“It is possible to live in the abundant life Jesus promised.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – October 1, 2024
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23
If you and I could sit down together and I asked if you want to experience more love, joy and peace in your life, my guess is that you would respond with a hearty “Yes!”
Most every believer has heard about the fruit of the Spirit which includes these beautiful emotions. These fruits come from the Spirit of Jesus and are displayed through the life of the Christian. I have often wondered, “How do we experience the fruit of the Spirit? How do I experience more of the abundant life Jesus promised?” because I want more of that!
Over the years, I haven’t ever heard teaching about how to experience the fruit of the Spirit, but have only heard that believers can’t produce it, because it’s not their fruit. It’s God’s.
Does that mean we have zero control over experiencing the fruit of the Holy Spirit? Or can we align our lives in ways so the goodness of the Spirit can be experienced regularly—even on a daily basis? The answer is yes. It is possible to experience the fruit of the Holy Spirit regularly. It is possible to live in the abundant life Jesus promised. But how?
First, we must recognize that the Holy Spirit can be grieved and quenched. That means we can act in sinful ways or have attitudes and emotions that can stop—or hinder—the flow of the Spirit in our lives.
Next—and since this is true—this means that if the Holy Spirit reveals there is a particular sin in your life, lust for example, you must repent for the fruit of the Spirit to flow again in your life. There cannot be peace and God’s power where sin is present. There is only peace in repentance and surrender. He wants to set you free because He loves you.
Finally, you can do what Dr. Rob Reimer calls, “Unpacking the suitcase of your soul.” Each day, he says he processes negative, ungodly emotions, disappointments, heartaches and hurts with the Lord that block the flow of the Spirit and His fruit in his life.
He explains it this way:
[Unpacking the suitcase of my soul] has become part of my daily routine so they [negative emotions] do not accumulate in my soul. Sometimes it takes me a while to get to the underlying emotion and root cause. Sometimes it takes me a while to grieve my losses and heartaches and work through an emotion like sadness. So I keep processing [with Jesus] until love, joy, and peace emerge again in my soul; this is the fruit of the Spirit. When I am feeling fear, anxiety, sadness, anger, irritation, aggravation, annoyance and the like, I know I have more processing to do. So I keep digging; I keep asking God to show me if there is something underneath the negative emotion and I keep processing until love, joy, and peace resurface in my soul.
If you’re like me and you want to experience more love, joy, and peace, keep in mind that the Spirit can be quenched and grieved which limits His power in our lives, repent daily of sin and sinful attitudes, and “unpack your soul” each day by processing negative emotions and emotional pain with Christ.
By following these truths, my prayer is that you’ll experience more of the beauty that Jesus is as you seek to experience the fullness of His Spirit in your life.
“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. . .” (Acts 3:19).
Prayer
Lord, you want to live in a vibrant, real relationship with me. You want me to commune daily with you. I commit to follow you by turning from sin. Help me to give you access to my heart and my emotions every day so I can experience your love, peace, and joy. Amen!
Application
Put this devotional into practice.
Related Reading
Galatians 5:25; Romans 8:14; John 16:13
Worship Resource
Patrick Mayberry: Holy Spirit Come
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