The Morning Meditation

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT – Part 9 Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” The ninth fruit of the Spirit is temperance. The word temperance is self-restraint. It is moderation in action. Peter uses it in a list of things that should be in every Christian. 2 Peter 1:5-7, “And...

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT – Part 8 Galatians 5:22-24, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” Meekness is the eighth fruit of the Spirit. Meekness is not weakness. Meekness is temper under control. Jesus is meek. Matthew 11:28-29 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I wil...

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT – Part 7 Galatians 5:22-24 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” The seventh fruit of the Spirit is faith. How do we get faith? Romans 10:17 “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 12:3 “For I say, through the grace given unto me, t...

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT – Part 6 Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” The sixth fruit of the Spirit is goodness. Romans 2:4 “Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?”...

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT – Part 5 Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” The fifth fruit of the spirit is gentleness. A gentle person is approachable. I know pastors who were not approachable. They were rough and judgmental. This kind of a person is the kind of a person tha...

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT – Part 4 Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” The fourth fruit of the Spirit is longsuffering. Patience is another word that expresses the same thing as longsuffering. However, longsuffering emphasizes patience during the time of suffering. This w...

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT – Part 3 Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” The third fruit of the Spirit is peace. This is not a peace that depends on circumstances. Worldly peace is totally dependent on the circumstances. If the circumstances are favorable, there is peace. Bu...

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT – Part 2 Galatians 5:22-23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." Joy is the second in the cluster of nine. This is not human joy produced by the circumstances or a product of the flesh. It is joy that finds its origin in the Spirit that indwells the believer. It is...

LOVE - THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT –Part 1 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." The Christian life begins with the new birth. Jesus told Nicodemus that he “must be born again” to see or enter the kingdom of God. This new birth is a spiritual birth. John 3:6 says, "That which is born of the fl...

SUBMISSION IS THE RULE Col. 3:18 22 "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them. Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged. Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with...

FAITH IS COUNTED FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS Rom. 4:5 “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” Is faith a righteous act? What is the Bible saying in this verse and others where faith is counted for righteousness? Let us look at what this verse is saying. Paul says “But to him that worketh not.” The works here is a reference to t...

BEING A SLAVE TO SIN Psalms 19:13 "Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression." The word “dominion” translates “katakurieuo”...

A FRIEND OF GOD James  2:23  “And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.” 2 Chron. 20:7: “Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?” Here God calls Abraham His friend. Tozer says,...

ABOUNDING GRACE 2 Cor. 9:8 “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” Paul is challenging the church at Corinth to give. One of the gifts he speaks of is the offering for the poor saints in Jerusalem. He took a special offering from the Gentiles to the Jewish saints in Jerusalem who had fallen on hard...

BUT WE SEE JESUS Heb.  2:9 "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man." The inspired writer goes from angels to Christ.  He states that Jesus was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death.  The angels do not die.  Jesus did, and by doing t...

THE ANGELS SENT TO RESCUE LOT FROM SODOM Gen.  19:1-5 "And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; And he said, Behold ...

THE TRAPS ARE OUT OF SIGHT Prov. 1:17 “Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.” In other words, if you are going to catch the bird, the net needs to be hidden. It needs to be out of sight so that the bird is unsuspecting. The word “vain” in the Hebrew means “without cause, for no purpose.” It means of no value. Even the bird is smart enough not to get caught if net is in sight....

THE HIDDEN MAN OF THE HEART 1 Pet. 3:4  “But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.” I want us to consider the Words of the Holy Spirit through Peter, “The hidden man of the heart.” There is great help for us in this dispensation to understand some things about the hidden ma...

THE GREATNESS OF JOHN THE BAPTIST Luke 1:15 16, "For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.  And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God." Jesus said in Matthew 11:11, “Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a...

THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC Hebrews 11:17 19 "By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,  Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:  Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure." Genesis twenty-two is the chapter that records the event...

THE REQUEST CONCERNING MY STEPS Psa. 119:133 “Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.” The guidance of the Lord is of primary interest in the Christian’s life. I am afraid that many christians do what they want to and at the end of the day say, “God how do you like that?” As if they expected God to rubber stamp what they do. If you do that, you are operating on...

AN OASIS IN THE DESERT The following prayer was offered by Joseph Parker before he began a sermon on the subject of “High Resolves.” They print his prayers most of the time before his sermons. This prayer is taken from the little three volume set on...

GO WITH US AND GOD WILL BLESS YOU Numbers 10:29‑32 "And Moses said unto Hobab, the son of Raguel the Midianite, Moses' father in law, We are journeying unto the place of which the LORD said, I will give it you: come thou with us, and we will do thee good: for the LORD hath spoken good concerning Israel. And he said unto him, I will not go; but I will depart to mine own land, and to my kindred. And...