24 DAYS TO PENTECOST

24 DAYS TO PENTECOST

TEXT:  GALATIANS 5

¹⁶This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

 ¹⁷For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

 ¹⁸But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

 ¹⁹Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

 ²⁰Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

 ²¹Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

 ²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

 ²³Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

 ²⁴And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

 ²⁵If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

 ²⁶Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

KEY TEXT: Galatians 5:22 “…But the fruit of the Spirit is… longsuffering…”

REFLECTION:  The word translated “longsuffering” may also mean “patience,” or “forbearance.”  In the original language the word is the compound of “long” and “temper” and literally means “long-tempered.”  Those who are longsuffering demonstrate restraint in the face of provocation.  Those who are longsuffering are not quick to retaliate or punish those who have insulted or harmed them.

God revealed Himself to Moses saying, “^6 ...The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,  Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…” (Exodus 34:6-7).  

In Paul’s letter to the Romans it is the “goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering of God” that ought to lead the lost to repentance. (Romans 2:4).

Those who are filled with the Spirit of God have the character of God imparted to them.  Since God is longsuffering, those who are animated by His Spirit are also.

Dr. Adam Clarke points out that because the Spirit filled appreciate the longsuffering goodness of God, they extend that same longsuffering goodness to others.  They, “bear up through all the troubles and difficulties of life without murmuring or repining, submitting cheerfully to every dispensation of God’s providence…”

The New Testament links longsuffering with humility (Ephesians 4:2), love (Ephesians 4:2), patience (Colossians 1:11), and joyfulness (Colossians 1:11).  What God has joined together, let not man put asunder.

PRAYER: Our Father, We praise Thee for all your blessings.  We are captivated by the thought that the Spirit of the Living God can and will impress upon our souls the character of God.  Without Thee we could do nothing.  But with God, all things are possible.  We pray that the same transforming, sanctifying Spirit that so empowered and purified the first Christians would fill us.  We pray that the impress of thy Spirit would burn deep within our hearts. “ In the name of Jesus, Our Father, &c.”