Devotion Monday July 30, 2012

DEVOTION – MONDAY, JULY 30, 2012

“Remarkable Fruit”

BY

DR TONY EVANS

In His Presence: Matthew 11:29

“[God] made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life”(2 Corinthians 3:6).

The Holy Spirit within us makes life real; life comes alive. When we have accepted Jesus as our Savior and Redeemer, life is no longer theology. It’s all right to have theology in our heads, just as long as it becomes real in our lives when we grow closer to God through the Holy Spirit.

When the Holy Spirit takes over, we begin to grow. The Holy Spirit becomes our power source behind this growth so that eventually it will become evident. “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. 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 5:19-23).

The Holy Spirit is the divine enabler who produces growth in us. Every time we try to grow independently of God, we are working against Him. Many of us spend much of our time shutting God out. We are trying to produce those fruits on our own. However, God does not need our help to grow us.