But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-25 (NIV)
Believers would do well to dwell on the divine nature of Christ, Who dwells within every true believer through the Holy Spirit. He Who has worked from eternity past through eternity future and Who empowers us through His Spirt equipping us to do things too hard for us to do, deserves our full attention, love, admiration and obedience. “He is the image of the invisible God,” Paul tells us in Colossians 1:15 (NIV), and “He was with God from the beginning,” John states in John 1:1 (NIV). He commands the winds and the waves, raises the dead and yet holds little children in His lap and weeps over the pain of others. There is a marvel in His juxtaposition of divinity and humanity – all rolled into One. He is a great God Who delights to control the wind and the waves as well as delights to comfort, lead, guide and direct His children. We can depend upon Him as He never changes – we may change, but He never does.
Jesus beckons us to come to Him – all who are weary and heavy laden – and who does that not include? His desire is to give us rest by carrying our burdens which are too hard for us to carry. Nothing is too hard for Him. Nothing. He desires to take these burdens and replace them with blessing. And the blessing is Him – more and more of Him. “The fullness of Him Who fills everything in every way,” Paul writes in Ephesians 1:23 (NIV). He fills so that we are no longer wanting or needy.
He is also gentle and lowly in spirit and in Him, we find rest for our restless souls. He is the Author and Perfecter of all things and only in Him is found perfect peace – a peace that is unearthly in its nature and one that passes all human understanding. He is before all things and in Him all things hold together and He is the Head of the body, the Church. He, Who is in very nature, God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but made Himself nothing – taking the nature of a servant and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death on a cross to save me. To save you. He was made sin for us so that in Him we may become the righteousness of God. Amazing grace how can it be that thou my God should die for me.
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.** Philippians 2:5-11 (NIV)**