The Presence of the Fruit

Monday, September 19, 2022

Galatians 5:22 speaks about the fruits of the Spirit. One of the fruits of the Spirit is joy and it's in the Holy Spirit. We tend to think of joy as a feeling, emotion, or experience. Joy isn't spoken here as an emotion, experience or feeling. It's a fruit and it's important. The word in Hebrew is "periy - a fruit." If there's a banana in the fruit bowl, it's not an experience, feeling, or emotion of a banana in the fruit bowl. It's a banana in the fruit bowl. It's a real thing, a presence. That's the joy that God has for you in the Spirit. Fruit isn't an experience, it's a presence; a reality. Forget about experiencing highs, about trying to have an experience of joy. Rather comprehend the reality of joy, the presence of God, the presence of joy which is always there even in tough times, when you're not feeling so good. It's like the fruit in the bowl. It'll still be there tomorrow morning. You can rejoice always, because the joy that God gives you is at least as real as a banana.

From Message #1053 - The First Practice