Fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22)

Love took the place of priority. A man with love is near to the graduation. The last one is self-control but it is the kindergarten. That is where fruit of the Spirit starts. The man without self-control, i dont think he ever understand other parts of the fruit like- long suffering, peace, kindness etc. Everything of the fruit of the Spirit sprouts from the Self Control. 

Ps. 149

¹ "a new song,"

How to sing a new song? If child finds a coin on the road, he takes it and sings a new song by himself. He is the writer of that new song. When you are happy you will sing. When you are sad you will sing. Every situation in a human life had a song. It may be a birthday, death day, marriage. Every occasion has a song. If you have feelings about something, singing cannot be a difficult thing. When we see the Lord, we cannot help but sing. A new song is not difficult if we have feelings about the Lord. 

 "in the assembly of his faithful people"

The writer is talking about a public worship. 

   ²  Maker; King.
A person who makes something is the creator of it. And the one who buys it, is the king of it. Jesus is both. 

³ ...praise his name with dancing
Let the blood move while you praise him since the life is in the blood.

 ...and harp.
Once you strike the harp, the sound sustains. Some have a gratitude that does not sustain for a while. Hos. 6:4

⁴ For the LORD takes delight in his people;

   he crowns the humble with victory.

⁵ Let his faithful people rejoice in this honor

   and sing for joy on their beds.

   ⁶ May the praise of God be in their mouths
   and a double-edged sword in their hands,
⁷ to inflict vengeance on the nations
   and punishment on the peoples,
⁸ to bind their kings with fetters,
   their nobles with shackles of iron,
⁹ to carry out the sentence written against them—
   this is the glory of all his faithful people.

   Praise the LORD.

For peace

God wants his people to live in a peaceful environment. That is why God told them to target three things in Ex. 34:13. They have to destroy, smash and cut these three things.

1. Altars ( destroy)
2. Idols (smash)
3. Pillars (cut)

Not every altar they see, not every idol they see, not every pillar they see. He did not tell them to remove them while they were in Egypt and while they were going through some pagan kingdoms. They have to remove those three things only in the promised land. 

But sadly human beings usually think that compromising with these things help them live peaceful with neighbors. 

Will of God

Fear of the Lord is a great helper to know the will of God. David did not kill Saul. No one told him that "not killing Saul" is God's will. Only fear of the Lord taught him not to touch Saul. 

1. By his appointed

God's will should be done by the one who was appointed by God. David was appointed by God but it was not for building a temple. He was not right person for that task. Yet he was appointed by God to be a king over Israel. Building a temple is only for his son Solomon. It was God's will. A task requires to enquire God to see who was appointed for that particular talk. God's will should be done by God's appointed.

2. In his time
God's will should be done in God's time. A man sowed wheat. But the enemy sowed weeds in his absence. When the wheat has grown up, the weeds also showed up. The servants were angry. They wanted to pull them off. The wise thing they did was to ask their master before they do any thing. The master said, "not now". He did not say "no". There is a day that he is going to pull them off. It was his will but should be done in his "time". (Matt. 13:24-30)

3. In his way
God's will should be done in His way. David wanted to bring Ark of the Covenant into the city. He discussed with many of them. It seems good to them. They moved on to bring the Ark. David is the man after God's own heart but he doesn't know the way how to bring. The Ark has to be carried on the shoulders of the Levites. He brought them on a new cart. I see a great love in David's heart but a lack of knowledge. As we know the feet of the oxen was slipped, Uzza stretched his hand to hold the Ark and he died. Celebration turned into a sad story. There is no lack of godliness but the knowledge was lacking. This did cost a life. 2Sam. 6:1-7

Ex. 30:17-21 Laver

You want to wash your hands before you eat. You dont take bathe before you eat because you already had a bath. Laver talks about cleansing.

1. Repentance and forgiveness
John the baptist was not teaching on baptism. His teaching was on repentance and forgiveness.

2. Roots and fruits
John called them brood of vipers. When he said brood, he was talking about their roots. When he said go and show the fruits of repentance he was talking about fruits.

Peter asked the Lord why he was washing his feet. Jesus said that if he doesnt wash then he has no part in him. Then Peter replied "then wash my head also". Then Jesus said, "the one bathed has no need to bath again, just washing hands and feet will do".

A man who is baptized has no need to take baptism again if he sins. He can repent.

3. Fruits and roots
He said every tree that doesnt give fruits will be cut off because the axe is at the roots. 

Covenant (your part before expecting God's part)

Exod 34:10 "Then the Lord said, “Now I’m going to make a covenant. Before all your people I’ll do miraculous deeds that haven’t been done in all the earth or in any nation. All the people among whom you live will see the work of the Lord, for it’s an awesome thing that I’ll do with you."

A covenant is made between two parties. After the covenant is made, until i am not committed to my part, other party is not committed to their part. In the next verse he said to Moses to do his part, that is to obey his command and then He will do his part that is to drive out the six nations that live in Canaan. 

(Exod 34:11 "Obey what I am commanding you today. I’ll drive out from before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.")

But all those nations are the puppets. The actual power that was behind them was the Satan. James said to resist the devil he will flee from us. Though you resist him, you resist him in the name of Jesus, thus this is God's part. What is your part in this before God does his part?. Before James said to resist the devil, he said, "Therefore, submit yourselves to God..." 4:7

Is there any thing that is not happening in your life, though you have been doing all spiritual things? May be what you have been expecting is connected to the covenant. So it may not happen until you do your part. What would be your part in this particular situation?