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Hebrews 13:20-21

“Now may the God of peace—Who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with His blood—may He equip you with all you need for doing His will. May He produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to Him. All glory to Him forever and ever! Amen.”

It is because of what God has done, and ONLY because of what God has done, that we not only have been given a new heart, a new spirit and a new life, but God empowers us to live that Life. How? We are empowered to live a new Life because Jesus Christ comes and makes His permanent home in us to live out His life within us by the Holy Spirit. God equips us to DO His will, not merely give mental assent to the goodness of God’s will, but to do it! It is through the power of the Holy Spirit that God produces in us and demonstrates through us every good thing that is pleasing to Him. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is just THAT…it is the character of Jesus Christ is produced in us by the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. And for anyone wondering, the ability to control yourself is NOT self-initiated. It is an ability forged in you by the Holy Spirit. Our hope in following Jesus Christ is the fact that He is living within us; He IS life within us. Christ in you IS the hope of sharing in God’s glory.





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