Gifts of the Holy Spirit and the Fruit of the Spirit:
We are all familiar with the subject of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In Acts: 2, we read that when the disciples gathered in the upper room, the Holy Spirit filled the room as a mighty gushing wind. After they were filled with the Holy Spirit, they spoke in tongues! They were able to speak in languages that they never knew before! What was this amazing thing? That was a gift of the Holy Spirit. I Cor.12:7-12 speaks of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They are wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, working miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, speaking in tongues and interpretation of tongues.

There is a story told by a missionary in India. A Hindu trader once asked the missionary, ”what do you put on your face to make it glow? I have seen Christians in Agra, Surat and Bombay, all have glowing faces. What is the secret?”  The missionary was taken aback but then replied that it was not something we put on the outside but it comes from within. It is a reflection of Yahshua in our hearts!

In Gal.5: 22, St. Paul speaks of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. They are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, godliness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
We admire gifts. There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”

Elohim gives these gifts to man not for honour or to man’s advantage, but that he may use the gifts in the right way and build the church and bring glory and honour to Elohim. Spiritual gifts are bestowed, that men may with them profit the church and promote Christianity. They are not given for pomp and show, but for service and edification; not to magnify those that have them, but to edify others, to build the faith of others.
All these gifts proceed from Elohim. Some receive all the gifts and some receive a few of them, as the Holy Spirit wills. The more the gifts, the greater will be the temptations of the person who receives them. He will meet with more painful experiences while using those gifts.

The “fruit” of the Spirit, on the other hand, is the expression of our renewed nature as it is seen by others. These gifts are “for the common good” (1 Cor 12:7) of the church, not for the individual. They are not to be flaunted before others. Everything that we have is received from God, so we cannot boast that we have received it by our own merit. It is not we who decide which gifts we receive but (1Co 12:11)” But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. “ It is God’s choice, not ours. It is for God’s church, not us. It is for His glory, not ours.

The Apostle Paul mentions that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Gal 5:22,23). These are all fruits of the Spirit. They are not human fruits. We know what they look like, because “Gal 5:19:Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, idolatry, lasciviousness,  witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, 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. 

(Gal 5:19-21). Humanity produces sinful fruits while God’s Spirit produces godly fruits. In fact, one way to identify false prophets is by their carnal fruits, as Jesus said, Ye shall know them by their fruits.(Matt 7:16a). Even nature proves that to us. Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. (Matt 7:17),  because “A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit” (Matt 7:18). The fruits reveal where the roots is at.

Yahshua never boasted about his miracle working power but instead cautioned people not to say anything to anyone. After healing a leper,(Mat 8:4)  Yahshua said to him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. But today miracles are done in the presence of TV reporters and the media, to gain maximum publicity. Some groups even believe that speaking in tongues MUST accompany baptism, and if you don’t speak in tongues, you are not saved. They don’t talk about sin, repentance or the kingdom of Elohim. The fruit of the spirit is not given any importance.
Messiah is coming soon. He is coming for those who possess his nature. It does not matter if you speak in tongues or prophesy. In that day many will say, ’Lord in your name we have cast out demons, ‘ but Messiah will say, ‘I never knew you’.
Live in the Spirit…in our private lives. Walk in the Spirit…in our public life. All the fruit of the Spirit come out of love. It is the real fruit of the Spirit.
If you have great spiritual gifts but no fruit to show, it can be dangerous to the body of Yahshua.
Gifts are not for public show or display. They are to be used in our daily life, not on special occasions. Spiritual gifts are not to be confused with talents. Talents are given at birth. Spiritual gifts are not rewards, they are given by the grace of Elohim. Spiritual gifts are different from responsibility-we all have the responsibility of preaching and tithing. But the gift of evangelism or giving allows some to influence more people than others.
Fruit are evidence of our godly life or character of a disciple’s life because they can only grow out of a life that is dead to self and it lives by the Spirit.

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