Spiritual Gifts vs. The Fruit of The Spirit

Jesus said; "But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:20-21

The Lord spoke to me in the wee hours of this morning and began to give me a deeper revelation about this scripture.

Too many Christians today are building their treasures in this dimension. Most claim that they aren't, but when you take a closer look, you find that on a whole, they do. The Lord also tied in this scripture to the first one; "Every tree that brings not forth good fruit is axed down, and cast into the fire." Matthew 7:19

Christians are taught to focus on the "gifts" of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:8-10), instead of the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), when Jesus clearly stated the the tree that bears no fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire, not the tree that bears no gifts. Yet the gifts have become the main focus in the churches. The scriptures tell us that gifts come without repentance (Romans 11:29) and do not determine your relationship with the Lord, nor guarantee your seat at the marriage supper of The Lamb.

I see way too many churches, groups, leaders and saints promoting the gifts instead of promoting communion with The Lover of our soul. 1 Corinthians 13:8 tells us that the gifts will pass away, but that love will remain. There will be no need for prophesy, miracles, tongues, healing, etc in heaven. Heaven is complete and perfect. The gifts of the Spirit are given for this life as a sign to the unbeliever, and for our edification. But once this life passes away, these things will be irrelevant. However the Word of God tells us that the fruit will remain. The is because the Fruit of the Spirit is from heaven, apart YHVH-God Himself, and therefore crosses over into eternity with Him. It is written that Love is the greatest of these because YHVH-God is Love! The Fruit of the Spirit is not a gift (which the gifts are free; all you need to do is ask), but have to be earned through refinement. In the end, the fruit produces the rewards of gold, silver and precious gems when we stand before the Lord on that day. Therefore, the Lord revealed to me that seeking after only the gifts, is a type of building your treasures in this life, because we cannot take them into eternity.

In Revelation 3:14-22, the Church of Laodicea claimed that they had everything, yet Jesus indicated that they were poor, blind, naked and wretched, and advised them to buy His gold that had been refined with the pure fire. The Church of Laodicea, which is the lukewarm church is like unto those who Christ spoke about in Matthew 7:21-23, when He said that not everyone who calls Him "Lord" will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. They too, thought they had everything needed. They talked about how they prophesied, cast out demons, and healed the sick, which are all gifts; but in the end, Jesus said He didn't know them.

Jesus commanded that we Love (see, there's that fruit again) the Lord, our God, with all of our heart, soul and mind, and then love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37). Through this we draw close to Him, and are able to not only obtain, but maintain that relationship with Him; the relationship that causes Him to "know us." This is our key into the Kingdom of Heaven. Christ is coming for a Bride, and you don't marry someone that you don't know.

Spiritual Food For Thought

Mena Lee Grebin
Faithful Walk Healing Ministries