One Christian Dad

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Advent Day 4

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SONY DSC

SONY DSC

Scripture Reading:   Colossians 2:6-7; Galatians 5:22,23; Ephesians 5:8-14

Devotional:

Q. Do you like to get gifts?

At Christmas time most people get gifts.  The greatest gift of all is Jesus.  He is a wonderful gift from God.  At Christmas time it is good to think about all the gifts that God has given us.  One of the gifts is His Holy Spirit.  His Holy Spirit gives us faith.  And with faith, we receive the wonderful gift of fruit! But this kind of fruit we can’t eat.

Q. Do you ever do bad things?

Of course you do, everyone does.  The reason is our sinful nature wants us to do and think bad things like not obeying mom or dad, fighting with a brother or sister, or not sharing, or hitting. When the Holy Spirit is in control of your thoughts, you won’t want to do all the wrong things your sinful nature wants you to do.  When the Holy Spirit is in control of our lives, a special kind of fruit starts showing—the fruit of the Spirit.

Q. Can you name the fruit of the Spirit?

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Discuss the fruit if they do not understand what each is)

Q. How does this fruit grow in us?

Have you ever picked an apple or a pear from a tree? It is a miracle how God makes soft, juicy fruit grow on tree branches. Tree branches are hard, and knotty, but God will make the soft juicy fruit grow even on hard branches. Sometimes we can be hard.  Sometimes we can be naughty.  But when the Holy Spirit comes to live in you, God does the same kind of miracle in you! He gives us new life and makes the fruit of the Spirit grow in your life!

A fruit tree doesn’t need to try as hard as it can to make fruit grow. If it is firmly rooted in good ground, all it has to do is soak up the water from the ground and let the sun shine on it and the fruit will grow.  When you are rooted in Jesus you will soak up the water of the Holy Spirit and Bible is like the sunshine.

Q. What do you think we need to do to know that the Holy Spirit is living in us?

We need to be sorry for the bad things we do and ask God to forgive us; this is called repenting of our sin. And we have to know that Jesus died for the bad things we do.  When we believe that Jesus died for our sins, then we know that the Holy Spirit will produce fruit in us that pleases the Lord. And as you grow in Him, and continue praying and reading the bible, God will work in your life by pruning off the bad fruit we do and replacing them with the good fruit of the Spirit.

At Christmas we thank God for the birth of Jesus.  We also thank God for the gift of His Holy Spirit, who helps us to live lives of thankfulness, and makes fruit grow in our lives.

Sing: Hymn 49 : The Spirit Sent From Heaven Above

Capture

Prayer: Ask each person how they can show the fruit of the spirit at Christmas time and then pray about what each person says.

Ideas to add to your prayer:

  • Praise God for goodness; praise him for His love, and mercy and for giving us the Holy Spirit.
  • Confess that we are sinful people, and that our own fruit is not good,
  • Thank God for this love, grace and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
  • Thank God for sending the Holy Spirit to work faith in us, and to grow the fruit of  Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
  • Ask God help us live a life of thankfulness bearing true fruit in our lives;
  • Ask God to strengthen our faith and help us show love to our neighbour at Christmas time.

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