This brings to mind the catchy saying by an anonymous author: “Preach the gospel, where necessary use words”. One is immediately impressed by the fact that the gospel of Jesus essentially is not in words only but actions. This was the point we stressed in our previous meditation, the need to preach the gospel through kind deeds.
In order for the fruit to be manifested, we must be totally yielded to the activities of God’s Spirit in our lives. Yesterday, we learned how not to grieve the Holy Spirit through a pattern of disobedience to His leadings. Those who want the Spirit to produce the fruit through them must learn how to constantly give Him the right of way.
If we treat the Holy Spirit the way the driver and I treated the GPS, always imposing our way over His, we will end up grieving Him. To keep grieving the Spirit is to get Him minimize His ministries in our lives.
Jesus expects us to be able to read and understand the signs of the times. Everything is pointing to the fact that the sun will soon set on this earth as presently constituted.
As long as you think you are good enough, you will never see the need to run to the Saviour for help. Herein is a subtle danger of motivational talks. Most people who specialize in this promote self-esteem. This is done through affirmative statements of our abilities and visions
Respect is due to those who fear God, no matter the physical status or material fortune. We must be quick to add that honouring those spelt out by God is like honouring God Himself.
