Fruit of the Spirit

I am reading a book called "The Holy Spirit Makes No Earthly Sense" by Terry Rush. In it, he makes the point that the Holy Spirit dwells in the inner man--that part of us that dies at baptism and is reborn throught spiritual rebirth. That inner person consists of mind, emotion, affection, determination, motivation, conscience, etc. Then Terry points us to Gal. 5:22 and 23--the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Hmmmmm.....lets see. If THOSE are the fruits of the Spirit, how can anyone say that He (the Spirit is only active today thru the written word???? Seems to me, it is the Spirit acting UPON us in our knowledge of the written word that would result in those fruits!!

As I was mulling all of this over today, I began thinking about when Jesus was baptized, and the Holy Spirit descended on Him, and the Voice from heaven says: "This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy!" Sure seems like there is a lot of affection and emotion in that statement!!

And from Jayme--Jesus promised that He would send the "Comforter"--it doesn't say He said He would send a book!!

I also find it quite interesting that the one sin Jesus himself names as the "unforgiveable" sin is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit! "Every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven--except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven. Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come." Matt. 12:31-32

Romans 8:26 talks about how the Spirit helps us in our weakness. When we can't find the right words to pray, the Holy Spirit intercedes with "groanings that cannot be expressed in words". That seems to be beyond the scope of the written word to me!!

Let me just say that I am in NO WAY minimizing the importance of the written Word. Knowing what the Word says allows the Spirit to "bring to rememberance" the things we have learned. He can't help us remember what we haven't learned!

But I still believe He (the Holy Spirit) is so much MORE to us than just the written Word.

It is good for me to use this venue for working through all of this. It helps me to focus and organize my thoughts instead of just being angry.

Father, I pray that you will allow your Holy Spirit to dwell within me ABUNDANTLY! I ask this in the name of your precious son, Jesus. Amen

Grace to you and all kinds of Peace in believing!