Our Relationship with God.   Our relationship with God results from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It is by Faith, by saying ‘Yes’ to God that we allow the fruit of the Spirit to be produced in our lives. Notice the contrast in Gal. 5:19 and 22 between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. The works of the flesh are the natural outworking of the human nature with which we are all endowed at conception. We don’t have to be taught how to do these things. They happen naturally! When we commit ourselves to God the Holy Spirit moves into our lives and as we learn to live by faith the fruit of that indwelling becomes manifest. It is fruit over which we have no control. It is all of God. The first three elements of that fruit, Love, Joy and Peace determine the extent of our relationship with Him. God has chosen and appointed us so that we will bear fruit, Jn. 15:16, ‘I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit’; this is Gods will for us! Love: (A Gift) Rom. 5:5. ‘Gods love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us’.Love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that he has given us. Christian love is a gift from God! No amount of human effort to manufacture and generate love will be successful. It is a fruit that grows in our lives as a result of allowing the Holy Spirit to work out what God has poured in! Jn. 14:15, If you love me you will keep my commandments. Here Jesus is not talking about the 10 commandments of the Old Testament. These are the ‘sine qua non’ of our Christianity. Is the only reason you don’t commit adultery that there is a commandment against it? Surely the reason is that you love your husband or wife? You don’t steal because you love your neighbor, and so on. The commandments Jesus is talking about are those found in Mt. 5-7 and the rest of the New Testament. Joy: (A Promise) Jn. 15: 1-11, esp. Vs.11, ‘These things I have spoken to you that my joy might be in you, and that your joy might be full.’ Joy is gladness, relief or delight. Eg, the surgeon telling us that all went well and that that is the end of it! That is joy. If we want to know what real joy in our lives is then we ask God and not primarily for joy! We don’t pray for joy, we experience it when God answers our prayers! Jn. 16:24, Ask and you will receive that your joy may be full.We ask God to fulfill his will in our lives and as a result of him answering those prayers we will know the joy that he has promised, the gladness, the relief, the delight etc. Joy is associated with life. Experiences of sorrow prepare us for, and enlarge our capacity for joy! Jn. 16:20, ….your sorrow will turn into joy. Mt. 5:11,12, when persecuted rejoice and be glad. Rom. 5:3, We rejoice in our sufferings. Ps. 30:5. Weeping may tarry (last) for the night but joy comes in the morning. Peace: (A Legacy) Jn. 14:27, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. 16:33, I have said this to you, that in me you may have peace. The implication of these verses is that despite the trials and tribulations of this world we can know what it is to be at peace with God, ourselves and others. How do we claim that legacy? How does one claim any legacy? You don’t have to do anything.You have to be someone. You have to be the one named in the will. All we do is acknowledge receipt and make use of it. If we are the people that God wants us to be then we will know his peace, the peace that he has left us in his will! The secret of bearing fruit is simply to allow God to produce it in our lives! Trust and obey! Acts 5:29. We must obey God. Read these words emphasising each word in turn.