shall we be filled. Now, we all know hunger and have experienced thirst for physical and maybe even some spiritual things. But do we even know how to hunger or thirst after righteousness? Do we fully understand what righteousness is? And how can we hunger for something we do not know?

What then is righteousness? More importantly, what makes us hunger for it? The meaning of the similar Hebrew and Greek words for righteousness as found in the Greek and Hebrew dictionaries can be simplified to these meanings: TO BE MADE RIGHT (to be repentant and accept Jesus Christ as Savior in order to be justified; be forgiven and be cleansed of our sins), and TO DO RIGHT (obedience to God). We all need righteousness. We all need to be forgiven of our sins, reconciled to God through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, and inherit eternal life and Heaven. Once we are reconciled to God, the Holy Spirit starts a work in us, giving us a hunger, a deep rooted need to know God in His fullness, to walk in obedience to Him and His every word, and to fulfill our destinies and become like our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

When we are born again, we become the children of Almighty God, who is the King of Kings. Though we are born princes and princesses, we are yet babies who need to be fed and taught to walk, talk, and act like princes and princesses doing only the things that are right before the King in His kingdom. When we are born again, we are already "made right" with God. This is the first part of righteousness. Now we must pursue the second part, "to do right" (obedience to God). We must yield to the deep inner work of the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to create in us a hunger and thirst for righteousness. This will cause us to constantly look to God, longing to know His ways that we may follow them. It will cause us to thirst after His laws, statutes, and truths. It will lead us to seek after Him with our whole being, deeply desiring only to be obedient to His every instruction, His every command, like a dying man in a desert thirsts after water. It will start a craving in us to possess the fruits of His Spirit in fullness. We will long to become Holy as our Father is Holy, to become perfect as our Father is perfect, to please Him in everything we desire, think, or do, because we love Him.

But, how can we yield to the Holy Spirit; our body, soul and spirit so that He may continue the work He started in us. How can we hunger, thirst, and be filled with righteousness, becoming wholly obedient unto God alone. To obey someone, you must either fear that person or have faith (believe) in that person. The bible teaches us that true obedience to God (righteousness) comes only through faith in Him. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, this comes only from the devil. We must yield to the continuing work of the Holy Spirit the same way we started in repenting and receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, by faith. The word of God says in Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God. If you have no faith, you are not pleasing God. If you are not pleasing Him, you are definitely not obeying Him, and you have no righteousness. Galatians 3:6 says Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." Abraham had faith in God. He believed God so he had righteousness. We must do the same. We must believe God so we can obey Him. When He makes a promise it is true, believe it. When He tells you to do something, do it, believing He is always right and always does right.

Some might say, "but we already have the righteousness of Christ". Yes we do, but the inner work of the Holy Spirit is to transform us into the very character of Christ, so that we not only have His righteousness, but we ourselves can become a "spotless" bride, without "blemish", having our own righteousness. As by faith we yield our wills and lives to the Holy Spirit, He will create in us a hunger to obey God, for only God does what is right, and only through obedience to Him, can we do what is right and be righteous. As we obey, our faith increases with our every act of obedience, then we begin to yield more, and our obedience (our righteousness) grows. Thus, the process continues until we have attained all the fullness of Christ. Proverbs 4:18 says The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.

Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, help us all through Your marvelous grace, to have the faith to surrender our lives and selves to full inner work of Your Holy Spirit, becoming obedient to your every word, until our righteousness is like unto the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you Father as by faith, we believe it is done. We give you all the glory and praises forever and ever. Amen

Peace

Isaiah 53:5 "But he was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped, and we were healed."

Christmas is coming soon and once more everyone looks towards a period of peace. The world is searching for peace, everyday, but it seems difficult to attain in so many places.

There are numerous amounts of people who are unhappy everyday because of no peace in their lives. Every day we hear of wars and rumors of wars just as the Bible mentioned and we wonder and hope that things would be better and tomorrow will bring a brighter future. Peace of mind is what so many people are searching for. There has never been a time in the world we know where there has been so many conferences and peace talks by various government bodies from so many nations. The fact is, from God's word, we know that what we see and read everyday in the various forms of media available to us is prophecy being fulfilled.

Do we then raise our hands in despair and give up on peace? God's word in Matthew 5:9 says "Happy are those who work for peace; God will call them his children (TEV). As children of God we are called to be peacemakers; wherever we are: at home, at work, at church and even in our leisure time. In order to be peacemakers though it is important that we should have the peace of God in our lives. Day to day problems and situations sometimes threaten the peace of God in our hearts and lives; however when the enemy has stolen or tries to steal our peace God's words in Isaiah tells us that He was beaten that we might have peace. Imagine the merciless beatings that Jesus took on His body was for the provision of our peace.

After all that our wonderful savior has endured for us may we learn to stand and rest in His perfect peace!

Esteeming God's Word

Job 23:12 "... I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food."

God's word the Bible has been written in so many languages and so many versions over the years. The Bible is available in whole or in part to some 98 percent of the world's population in a language in which they are fluent. It is a fact also that the Bible is the best-selling nonfiction book of all times. As followers and Disciples of Christ knowing these facts; how much then do we really prize God's word?

In the book of Job, Job states that he esteemed the word of God more than his necessary food. Job made this statement after he had lost his riches and family. Some of us may argue that because he was facing tribulations it was easier for him to make that statement; but if we take a look at Job's life before he lost everything we see that God approved of him highly as stated in Job chapter one. When the enemy of our souls came to God to accuse Job, God asked the devil "Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

The question arises to us: do we regard and prize God's words highly only when we are going through crises in our lives or do we regard His word at all times. As believers we should not esteem God's words frivolously; but reverence his word and make His word top priority in our lives. God's word should become such an imperative part of our daily lives that if we do not read it for one day we should miss it so much and yearn for it more than our physical nourishment for the day.

The Bible states that all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works (11 Timothy 3:15,16).

Let us maximize the word of God more each day in our lives.