Josua Defeats Jericho: They Never Saw it Coming

 

Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand.  Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”

“Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.”  Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?”

The commander of the LORD’S army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.”  And Joshua did so.

Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites.  No one went out and no one came in.

Then the LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.  March around the city once with all the armed men.  Do this for six days.  Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark.  On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets.  When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in.”

Joshua 5:13-6:5

            It is probably safe to assume that Joshua had a plan for how he was going to approach Jericho.  It is also probably safe to assume his plan looked nothing like the plan the Lord gave him after his meeting with Jesus (the commander of the army of the LORD [5:14]).  There is no way Joshua would have ever come up with the plan the Lord gave him on his own.  There is no way Joshua could have even conceived of something like that being an option.

            As crazy as God’s plan must have seemed to Joshua and the Israelites, Joshua didn’t hesitate.  He gave the command and instructed everyone what they were to do.  He carried out God’s plan exactly as God gave it to him, and because Joshua and the Israelites completely submitted to God’s plan, they experienced a total victory.  The walls came crashing down.  The Israelites completely slaughtered all the inhabitants of Jericho, except for Rahab and her family.  They burned the whole city and “put the silver, gold, and articles of bronze and iron into the LORD’S treasury.”

            It is only God who can defy the odds.  It is only God who knows what his plans are and how they are going to be realized in our world.  God’s plans usually do not make sense to us.  If they did, we would not need faith to submit to them and carry out his directives.  Like Joshua, our responsibility is to make plans and get moving.  Then, when God intervenes to give us a new direction or adjustment it is our job to listen and do what he is telling us.  Unfortunately, God does not speak to us directly like he did with Joshua.  He speaks through people.  This is why it is so important to respect and submit to the guidance of the people God has placed in our lives to give us wise council.  This is why taking a contrary approach to everything, and everybody, is actually a sinful act of defiance against the Lord. 

If we have called men as God’s representatives to give our churches spiritual guidance, why do so many of our members refuse to trust them and listen to them?  It is okay to disagree with called workers and give them push back.  It is not okay for that to be the default mode and automatic attitude of a congregation.  When Joshua revealed the Lord’s plan to the rest of the leaders and community, people just accepted what he said.  We are not told that anyone questioned Joshua or God about this plan.  That attitude displays unity and trust.  The Israelites trusted God and Joshua, so they were united in their common belief (faith).  Too many of our churches today are divided because of a lack of trust, both in God and in the church leaders.  Weak faith leads to selfish sin, rebellion, and division.  Unfortunately, the attitude of Americans today is: “Prove it!  I’ll believe it when I see it.”

Jesus already has proven his faithfulness, and he answers this demand this way: “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign!  But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah” (Matthew 12:39).  Jesus fulfilled this sign on Easter morning, and he fulfills all his promises to care for us every day (Matthew 6:25-34). The last words of Jesus Matthew records for us as Jesus was ascending into heaven reaffirm this promise one more time: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20b).

Stop doubting and believe!

Who Do You Turn to in Tough Times?

 Matthew 8:23-27

Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him.  Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat.  But Jesus was sleeping.  The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us!  We're going to drown!"

He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?"  Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this?  Even the winds and the waves obey him!"

When the winds and waves of life pound against your boat, and it looks as though you're going to sink, who do you turn to for help?  Do you work to make your way through the storm, or do you just give up and say, "Well, whatever happens, happens.  It's out of my control."?

There is one thing you can be sure of.  In life, you are going to have to deal with some storms.  Some are worse than others, but they always come.  That's the reality of living in a sinful world.  The only thing you have to decide is:  How are you going to handle them when they come?  

This is something you had better be clear on before they hit.  You need to decide today how you're going to handle life's storms.  Are you going to attack them head-on, and learn the lessons from each one; or are you going to quit when life gets tough?

There is one thing for sure: if you attack life's storms and learn the lessons, they get easier to deal with over time.  Not because the storms get weaker or easier, but because you become stronger and are more prepared to deal with them.  

Conversely, you only have to quit on yourself one time to make quitting a habit in your life.  Don't make quitting your default mode when life gets tough.

How do you thrive through life's storms?

Do what those disciples did- Turn to Jesus!  They knew they were overmatched by the winds and the waves.  We aren't told how long they battled the storm before waking up Jesus, but once they realized it was too much for them, they turned to the only one who could help them.  They woke up Jesus.

The good news for us is that Jesus has been exalted from his lowly human state so he never sleeps.  He is always watching; waiting and ready to help us as soon as we are willing to turn to him and ask.  In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus taught, "Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be open to you."  Jesus wants to help.  In fact, he is the only one who truly can.  Every storm in life is our opportunity to turn to Jesus and submit ourselves to his power and authority.

The great thing about Jesus is that he solves our problems in ways that are way better than we would even think of.  We have no way of knowing what the disciples expected Jesus to do when they woke him up.  They just knew that he was powerful and they were not.  They knew that Jesus was their best chance for survival.  We do know that they never in their wildest dreams imagined he would solve the problem by displaying his authority over nature.  He got up, rebuked the winds and waves, and "it became completely calm."  Jesus is the only one who can give us the peace we are looking for, even in the middle of life's most violent storms.

Jesus rebuked the disciples for their lack of faith.  Their lack of faith was displayed by their extreme fear- they were terrified.  Fear comes from a total lack of faith.  When we trust in Jesus we have nothing to fear.  We don't have to fear the storms of life because Jesus will help us through them.  We don't have to fear death, because Jesus has conquered it and reigns over it.  If we no longer have to fear death, why should we fear anything?  Where, O death is your victory?  Where, O death is your sting?  

Jesus has defeated Satan.  He has conquered death and hell.  He has redeemed us and forgiven us all of our sins.  What do we have to fear?  Nothing!

Take your eyes off yourself and your challenges, and look to Jesus.  With man everything is impossible, but with God nothing is impossible.  You can't do it alone.  If you do choose to go it alone in life and become a "self-made" man or woman, you will get to go it alone in eternity as well.  If you turn your back on Jesus in life, he will turn his back on you in eternity.  You will be cast into the darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  You will spend eternity completely separated from Jesus, in hell.  

That's not what he wants.  He died for you.  He wants you to be saved.  He is holding out his hand to help you through this storm.  Take it!

"Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other." -Isaiah 45:22

God bless

Jason Fredrick

Learn to Love Discipline

Proverb s 12:1

Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.

Do you love discipline?  Do you even like discipline?

Most people do not.  

I love the results of discipline, but I cannot honestly say that I love discipline.

One thing that I have learned is that self-discipline is preferable to external discipline.  The reality is that you will be disciplined; it will come from three different sources: Yourself, God, and the world (God's natural laws, i.e. The Law of Cause and Effect).  So, if you are going to be disciplined anyways, doesn't it make sense that you would discipline yourself as much as possible?

Let's look at what Solomon said above:  Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge...
Wisdom and real, beneficial, knowledge is tough to acquire.  It takes discipline.  There are so many distractions in our life that we have to be intentional about learning and self-improvement.  The reality is that discipline can be painful or uncomfortable sometimes.  It can seem like we have to give up something that we really love, and maybe you will.  The reality and purpose of discipline is that there is something better available for us, something that we want most, something that is perfectly aligned with God's plan for our lives, and ultimately there is a right and wrong way to live our lives.   It takes discipline to walk the narrow road, and it is the narrow road that leads to life- eternal life in heaven.

This needs to be our motivation for self-discipline.  We want to discipline ourselves to walk that narrow road as a way to say, "Thank you" to Jesus for everything that He has done for us.  This doesn't just mean curbing our sinful actions and desires; it also means disciplining ourselves to develop and use all of the gifts He has given us.

This is why Solomon said, "...but he who hates correction is stupid."  When we look at discipline in this light, won't we love it?  Won't we want more of it?  Anyone who doesn't is stupid.  Anyone who hates discipline hates being led back to Jesus, and His plan for us.  Sadly, because of our sinful nature we are all guilty of being stupid at times.  Fortunately, Jesus loves us enough to be patient with our stupidity and to continually discipline us.

What's the best way to learn to love discipline?  Results.  The results of discipline help us to learn to love it.  When we see how Jesus pulls us closer to Him through discipline, we love it and want more of it because we want to be closer to Him.  When we see our health and fitness improve because we discipline ourselves with regular exercise and a healthy diet, it motivates us to love that discipline.  When we have better ideas and greater understanding from the discipline to read an hour every day, we learn to love that discipline.  When we see the positive impact our lives and our efforts have on the people God has placed in our lives, we love how Jesus has disciplined us over the years.  Eventually, we even become thankful for all the discipline we have received over our lifetime.

It's interesting that Solomon is saying here that knowledge comes from discipline and correction.
Anyone who loves discipline and correction ultimately loves knowledge.
Anyone who hates discipline and correction hates knowledge, and is therefore stupid.

Proverbs 15:10  Stern discipline awaits him who leaves the path; he who hates correction will die.

Matthew 6:13-14  "Enter through the narrow gate.  For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

My prayer for you is that Jesus will continue to love you with His discipline.

God bless
Jason Fredrick

The Root of All Evil

Matthew 5:21-26

"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.'  But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.  Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin.  But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.
"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar.   First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
"Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court.  Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison.  I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny."

In this section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes it very clear that sin is a heart issue.  The Law speaks to the outward manifestation of sin, but all sin begins in the heart.  Actions merely follow thoughts.  Anger makes us "subject to judgment" because it causes us to sin in so many other ways.  The examples Jesus gives are: insulting and belittling our brother.  This can lead to hatred which is murder (1 John 3:15).

Have you ever noticed how sin is the result of pride, arrogance, and selfishness?  Think of any sin.  At it's root, you will find one of these three culprits.  Not coincidentally, all three of these attributes are closely related, though not quite the same.  Eve certainly displayed all three in her interaction with Satan in the Garden of Eden.  Ultimately, these three demons are the root of all sin because all sin is first and foremost a sin against God.  All sin is a sin against the First Commandment.   Anger and hatred are absolutely idolatry, because we have placed ourselves in the position of God.  We have decided that we are qualified to judge our brother.

For example, we are most prone to anger when it comes to others' actions.  Now, in most instances their actions aren't sinful.  Many times their actions don't even affect us directly, but we arrogantly appoint ourselves as judge over them.  Most of the time when we get angry at someone it is because their actions simply are not preferable to us.  They don't do things the way we would do it.  This leads to thinking, or saying, things like:  "They are so stupid, why didn't they...?" or how about this one, "Every time they do ..., it makes me so angry!  Why can't they just do it the way that makes sense?"

Do you see where this way of thinking about others is leading?  Statements and feelings like this certainly don't help us love our brother more.  How much does saying and thinking those things make us want to build our relationship with that person?  Anger and a judgmental spirit destroy relationships.  Often, judging can prevent us from even having a relationship with someone, because once we've judged we are no longer open to connecting with that person.  How helpful is this attitude for living The Great Commission?

Now, before you begin to think that I am being self-righteous, I am speaking to myself first and foremost when I write this commentary.  I am guilty of all three:  Pride, Arrogance, and Selfishness.  I have to battle them every single day, and because of them I have to constantly fight my judgmental nature.  I am not naturally gifted at connecting with people and building relationships, and being judgmental only makes it that much tougher.

1 John 4:19-21

We love because He first loved us.  If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar.  For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.  And He has given us this command:  Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

So what are we to do about all of this anger and hatred; all of this pride, arrogance, and selfishness?
We are to work constantly on having a spirit of reconciliation and love.  When we find ourselves in the middle of a quarrel, especially with a Christian brother or sister, we need to lovingly seek to resolve the problem.  We need to have the courage to sit down with the other person and address the problem; not to show them what they have been doing wrong, but to resolve the conflict and save the relationship.

Let's review Orrin Woodward's 5-step process for conflict resolution:

1. Affirm the relationship.
2. Genuinely seek to understand the other person's position.
3. Lovingly seek to be understood.  State your side of the problem.
4. Own responsibility, where possible, and sincerely apologize.
5. Seek agreement.

This process can only work when you truly love and care about the other person and the relationship.  Ultimately, love is the only way to defeat the three-headed monster: Pride, Arrogance, and Selfishness.  That happens by loving others and focusing on serving them, instead of looking to serve ourselves.  Read that passage from 1 John again (above).

We also defeat our sinful tendencies by embracing the attributes of love that Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails.

Love is the way that we protect ourselves from sinning against our brother.  If our hearts are full of love, there won't be room for anger or hatred or any other sinful, malicious thoughts and desires.  If our hearts are full of love for the Lord, His love will pour out of us.  As John wrote, "We love because He first loved us."  The way we love everyone God has placed in our lives is by staying focused on Christ's love for us.  It is only through the precious gift of the Holy Spirit that we are able to love anyone other than ourselves.  To God be the glory!

May the Lord bless you and keep you.

Jason Fredrick

The Salt and Light

Matthew 5:13-16

"You are the salt of the earth.  But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?  It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

"You are the light of the world.  A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

First. let's look at being "the salt of the earth".  Here Jesus is talking about salt in its uses with food.  Salt is used to help bring out the flavor in food; and it was also used to preserve food, especially before the days of refrigeration.

As Christians, we are supposed to enhance the "flavor" of life.  We are to make life better and more enjoyable for the people around us.  Being salty in this sense means being swept up by the "Fruits of the Spirit" (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control), and we are to bring out these attributes in everyone that we come into contact with.  When salt is used in cooking it affects the entire dish.  When Christians are salty, they affect the entire world around them.  Jesus wants us...He commands us to infuse the people around us with the Fruits of the Spirit.  That is how we remain salty: by living a life that is loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled.

If we should ever lose our saltiness, that Fruit of the Spirit, what will become of us?  At that point we wouldn't be good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled on.  We would be reduced to sidewalk salt or road salt.  Road salt and sidewalk salt are corrosive and damage everything they come into contact with.  Look at your car and your cement work after a winter of heavy salt use.  It's the same for Christians when they lose their saltiness.  They tend to become the most aggressive atheists and humanists you will ever meet.  They have a terrible, corrosive effect on the world.  So listen to Jesus and continue to be the salt of the earth.

What about being "the light of the world"?  Have you ever thought about the power that light has over darkness?  Did you ever think of light that way- as having power over darkness?

If you're not sure about that phrasing, think of this.  How much light does it take to break total darkness?  How much darkness does it take to snuff out a light?

This can be a difficult concept for us to grasp, because in our modern world we rarely(never) experience total darkness.  Unless we tour a cave or shut ourselves in a closet, it is incredibly difficult to experience total darkness.  There always seems to some light source somewhere.  You can't even walk through your neighborhood at night in total darkness.  With that being said, let's go back to the power of light over darkness.

How much does it take to lighten a room? 
A match will make a difference.
A candle will help you avoid furniture.
A single light bulb will allow you to see everything in that room.

This is why Jesus calls every Christian to be the light of the world.  You don't have to be the pastor of a megachurch, or a T.V. preacher to have an impact in this world for Jesus.  All you have to do is share Jesus with whomever you come into contact with.  We can all be a match. 

All that is required to be a match is to live your life for Jesus: by living a life that is loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled.  Sound familiar?  Well, living your life like that will get you noticed.  It will give you opportunities to tell people about Jesus, and how you are able to live a life full of the Fruits of the Spirit.  If you live like this in our dark, sin-cursed world, people will notice.  It won't be everybody, but it will be some.

The next level of light is the candle.  This is the person who actively evangelizes throughout their daily life.  This is the person who is always looking for ways to talk about Jesus in any conversation.  This person will even start conversations with strangers for the sole purpose of telling them about Jesus.  This kind of light shining is certainly more natural to certain personality types, but it can be learned and developed by anyone.  It only takes two things to become a candle, or to become an even brighter candle: Diligently study God's Word daily and Practice. 
If you will discipline yourself to do those two things everyday you can fuel your fire to become any size candle that you want to be.

The third level of light is the light bulb.  These are the people who train and teach others to shine brighter.  This includes pastors, but it isn't limited to those who are blessed enough to be in full-time public ministry.  This includes anyone who: leads a Bible study, coordinates a men's or women's study group,  disciples their children,  teaches Bible classes, trains people for evangelism, recruits others to participate in ministry, etc. 

The most important thing to remember is that no matter what level of light you are, you will never realize how great your impact on this world is just by letting your light shine.  You are impacting people everyday in ways that you don't even understand, because you don't notice them or talk to them.  Whether they realize it or not, they are affected by your light.  That's why God puts them in your path every day.  I encourage you to slow down and notice a few of them once in a while.

1 Peter 2:9-12

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light.  Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.  Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.

Jason Fredrick

  

Enter Through the Narrow Gate

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Matthew 7:13-14

"Enter through the narrow gate.  For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

This is one of the shortest sections of the Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus gives the command, and then states the corollary between destruction and life.  This comparison is so straight forward that it doesn't need any further teaching for an audience that is already trying to get to heaven by observing the Law.  So what does this mean for us?  Can we earn heaven by simply obeying all of God's commands?

To answer those questions, we first need to be clear on what each of those paths is.  

The wide gate and broad road is our sinful nature, the world around us, and Satan's attacks on us which ultimately end in Hell.  

The small gate and narrow road is the sanctified life- daily striving to live a Godly life that honors and glorifies Jesus which leads to Heaven.

Thankfully God did not leave either of these paths open to our own interpretation.  He had the Apostle Paul clearly define each of them for us in his letter to the Galatians.

Galatians 5:19-21

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious:  sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.  I warn you as I did before, those who live like this will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

This is the broad road that leads to destruction, just as Paul also warns.  Look at how that list breaks down:

1. Sexual sin
2. Idolatry
3. Sins against other people
4. Public sins

This list of sins that the ancient people of Galatia were dealing with doesn't seem much different than what our culture/society is faced with today.  Apparently Solomon knew what he was talking about when he wrote:

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.  Is there anything of which one can say, "Look!  This is something new"?

It was here already, long ago: it was here before our time.  There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow.

(Ecclesiastes 1:9-11).

Look at that list.  Is there any one of those that you can say is not prevalent in our culture today?

The only one that I could see someone even attempting to make a case for is- idolatry and witchcraft.  If you are inclined to argue for that you will find, very quickly, that your argument does not hold water.

Materialism and relativism permeate the American landscape.  Here is a short list of American Idols:  Buddha, Allah, Brahma, self, money, TV/entertainment, celebrities, government, stuff, career, the environment, academic credentials, "experts", and the list goes on and on.

Witchcraft, even though it isn't often called by that name, also has a very strong presence in our society, beginning with the increasing growth of false religions:  Wicca, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Environmentalism, Paganism.  You may try to claim that none of these is "witchcraft".

Witchcraft is not what we have been taught to think it is.  It is not a bunch of old hags stirring up a sinister brew in their black cauldron and mischievously casting spells on people. 

Witchcraft is demon and Satan worship.  We see its popularity in the presence of horoscopes, tarot readings, palm readings, Ouija boards (marketed as a game); and movies/TV shows like Harry Potter, Twilight, The Good Witch, Charmed, etc.   

The American culture is immersed with idolatry and witchcraft.  Ironic isn't it?  That a culture that prides itself on being so "scientific" is so in love with the occult. 

Notice where all of this leads: to destruction.  Everything that I just went through in the last couple of paragraphs leads to Hell!  You can argue for your sin all you want.  It will only lead you through the wide gate, which is the gate of Hell.

Why do you think the gate is wide and the road is broad?  It is because there are a lot of people traveling that road, and passing through that gate.  Significantly more people than those who are traveling the narrow path, looking to enter through the small gate.  This is the ultimate reason not to run with the herd.  You don't want to get swept up by the stampede on the broad path and carried through the wide gate.  Be very careful and intentional about your associations.

With that, let's leave the broad road behind.  Let's take a look at the narrow road, as defined by Paul.

Galatians 5:22-25

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.  Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

We all know in our head that this is how we are supposed to live.  We all know that this is how we are supposed to treat other people.  We know it because this is how we expect others to treat us.  Not only do we expect it from everyone else, often we demand it.  Do you see how narrow the road is?

As soon as we demand these things of others we have stumbled onto the broad path, acting out of our sinful nature, not "living by the Spirit".  This is why we can never work our way into heaven.  The narrow road is so narrow that we can not stay on it by ourselves.

Thankfully, we don't have to walk it by ourselves.  The Holy Spirit has been assigned to help us.  It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit living and working in us that we are able to walk the narrow path.  That is why Paul calls these attributes the Fruit of the Spirit, because they are truly gifts from the Holy Spirit.  Without the gift of the Holy Spirit living in us, and the gift of faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior that He works in us, we can never truly experience any of these things.  Without the Holy Spirit we are left empty...hollow, attempting to accomplish all of these things on our own.  Without faith in Jesus and the Holy Spirit living in us we would be stuck in the situation that Solomon opens Ecclesiastes with:

"Meaningless!  Meaningless!"  says the Teacher.  

"Utterly meaningless!  Everything is meaningless." (Ecclesiastes 1:2)

It is only with the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit that we can walk the narrow path, live a purposeful life, and ultimately walk through that small gate one day to enter Paradise. This is all by God's grace.  By His grace alone.  Yes, Jesus commands us to enter through the narrow gate, but He also knows that we can't do it by ourselves.  Thankfully, our Heavenly Father has given us a Helper to empower us to live a sanctified life, the Holy Spirit.

God bless

Jason Fredrick