So this joy of mine has been made full. He must increase, but I must decrease. John 3:29-30.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
If you are looking to build a life of joy and peace, which will make you stable and strong in goodness, then you must live by the Spirit and not by the flesh.
Jesus told you that He is the vine, that is, the source of all life and power, and you are the branches, that is, you are attached as one with the vine and the life and power of the vine flows into you producing the fruit of the vine in the branches. So if you abide in Him, you are joined as one with Him (so no fear or restlessness of aloneness) so that He also abides in you (draw close to Me and I draw close to you) then you bear much fruit, the fruit of the Spirit, for apart from Him you can do nothing but produce the deeds of the flesh.
When you abide in Him you can come fully into the light for there will be no darkness in you because your deeds are wrought in Him.
“This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” John 3:19-21.
John the Baptist, when others pointed out that Jesus was getting more followers than John, said that his purpose was to prepare the people for His coming and open the way for Him coming so it was his joy that Jesus was increasing and he was decreasing. Pride and seeking self could have rendered John fruitless in his mission of ushering in the Messiah to a people well prepared but he knew the secret of greatness and fruitfulness—”Jesus must increase and I (my prideful flesh) must decrease.” And that made his joy full.
It is the same with you. Let Jesus increase in you, the mystery of Christ in you, your hope of glory by the gift of the Spirit, which He came to prepare your heart for as a new creation so you could join as one again with Me in Him and My Spirit could dwell with you, joining with your Spirit, to give you the ability to produce the fruit of the vine. Yes, to make you a partaker of the divine nature. You can be filled with all My fullness even now if you will yield to the Spirit and not to the flesh.
Adam separated from Me and went from walking in the Spirit to walking in the flesh, which limits you to this world only and to the physical temporal realm so that you perish and go back to the dust from which your flesh was formed. It entirely changed his perspective and his nature when he separated from the vine and became a withered dry branch. But the good news is that in Jesus you have the gift of the Spirit of life and can go from walking in the deeds of the flesh to walking in the fruit of the Spirit. But there is still a hurdle you must overcome. Your inner self of the spirit is alive again to Me and dead to sin and you have eternal life in Jesus, but, though your spirit is awakened and resurrected as a new creation in Christ back to My image and according to My likeness, your soul and body are not new creations so they are still in the habits of living in the deeds of the flesh and not the fruit of the Spirit. Hence comes the renewing and retraining of your mind to take control of the lusts of the flesh by the fruit your spirit produces joined with the Spirit.
What does it mean for Me to increase in you and you to decrease? You want to know because that is where true peace lies.
It means that the fruit of the Spirit prevails in you over the deeds of the flesh, that is, that your life is ruled by your born again spirit and not by your unrenewed flesh.
What are the deeds of the flesh? You see them all around you and you may have been walking in them yourself, but if you are born again from above by receiving Jesus as Lord you no longer have to live in them. I have freed you because where My Spirit is there is liberty.
Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5:19-21.
These things are not fruitful and will end in death. They divide families and nations. And this is the realm where separation from the spirit puts you.
Be mindful too that venting about what someone did to you without repenting and putting that behind is a deed of the flesh. Venting will never heal you of the hate or offense, it will keep you reliving it forever. It is time to put an end to those things of the flesh and walk in the Spirit by forgetting what lies behind or you will never reach the high calling I have for you in Christ. The Spirit testifies to you that your sins and offenses I remember no more. Go and do the same. It gives you joy.
Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural (unspiritual, worldly), demonic. For where jealousy and strife exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. James 3:13-18.
The flesh is useless, it is seeking sensual pleasure because it knows it is headed to death so it tries to grab everything it can to indulge itself in this world. It will kill itself with gluttony, drug addiction, alcohol addiction, and the like. But if you walk by the Spirit, you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh is the mindset that sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law in the respect that you have to be curtailed from the outside of the deeds of the flesh but established in righteousness in your born again spirit you have no need of outside curtailment for you are walking in righteousness from the inside out. I have put My law of love in your heart by pouring My love, which is the divine nature, into your heart by the gift of the Holy Spirit in you and on you. You are no longer a selfish taker but a cheerful giver. You sow bountifully and reap bountifully.
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. Galatians 6:8-9.
Walking in the spirit and not the flesh you are not fearful but bold about godly things and your witness to Christ. You are not depressed but full of joy, My joy is your strength. You are not hateful, envious and contentious, but you are love. Let the Holy Spirit do a perfect work in you.
So what is the fruit of the Spirit? You have it in you by grace and you have all you need for life and godliness within your spirit so you should begin to enjoy it. You will eat the fruit of your lips.
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.
You will notice the fruit of the Spirit is a much shorter list than the deeds of the flesh. Why? The Holy Spirit unravels crooked ways and complicated paths and fills your way with the light of the truth. Love is huge and encompasses many things but basically love is perfection of thoughts, words, and actions so that they never harm but only edify, encourage, and exhort others. Love permits nothing but light and goodness within and without.
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.
In these last days before the return of My Son, the love of many will grow cold because of the increase in demonic activity, inciting many to perform deeds of the flesh which are not of divine origin but of human origin in the nature of Adam, which is aligned with the devil and thus produces hostility to holy things and spiritual truths and tends toward murder and anarchy.
The devil knows his free time is short and soon he will be locked up in the abyss for a thousand years and after a brief chance at release, which he will not take but continue to fight against the truth, he and his demons will be cast forever into hell, the eternal lake of fire. Do not be one who has attached your destiny to him. I created the devil perfect but he sought only his exaltation above others and brought himself to ruin, and many join him though he will lose.
His way of operating is to steal, kill, and destroy. When you see these characteristics in people, families and nations, you know in whose image they are walking so avoid their ungodly conversation. If a person who portrays himself as a believer uses language hostile to others, using four letter impure words constantly while talking of them, avoid such a person and stop their incessant vulgarities. These go down into the bones. Exhort them to think of a better word to say. Just say you find that language offensive to your nature.
This is how the LORD responds: “If you return to me, I will restore you so you can continue to serve me. If you speak good words rather than worthless ones, you will be my spokesman. You must influence them; do not let them influence you!” Jeremiah 15:19.
You eat the words you say and those you hear. Keep yourself free of these things.
Walk in steadfast endurance in the midst of evil, do good. You overcome evil with good. And you find goodness in the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
I will talk more about the fruit of the Spirit and how to grow it in your spirit in our next life lesson. When you understand and grow it, you will desire it above all the glamour of the worldly. I love you. Taste and see My goodness. It will draw you to Me forever. Draw others as well. They will know you by your fruit.