2133 Eyes on Jesus

2145 Meet the Spirit – Fruits Part 5

This week we’ve studied what our lives looks like without the Holy Spirit. Without God’s influence, without God’s direction over our life, we naturally drift toward dysfunction, selfishness, broken relationships, and sin. Left to ourselves, our sinful nature becomes the driving force behind our decisions, our attitudes, and our actions. That’s exactly what Paul describes in Galatians 5. He paints an honest picture of what life looks like when the flesh is in control. It’s not a list meant to shame us – it’s a mirror showing us what every one of us is capable of apart from God. But thank God, we’re not left there. The good news is that God didn’t simply save us from our sin; He gave us His very presence. When we place our faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes to live within us. We are no longer left to navigate this life in our own strength. We have a Helper, a Guide, a Teacher, and the very power of God at work in us. So before we can understand the fruit of the Spirit, we have to understand the Spirit Himself. Who is the Holy Spirit? Why did God give Him to us? What is His purpose in our lives? And what does it actually look like to live under His influence every day? The fruit of the Spirit isn’t about trying harder to become a better person. It’s about allowing the Holy Spirit to transform us from the inside out. I spent many years not understanding who the Holy Spirit is and what it mean to have this influence in my life. Maybe you’re in that place. This doesn’t quite make sense to you. It can be a little confusing, so lets slow down to understand. Quite simply, the Holy Spirit is God HIMSELF. God reveals himself to us in 3 ways which we call the trinity. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – all God. Think of it this way, the Father loved us, the Son saved us, the Spirit changes us. The Holy Spirit is God’s very own presence dwelling within us. Before Jesus returned to Heaven after his crucifixion, he made an incredible promise. In John 14: 16-17, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. You will know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.” In verse 23, Jesus says, “We will come and make our home in each one who loves me.” Jesus had been walking with his disciples. He had been living with them, teaching them, guiding them. In flesh, he was there with them. Now, before he returns to Heaven, he is promising for everyone who loves him, they will be given ANOTHER who will actually live in you and never leave you. The Greek, word translated “another” means another of the same kind. So we have been given someone exactly like Jesus in nature and purpose to live inside of us. That’s the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit makes God’s presence permanent in everyone who believes in him. As real as Jesus walked this earth as God in human form, God now lives within us in Spirit form. The Holy Spirit empowers us to live like Jesus. So this isn’t about trying harder and harder, this is about allowing God to live through us. In the Old Testament, God’s Spirit dwelt in the tabernacle and later in the temple. Occasionally his Spirit would come upon specific people for specific purposes. Through the cleansing power of Jesus to make us holy and righteous, God Spirit is now available to each of us and we become his temple. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:19, “Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God.” For real, God now lives within us! My mind can’t comprehend that, but by faith I choose to believe it. Do you? Let’s look at 3 things the Holy Spirit does: He teaches us, empowers us and transforms us. The Holy Spirit teaches us. When you read the Bible and actually understand it, that’s the work of the Holy Spirit. When you listen to this podcast or a sermon and it hits just right, that’s the work of the Holy Spirit. When you’re living your regular life and you remember what God said about it, that’s the work of the Holy Spirit. What a lot of people describe as a “gut feeling” is actually the prompting of the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit empowers us. Acts 1:8, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.” Have you ever been stronger than you ever thought you could be? Girl, that was the Holy Spirit. Have you ever had the power to do things you never thought you could do? That’s the power from the Holy Spirit. We’re so quick to think we’re weak and incapable, but as a believer, remember who is living within you. God himself is inside of you! His power is in you! So yes, you do have the strength for this through the Holy Spirit. Yes, you are good enough. Yes, you are capable. Remember what’s in you! And ultimately what the Holy Spirit does within us is he transforms us. That’s where the Fruit of the Spirit comes in in Galatians 5. WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT, we are changed naturally. This change isn’t something we have to force and will, it’s a change that grows in us and makes us more like Jesus. That’s the goal of the Holy Spirit, to make us more and more like Jesus. As we move to the right side of our list and begin to see what it looks like to live under the influence of the Holy Spirit, rather than without him, think of it like this: If you are under the influence of alcohol, you think different, you talk different, you walk different, you have different emotions, and you make different decisions. Why? Because you’re under the influence of that alcohol so you operate different. Now, think of the influence of the Holy Spirit in your life. It changes everything. You think different under the influence of the Holy Spirit. The way you see things changes. The way you see people changes. Your thought process is changed. You talk different under the influence of the Holy Spirit. You don’t even want to be in the conversations you were once in. You walk different with different emotions, making different decisions. Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, your desires are literally changed. Your heart begins to align with God’s heart and you begin to pursue the things he created you for. And what happens when there’s a different life within us – FRUIT! Fruit is evidence of life. An apple tree doesn’t struggle to tape apples to its branches to look more like an apple tree. An apple tree just naturally produces apples. When the Holy Spirit lives within us, we don’t have to struggle and strive, we just surrender and then we naturally produce the Fruit of the Spirit. This is what makes us more and more like Jesus. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela [https://instagram.com/headmamapamela] Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim [https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim] Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com [http://biglifehq.com]

2144 The Better Party – Fruits Part 4

Today, we’re wrapping it up – the yuck list of what our lives can become when we are not under the influence of the Holy Spirit and following his guidance. So far in Galatians 5: 19-21 we’ve seen the sexual sins we so easily fall into, then the attitudes and behaviors that damage our relationship with God and others. It’s been a real yuck fest hanging out on the wrong side under the wrong influence. What we’ve learned so far is that’s not what we want, nor is that who we want to be. Now finally in verse 21, we have our final things to add to the column on the left labeled ‘Without the Holy Spirit’ – “Drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these.” Before you push away and think the Holy Spirit would never allow you to have fun, that’s not what this is about. This isn’t about making your life boring. This is truly about taking away every imitation of happiness the enemy has tried to entangle you in. God offers us immense joy and overflowing happiness, then Satan swoops in and tries to twist that into a pursuit of things that simply aren’t good for you. Do you realize when God calls something a sin it’s because it’s not good for you. He created you with a specific design, and as your creator he knows what is harmful to your design, so he warns you, “Hey, my child, don’t do this … it’s not good for you.” It’s like the warning label on a hair dryer that says don’t put this in water … Why fight that? We have warning labels on us, why are we fighting it? Understand what is specifically being said—drunkenness and wild parties. The sin is not drinking. The problem is not a party. Jesus was once at a wedding celebration where the wine ran out, so His first public miracle was turning water into wine for the wedding feast (John 2). The sin is intoxication that masters the person. The problem is the party that celebrates the loss of self-control, encourages excess, and creates an atmosphere where people cast off moral restraint. The concern here is not with joy or celebration; the concern is with a culture of indulgence where people surrender themselves to their desires rather than submit themselves to the Spirit. The problem is the party that is built around excess. The Greek word kōmoi used in this scripture refers to revelries—wild, drunken celebrations where restraint is abandoned and sinful behavior is encouraged. This is not a condemnation on gatherings, celebrations, or even the enjoying good things. This is about the kind of partying where intoxication and reckless behavior become the purpose of the event. You know that, “We’re gonna get drunk tonight! Get lit! Let loose!” … yeah that is NOT from the Holy Spirit. It’s hard for me to talk about these things because I have to be honest with you – I have absolutely no experience with it. At 50 years old, I’ve never been drunk a single time in my life. I’ve never been to the club or a bar. I’ve never gotten tipsy and let loose. So no, I really don’t know what that is like. But let me tell you what I’m qualified to talk about – I’m absolutely certain you can have fun and be 100% sober. There’s not a gathering I don’t have fun at. There’s not a celebration where I can’t laugh and enjoy. You can throw a party and it not become wild and wreckless. You can dance, you can sing, you can celebrate, and you can be the life of the party without a single regret. Think about how Jesus must have been when he walked this Earth. The gospels are full of accounts of Jesus being invited to weddings, invited to celebrations and gatherings, continually invited to come over for dinner. Children loved to be around Jesus. You know what this tells me – this tells me Jesus wasn’t boring. He wasn’t a stick in the mud. He wasn’t a downer. He was LITERALLY the life of the party in every sense of the word. Now we carry his spirit within us as his followers. He lives within us. We are empowered to be the life of the party with what he has put within us through our connection with him – and we’ve gotten it all twisted thinking in order for us to be fun and have fun we have to get drunk? That’s just straight from Hell right there. Tomorrow is opening day of my 111th BIG Life Retreat. It’s a girls weekend on the lake where we will tie together all of our floaties and float in the sunshine on the lake. We’ll be playing music and singing. There will be dancing. There will be uncontrollable laughter. There will be random last minute competitions of floating obstacle courses, relays of nonsense, and cheering team mates like we’re winning real gold medals. It will be a full on celebration of happiness. And there won’t be a drop of alcohol. None. When I first started hosting retreats, a whole lot of people didn’t come because they thought it would be impossible to have fun at a gathering without something to loosen them up. How could a girls weekend be a good time without the good stuff? Now, we know THE GOOD STUFF isn’t found in a bottle. The GOOD STUFF is found in God showing us how to celebrate life with pure joy and no regrets. Drunkenness and wild parties intentionally lower restraint with a celebration of impulsiveness, excess and indulgence. That’s the problem. A drunken person often pulls others into the same behavior. It becomes a chain effect. One person gets stupid, then the next person gets stupid. And with a bunch of stupid people not thinking right, sin becomes normalized. That’s not under the direction of the Holy Spirit. God says, “That’s not good for my creation.” So, we come with a warning label just like the hair dryer that’s not to be put in water – we’re vessels for the Holy Spirit and we are not to be drunk going to wild parties. It’s simply not good for us. This isn’t a matter of having all our fun taken away from us. Actually quite the opposite – this is a matter of not being fooled by the enemy and living in such a deeper level of fun offered by God. A fun with no regrets. A fun with full awareness. A fun that represents the joy of the Lord. This week, I’ve given the girls I mentor a challenge – a challenge to be the Ambassador of Fun wherever they are. Fun is a ministry. Really think about that. Fun shows the goodness of God and draws others into him. Misery doesn’t do that. Boring doesn’t do that. But fun sure does. Fun is a breath of fresh air for the soul who questions how much longer they can carry their burden. Fun invites them to see the good in life again. Fun is warfare against darkness, pushing back what the enemy has tried to use to overwhelm. And we can literally minister to others through our holy fun. Walk into every room asking, “How can I leave this place lighter than I found it?” My friend, THAT IS MINISTRY! Do you think I’m a fun person? Do you think I know how to enjoy life? Do you think I know how to throw a party others really want to come to? I can promise you there’s something better than alcohol and stupidity … there’s the Holy Spirit and genuine fun! After the past 4 days of studying the list on the wrong side, maybe you’re breathing lighter because your specific sin hasn’t been listed. That’s why I love it’s all wrapped up with a “and other sins like these.” Yip, it’s covered. Anything not under the guidance of the Holy Spirit is not producing goodness in our lives. It is hurting us or hurting others. It’s not God’s best for us. There’s a song called “Search Me” by Kristian Stanfill that has given me the words to pray. Each morning during my time with God on my knees, I pray these song lyrics: Search me, Lord, and know me Purify my life Find in me anything That doesn’t bow to You as King I’m not ok to stay the same From now until life’s through Jesus, make me more like You Do whatever You have to do That’s what it’s about – Allow the Holy Spirit to search you and know you. Allow him to find anything within you that doesn’t bow to him as King. Decide right now you’re not okay with just staying the same. You want more – let the Holy Spirit set you free to experience the fullness of life Jesus came to offer you! Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela [https://instagram.com/headmamapamela] Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim [https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim] Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com [http://biglifehq.com]

2143 Hidden Sins We Excuse – Fruits Part 3

Open up your Bibles to Galatians 5 and we’re going to add a few more to the list of yuck – Yes, the left side of the list under the label “Without the Holy Spirit”. We’re looking at what we do and who we naturally become the Holy Spirit isn’t given room in our lives and we’re directed by the world and our flesh. This list is like a blarring alarm, “WARNING, THIS ISN’T WHAT GOD WANTS FOR YOU”. If you find yourself doing these things continually, you can now know why. If someone you love is doing these things, you can know why. Wrong director. Wrong influence. Wrong side of the list. Looking at Galatians 5: 19-21, in part 1 we studied “sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures and idolatry”. In Part 2 we studied “sorcery, hostility, quarreling and jealousy”. Well, that’s been fun, hasn’t it? Let’s address the next 5 today with what happens when our lives aren’t following the direction of the Holy Spirit, “Outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division”. These are 5 attitudes and behaviors that damage our relationship with God and with other people. 1. Outbursts of Anger This is a desire to control situations or people when things don’t go our way. We lash out, we say things to hurt others, we lose control of our emotions and our mouth. This is not under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. God never leads us to just blow up. It’s never his desire for us to lose our temper. Scripture says, “In your anger do not sin.” It’s okay to be angry sometimes. There are things that should make us angry. But there’s righteous anger and outbursts of anger. There’s anger that leads to healthy change, and there’s anger that just hurts people. Check your anger sis. God didn’t design you to be continually angry and disgruntled about something. Some of us walk around continually angry about life and we wonder why we struggle to have good relationships and feelings of happiness. Girl, you’ve got a grouchy bug in you. 2. Selfish Ambition This is a self-seeking attitude that says, “What’s in it for me?” Do you have a unique way of making everything all about you? Yeah, that’s selfish-ambition, and guess what, that’s not from the Holy Spirit. When we pursue our own success, happiness or advantage at the expense of everyone else, this not only makes us look like a real crap person, but it grieves God. Selfish was NOT the example of Jesus. Never once do we see Jesus in all of his righteousness, in all of his glory, in all of his power making everything about him at the expense of others. When really, it really was all about him. He was and is the answer to everything, but he sits down with the sinner, he draws near to the pain, he stretches out a hand to the hurt. If we’re going to be like Jesus, all our selfish ambition has to be stripped away. If we’re going to be like Jesus, we will willingly bend down and wash feet even if we are the greatest in the room. So really, what is the Holy Spirit calling you to do in the group you’re in … he’s calling you to make it about them and not about you. 3. Dissension This might be a new word for you. What does this mean? Dissension is a critical spirit that constantly looks for flaws and faults in others. Rather than building up, it tears down, creating conflict, tension, and division. Have you ever heard someone use the expression, “Well, I’ll be the devil’s advocate”, then they stream a bunch of negative punches and critiques. Hey let me tell you something, the devil doesn’t need an advocate! Why would we advocate for the one who is against us? Why would you ever speak up for him sharing his opinions? The child growing up under dissension feels never good enough. The wife living in dissension feels continually defeated. You know that if you’ve lived in it. Now the question is, are you creating it in your home? Are you constantly correcting, belittling, nagging and critiquing? Is it just never good enough for you, always needing improvement. The dish washer just can’t be loaded right by anyone else. Their driving is never okay. The way they fold laundry drives you insane. And oh my gosh, why do they do what the do the way they do it? Girl, stop that! That is dissension. That’s looking for the flaw. That’s creating fault. And it’s coming from a heart that is more focused on finding faults than extending grace. If you’re searching for weaknesses and tearing down rather than building up, that’s simply NOT from the Holy Spirit. That’s the other side of the list. – Game around the table – imitate someone else – if they were to imitate you at the table, in the car, at the office, would you like what you heard and saw? – Friends – Monica’s mother – that’s dissension Being the fault finder is not our calling! 4. Division Instead of bringing people together, sometimes we thrive in dividing people and putting them against one another. We create an “us against them” script. We retell the story so more gather on your side. But opps, take a look where that is on the lists, that’s the wrong side. This isn’t what the Holy Spirit guides us to. This is what the world does. This is what our flesh desires. Some families do this against eachother. There’s mom’s side versus dad’s side, and you have to choose one. Hey let me tell you what that creates – a whole bunch of losers. No one wins in that game. You’re just divided. 5. Envy This is like jealousy, but even more so than you wanting what someone else has, you don’t want them to have it either. Envy comes from a deep insecurity and unhappiness with self. The Holy Spirit wants you to have a holy confidence in precisely who you are and where you stand with God because when you don’t you project that doubt onto others. If you can’t celebrate someone else, there’s a problem. If you are in a constant mental comparison with someone else, there’s a problem. If you’re secretly wanting someone else to fail, there’s a problem. And let me tell you, that’s such a foothold to the enemy of your soul. He’ll eat you up with envy and he’ll turn you into someone you never wanted to be. You can’t be grateful when you’re envious. You can’t be happy when you’re envious. So you’re left weak, disappointed, and sad. That’s NOT the direction of the Holy Spirit. Outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy. With each of these is an invitation to examine ourselves. Is this showing up anywhere in our lives? Where does it come from – NOT from the Holy Spirit. Where does it lead – NOT to God’s good plans for you. What can you do about it? Recognize it – take responsibility for it – ask forgiveness for it – and seek God for special strength to change it. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela [https://instagram.com/headmamapamela] Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim [https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim] Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com [http://biglifehq.com]

2142 The Wrong Side – Fruits Part 2

When you live under the influence of the Holy Spirit, beautiful things naturally grow in your life. However, when you lack the things that grow in our lives under the direction of the Holy Spirit it’s because you’re NOT under the direction of the Holy Spirit. You’re not connected to Jesus. You’re connected to the world and you’re under the influence of your flesh. Yesterday we began creating 2 columns on our piece of paper. Grab that paper today as we continually refer to it. The left column is labeled “Without the Holy Spirit”. The scripture is Galatians 5: 19-21. The right column is labeled “With the Holy Spirit. The scripture is Galatians 5: 22-23. Before we get to the right side, we must see the left side. Galatians 5: 19-21, When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: (Yesterday we talked about the first 4 on the list) • Sexual immorality • Impurity • Lustful pleasures • Idolatry Today, let’s move on down the list. Remember, this is what happens in our lives when we are NOT led by the Holy Spirit. When we receive our guidance from the world, when we are under the influence of our flesh, these are the things we begin to battle and fall into. • Sorcery Are we talking about some hocus pocus? Magic? Spells? Witchcraft. Yes … but more than that actually. The Greek word translated into sorcery is ‘pharakeia’. This is actually where we get the word pharmacy. Sorcery is an attempt to gain power, knowledge or experiences apart from God. Drugs to alter your mind, to numb you, to achieve a euphoric feeling, or to reach a higher level of creativity … NOT FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT. I assure you of this, the Holy Spirit has the power to raise your thinking. The Holy Spirit has the power to heal you. The Holy Spirit is far greater than any drug the world can produce. 1 Peter 5:8, “Be alert and of sober mind.” Why? Because “your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” I’ve seen people I love absolutely consumed by sorcery. Again, not witchcraft, but using drugs to alter their mind. I’ve seen addiction take over their lives. I’ve seen it literally take their lives. The roaring lion found a way in and he indeed devoured. So God warns us, don’t even open that door. Don’t play around with it. This is dangerous. If it’s not from the Holy Spirit, you don’t want it. Don’t live on the left side of the list, it’s the wrong side. 1 Corinthians 6:12 is like a step into our mind that tries to argue for the things we want on the wrong side of the list. “You say ‘I am allowed to do anything’ – but not everything is good for you. And even though ‘I am allowed to do anything’, I must not become a slave to anything.” The truth is, some of us have become slaves to the drugs we have come to depend on. It may have started off innocent, but it has grown to an addiction and now you need it. You need it to relax. You need it to focus. You need it to be creative. You need it to have fun. You need it to sleep. You can argue that you’re allowed to, but God’s word asks “IS THIS GOOD FOR YOU? ARE YOU A SLAVE TO THIS?” Would you be willing to ask the Holy Spirit if you’re taking anything to feel good or better or happier that has taken his place? Here’s what I am NOT saying – I’m not saying medication is bad. I’m not saying there’s not a place for medical intervention, there absolutely is. But what I am saying is for some, it’s become sorcery. It’s the potion you depend on that is spiritually problematic. Pray about this. Ask yourself why. Why are you seeking this altered state? Is this drawing you towards God or away from him? Has this replaced your dependence on God? If you’re not willing to ask these questions, then there might be a reason. I’m not your Holy Spirit. I’m not here to provide conviction. I share God’s word and the meaning behind it that applies to our lives today. And here’s what I know, every single thing on the left side of the list under the heading of “WITHOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT” is not what we want in our lives. Next on the yuck list, we go into a series of sins that damage relationships. Let me tell you, God cares about how we treat each other. He has called us above everything else to love him and love others and sometimes that gets messy. Here are the things that get in the way of loving others: • Hostility • Quarreling • Jealousy Yuck, yuck, and more yuck. But honestly, there are a whole lot of us living on this side without the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our relationships. We feel the way we feel, act the way we act, and excuse it all. Stop excusing it. If it’s on the wrong side, then it’s wrong for us and we must seek the Holy Spirit to change. Your flesh will always lead you to hostility. Hostility is a heart issue where you have decided certain people are your enemy. You are hostile towards them. Maybe even without them knowing it, you’ve set up a position of you against them. There’s bitterness, unforgiveness and resentment. You’re cold and harsh towards them because YOU have put them in the enemy category. Think about that – is there anyone you have just decided you’re against? Anyone you’re harsh towards? Anyone you just don’t like so they get the worst of you? Yeah, that’s not from the Holy Spirit. Even more than that being bad for the other person, my friend, that’s really bad for you. That’s not who God created you to be. That’s not his best for your heart. You can surrender that hostility to God and ask him to heal your heart issue – or you can choose not to. That’s up to you. I bet I know what the Holy Spirit is prompting you to do. It’s your choice to listen or not, and your choice will determine just how free your heart is. Quarreling is the behavior that flows from hostility. It’s the outward expression of an inward twisting. Some people seem energized by disagreement. They have to win every discussion. That’s not by God’s design, nor is it under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Which side of the list is it on? The left side – the wrong side. When you turn every conversation into a debate, start arguments online, create tension wherever you are, and become more interested in winning than understanding, you are QUARRELING. God cares about how you treat others. Knock that crap off. Proverbs 21:23, “Watch your tongue and keep your mouth shut, and you will stay out of trouble.” Sometimes we partner with the devil with our tongue. He comes to kill, steal and destroy, and we’re killing spirits, stealing hope and destroying hearts with our quarreling. Yuck. Yuck. Yuck. But we don’t have to keep doing that. At absolutely any point we can seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit and receive a completely different influence in our lives. We can change. We can be filled with a different source and create radically different results. Finally today on the yuck list is jealousy. Jealousy hides behind comparison. It’s wanting what someone else has. It’s a feeling of resentment over another person’s blessings, gifts, opportunities, relationships or recognition. Jealousy is rooting in thinking God is limited and what he has given someone else will shortchange you – and you couldn’t be more wrong. My blessings do not steal from your blessings. Your gifts do not threaten my gifts. But the one who would love to destroy our relationship with one another wants to stir up an unnecessary competition between the two of us to compete for it. It’s simply NOT a competition. I wonder what the world of social media has done to our overall jealousy. We simply weren’t created to see all these things. We weren’t created to hold all of this awareness and details on the lives of others. I’ve noticed a radical shift in my contentment since completely eliminating social media in December. I’m no longer in some unspoken competition against everyone else. I don’t have to have what they have because I don’t know what they have. I don’t have to try to look how they look because unless I spend real life time with you, I don’t know how you look. And if I’m spending real life time with you, there are a million things more important about that time than how either of us look. The enemy has done a real work on our hearts and minds through the jealousy created in social media. He turned it into a competition of likes, shares, comments and follows. And we’ve played right into it. Here we sit on the wrong side of the list, wondering why we feel so empty inside. The Holy Spirit has something so much better for us. On the other side is a list of real offerings we can live in every day under his influence. These things are not found in the world. They are not found in our flesh. They are not found in social media. They are the fruits of the spirit. They are love, joy, peace patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. With these growing in our lives, we treat each other totally different. May the Holy Spirit open our eyes to any of the ploys of the enemy to be on the wrong side, living in the wrong feelings, dabbling with the wrong things, where he gets our hearts and minds all twisted. May the influence of the Holy Spirit cause you to jump ship and get on the right side of living, starting today! Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela [https://instagram.com/headmamapamela] Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim [https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim] Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com [http://biglifehq.com]

2141 Under the Influence – Fruits Part 1

There is something directing your life. You’re not doing this on your own. You’re either under the influence of the world and the flesh, or you’re under the influence of the Holy Spirit. One of these guides your thoughts, your attitude, your perspective and your actions – and your life looks radically different depending on your influencing factors. Look around my friend – if you aren’t pleased with what’s growing in your life, it may be a result of what you’re attached to – because whatever you’re attached to is drastically influencing every area of your life. Paul writes in Galatians and tells us of what is naturally produced in our lives when we’re attached to Jesus. Growing in Jesus means God’s Holy Spirit is influencing you. Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, you are different than you would be on your own. Different things grow in your life. You are given a different perspective with different priorities. And the beautiful thing is, it happens so naturally. This isn’t something you will or force, it just grows. We’re given a list of 9 fruits that grow in our lives as a result of the direction of the Holy Spirit and it’s inner influence: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control. These are the fruits of the Holy Spirit, meaning what grows from connection. And really think about the real life circumstances and struggles you woke up to today – what you need to face this is right here within the list of things that grow from within you when you’re connected to Jesus. Your answer … CONNECT TO JESUS! You don’t have to force this. You don’t have to pretend to be someone you’re not. The Holy Spirit will work within you to produce precisely what is needed and it will come from inside you, naturally producing in your life. Now maybe you’ve heard of the Fruits of the Spirit before. Maybe you even have them memorized and can ramble them off. Maybe this is brand new to you. Awesome. This is for you. Exactly where you are, in this season of life, with what you’re facing. Love for you. Joy for you. Peace for you. Patience for you. Kindness for you. Goodness for you. Faithfulness for you. Gentleness for you. Self-Control for you. I bet you can identify someone in your life who needs this too, huh? Someone who is lacking joy. Someone lacking peace. Someone living without kindness or faithfulness or self-control. What is happening in their life? Maybe that was you at one time. Or maybe that is a current struggle. Why is that? Scripture is actually quite clear. We don’t have to guess and wonder. When you lack the things that grow in our lives under the direction of the Holy Spirit it’s because you’re NOT under the direction of the Holy Spirit. You’re not connected to Jesus. You’re connected to the world and you’re under the influence of your flesh. We don’t have to hate the person who is without kindness and goodness, we have to see it for what it is. This is a hurting soul who either has never connected to Jesus or has become disconnected. We must love them enough to point them back to Jesus and back to his life-giving connection. Back to the direction of the Holy Spirit. It’s not our responsibility to change them. That’s the job of God’s Holy Spirit. YOU ARE NOT THEIR HOLY SPIRIT. Before we jump into the Fruits of the Spirit and this list of beauty that naturally begins to grow in our lives through connection with Jesus, we have to know about the other side of the list. You see there are two very clear lists. A list of what your life looks like WITHOUT the direction of the Holy Spirit and WITH the direction of the Holy Spirit. If you were to take a piece of paper and draw a line down the center, you would have two columns. On the left you could label that column “Without the Holy Spirit”. On the right you could label that column “With the Holy Spirit”. The column on the left is described in Galatians 5: 19-21. The column on the right is described in Galatians 5: 22-23. Let’s begin with making the list in the left column. Galatians 5: 19-21, When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: • Sexual immorality • Impurity • Lustful pleasures • Idolatry • Sorcery • Hostility • Quarreling • Jealousy • Outbursts of Anger • Selfish Ambition • Dissension • Division • Envy • Drunkenness • Wild Parties • Other Sins Like These Well that was yucky, wasn’t it? Yip, that’s what our lives become without the influence of God’s Holy Spirit. This is what we naturally get ourselves into. Our nature is sinful and leads us into some absolutely yucky things in our lives. Look around … there it is. We can see it in our own life or in the life of someone we love. Why has this happened, why do they act that way, why do they continue to do these things … because as verse 19 says, they have “followed the desires of their sinful nature and the results are very clear.” You’ve been asking why. That’s why, my friend. This is a matter of influence. The wrong influence creates the wrong results. The wrong direction grows the wrong fruit. For anyone with the wrong fruit growing in their lives, this is a matter of the wrong influence coming through the wrong connection. Maybe not a bad person, a bad connection. Have you ever traveled internationally and tried to plug your electrical device into a foreign outlet? It doesn’t fit. If you force it, you’ll blow something up. You could burn the whole building down! Some of us have lives burning down around us because we’ve plugged into the wrong thing. We’re connecting to things we simply weren’t created to be connected to. Over the next few weeks we’re going to do a deep dive on the divinely beautiful things that grow in our lives when we’re connected to Jesus and abiding in him. We’re going to grow in this process. It’s going to be so good for us to see the works of the Holy Spirit that happen so naturally in our connection. But first, we’re going to look at the column on the left. The yuck. The consequences. This is where you life will be without Jesus. Very clearly, this is what happens. Verse 19 in the NLT says “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature …” NIV says, “These are the acts of the flesh …” MSG puts it like this, “It’s obvious what type of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time …” There it is – when we try to do this on our own, when we do what we want, follow our own feelings, focused on self, letting our flesh lead the way, these are the messes we create for ourselves and others. Maybe you’re in one of those messes right now, either self-created or created by someone else. You’re living in that left hand column all while the Holy Spirit is inviting you to jump to the other side of the page and get on the right side. Is that possible? Absolutely! That change can begin today. Looking at our column on the left listed in verses 19-21, there are a few words we may not fully understand. So, let’s not skim over them, let’s understand. The first 3 are all sexual sins: Sexual immorality, Impurity, Lustful pleasures. These are things we all fall into without the direction of God’s Holy Spirit within us. It’s natural. We get all twisted up. We seek love in the wrong places and boy do we find it in all the wrong ways. There, we get stuck in tangled webs and suck others into that web of destruction. The next word on the left side are may be a little more unclear: Idolatry. It’s easy to assume that’s not us, nor is it anyone we love … but often it is. Idolatry is putting anything or anyone above God. Anything that gets God’s place becomes our idol. Anything we value more, anything we trust more, anything we seek first. Our spouses can become our idol. Our jobs can become our idol. Our image, our money, our hobbies can become our idols. And guess what – that happens so naturally in this world. Without the direct influence of the Holy Spirit, we are making stars our guide, we’re allowing horoscopes make our decisions, and putting flawed humans on pedestals thinking they hold our answers. Jesus is calling us back. Back to connection with him. Our lives naturally change when we connect with him. Recognize what is growing in your life – if it’s on the left side realize you’re on the wrong side, connecting to the wrong thing that is threatening to burn your whole life down. Your answer, CONNECT WITH JESUS. Let the Holy Spirit become your guide and influence. 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