Dear Manna Family,

One of the main attractions in Yellowstone National Park is a geyser named Old Faithful. It erupts about every 90 minutes or so. We are attracted to it because of its dependability and faithfulness.

Faithfulness is the seventh virtue mentioned in Galatians 5:22. The Greek word for faith is “pistis” which refers to truthfulness, fidelity and honesty. Faithfulness describes someone who is trustworthy, reliable and dependable. It’s been said that “the greatest ability is dependability.” The God of the Bible is a faithful, dependable God.

Lamentations 3:22 The LORD’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,

For His compassions never fail. Vs 23 They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

Since God is faithful and we represent Him on earth, we need to be faithful as well.

I Corinthians 4:2 “Moreover it is required of stewards that one be found faithful.”

A steward reliably manages what belongs to the owner…….for the benefit of the owner.

The parable of the talents illustrates this principle of faithfulness. An owner is going on a long journey, and he entrusts three of his managers with some of his resources and commands them to be productive with them. The first two managers double the owner’s money. The owner tells them that since they have been faithful with a few things, he is going to put them in charge of many things. (Matthew 25:21). The third manager buries the owner’s money in the ground and gives it back to him when he returns from his journey. The owner is quite unhappy, takes the one talent away from him, and gives it to the one with the ten talents. (Matthew 25)

Daniel is another example of faithful stewardship. Near the end of his life, Daniel was going to be appointed Prime Minister over the Persian Empire, when his political enemies conspired to destroy his career. They looked at his professional history trying to find past corruption, incompetence or poor judgment and found nothing.

Daniel 6:4 “….they could find no ground of accusation or evidence of corruption, inasmuch as he was faithful, and no negligence or corruption was to be found in him. Vs 5 Then these men said, ‘We shall not find any ground of accusation against this Daniel unless we find it against him with regard to the law of his God.’”

They flattered king Darius into signing a law that made it made it a capital crime to pray to anyone but the king himself for the next 30 days, and the king signed it.

Vs 10 Now when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he entered his house (now in his roof chamber he had windows open toward Jerusalem) ; and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously.

He had been faithfully praying to God three times a day for decades and he remained faithful, even in the face of certain death in the lion’s den. You know the rest of the story. God delivered him from the lion’s den and gave him ongoing success.

God owns everything and He entrusts every follower of Jesus with resources to manage for His kingdom. God has entrusted us with His p]-word, our salvation, health, heritage, personality, education, aptitudes, career, finances, relationships, circumstances, spiritual gifts and so forth. Be faithful in managing what you currently have, and the Holy Spirit will teach you to be faithful with more. ‘Dare to be a Daniel!’

Remember, God designed us to ‘do life together!’

Love and prayers,

Brad

•••

Subscribe to listen each week as the Manna class learns and grows together through their in-depth study of God's Word. This comprehensive, expository series is taught by Brad Hannink, a gifted communicator of the Bread of Life.

Manna is a Bible study life group that meets at Valley Baptist Church, located at 4800 Fruitvale Ave. in Bakersfield, California.For more information, visit mannapodcast.com.

©2018, 2019, & 2020 - Brad Hannink - All Rights Reserved

Dear Manna Family,

We sometime use the phrase “Ladies and Gentlemen,” when addressing an audience. This invites an obvious question, exactly what is a gentle man or gentle woman? Today in our study on the Fruit of the Spirit, we’re looking at Galatians 5:23 at the virtue called gentleness.

The Greek word for gentleness is often translated as meekness or humility. Meekness is not weakness; meekness is power under control, like a horse with a bit and bridle is under the control of their rider. A meek person is even tempered because they rule their own spirit and have their own passions under control. Gentle or meek means to be peaceful, tender, merciful, and courteous. A gentle person patiently endures offenses, instead of seeking revenge.

The opposite of gentle is someone who is harsh and domineering. Power that is out of control is destructive. A bull in a china shop is not a picture of gentleness.

Jesus, the ultimate model of gentle humility, invites us to come to Him and submit to Him.

Matthew 11: 28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

Vs 29 Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls.

Vs 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

The God who created the universe uses His infinite power with gentleness, not cruelty. Even though the human race which He created rebelled against His rule, Jesus humbled Himself and came to earth to save sinners by laying down His life for their benefit. Jesus is God’s gentleness in action.

Moses is a human example of meekness.

Numbers 12: 3 Now the man Moses was very meek (very humble), more than any man who was on the face of the earth.

Meekness was not a character trait that Moses was born with. As a matter of fact, he was a natural born hothead, a redheaded firebrand so to speak. When he was about 40, he saw an Egyptian beating a fellow Israelite. He looked both ways, and when he didn’t see any bystanders, he killed the Egyptian with his own two hands, and buried him in the sand. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two stone tablets in his hand and saw the golden calf that Israel was worshipping, the Bible says that his anger burned. He threw down the tablets and they shattered. (Exodus 32). Numbers 20 records that in the last year of his life, Moses grew angry with Israel’s perpetual disobedience, and struck the rock instead of speaking to it as God had commanded him.

Moses had to learn gentleness and meekness, and God used sheep to teach him. Moses spent 40 years in the desert as a shepherd, and sheep do not respond to cruelty, but to gentleness. Moses then spent 40 years leading 2 million people through a wilderness without food or water, and that required humble dependence upon the LORD. The Holy Spirit designs difficult circumstances to make us humble and gentle like Jesus.

Sometimes the Holy Spirit has to put our life in a vice (or a virus!), so we can’t get away while He chisels and sandpapers our life to make us more like Jesus. The process is painful, but the results will be beautiful!

Remember, God designed us to ‘do life together!’

Love and prayers,

Brad

•••

Subscribe to listen each week as the Manna class learns and grows together through their in-depth study of God's Word. This comprehensive, expository series is taught by Brad Hannink, a gifted communicator of the Bread of Life.

Manna is a Bible study life group that meets at Valley Baptist Church, located at 4800 Fruitvale Ave. in Bakersfield, California.

Manna believes in doing life together. If you’re in need of prayer, email us your request at [email protected] and our class will be happy to add it to our prayer list. Members of Manna get together each week to pray for those on the prayer list.

For more information, visit mannapodcast.com.

©2018, 2019, & 2020 - Brad Hannink - All Rights Reserved

Dear Manna Family,

The apostle Peter once described Jesus using these words:

You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good….. Acts 10:38.

We are studying the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5: 22 and goodness is the sixth virtue mentioned. Goodness is active kindness. It is moral excellence and compassionate generosity that is revealed by actions. Goodness is doing what is right, because it’s right. God’s people should do good because their God is good.

Galatians 6: 9 And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary.

Vs 10 So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

Doing good is not a one-time thing, it’s a lifetime thing, and it can be exhausting. Sometimes when our good deeds don’t seem to matter, it’s easy to give up. However, God calls us to keep on doing good as long as we can, because one day, our opportunity to do good will be over. An opportunity to do good is an occasion to demonstrate the love of Jesus to others and that can make a difference for all eternity.

Tabitha is an example in the Bible of someone doing good.

Acts 9: 36 Now in Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha (which translated in Greek is called Dorcas) ; this woman was full of good works and charitable deeds, which she did.

Acts records that she died and her friends asked the apostle Peter to come, which he did.

Vs 39 …..And when he had come, they brought him into the upper room; and all the widows stood beside him weeping, and showing all the tunics and garments that Dorcas used to make while she was still with them.

She is described as being “full of good deeds.” She did not do good occasionally; she was doing good deeds continually. God’s love was the wellspring of goodness in her life that overflowed into actions that blessed others. She was a seamstress and she used her skill to make clothes for people who most likely could not afford to pay for them. She literally put clothes on people. In that time, clothing was handmade and therefore expensive. Many people could only afford one set of clothing and people literarily wore their clothes until they wore out.

Her legacy was far more than clothes. She had obviously blessed many people by her good deeds, and their sorrow testified to the value she had left behind. God described her life as “full of good works and charitable deeds.” That would be a pretty good epitaph for your life.

Practically speaking, doing good is simply using whatever God has given you for the benefit of others in Jesus’ name. Dorcas was a seamstress and she used what she had. God has given all of us resources and skills that can bless others. The Holy Spirit will guide you in doing good with what God has already given you. All you have to do is ask.

Remember, God designed us to “do life together!”

Love and Prayers,

Brad

•••

Subscribe to listen each week as the Manna class learns and grows together through their in-depth study of God's Word. This comprehensive, expository series is taught by Brad Hannink, a gifted communicator of the Bread of Life.

Manna is a Bible study life group that meets at Valley Baptist Church, located at 4800 Fruitvale Ave. in Bakersfield, California.

Manna believes in doing life together. If you’re in need of prayer, email us your request at [email protected] and our class will be happy to add it to our prayer list. Members of Manna get together each week to pray for those on the prayer list.

For more information, visit mannapodcast.com.

©2018, 2019, & 2020 - Brad Hannink - All Rights Reserved

Dear Manna Family,

In 1969, Glen Campbell recorded a song titled, “Try a Little Kindness.” I recommend you try both the song, and the virtue it advocates. Kindness is the fifth virtue listed in the Fruit of the Spirt in Galatians 5: 22. The Greek word for kindness is “chrestotes.” The Greek word for old wine is “chrestos,” which means mild, pleasant and smooth. Kindness deals with others with in a mild, pleasant and tender manner. Kindness is compassion and friendliness towards others. A kind person is someone who adapts themselves to meet the needs of others.

Jesus is kind and forgiving, and we are commanded to be kind and forgiving as well.

Ephesians 4: 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

Jesus adapted Himself to meet our needs by dying in our place so that God could forgive us.

How much more should we, who have experienced God’s kindness, extend it to others.

The Apostle Paul, who wrote these words, once experienced kindness….from strangers! Paul and his companions were sailing to Rome around mid November, A.D. 60, when they sailed into a typhoon and were shipwrecked on the island of Malta. All 275 passengers made it to shore alive, but since the waves had battered the ship into pieces, they were soaking wet and chilled to the bone. The people who lived on Malta showed them kindness.

Acts 28: 2 And the natives showed us extraordinary kindness; for because of the rain that had set in and because of the cold, they kindled a fire and received us all.

Vs 7 Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us courteously three days.

Vs 10 And they also honored us with many marks of respect; and when we were setting sail, they supplied us with all we needed.

Kindness is practical love in action; it is anticipating the needs of others and adjusting our lives to meet those needs. You didn’t need to do a survey to figure out what Paul’s group needed. They needed immediate warmth because they were soaking wet and cold. They also needed food and shelter, and these “strangers” met their needs with practical kindness. When they were ready to sail again, 3 months later in mid February, the people of Malta supplied everything they needed to travel to Rome. Meeting others’ needs with compassion is kindness.

The Good Samaritan is another example of kindness in action. You know the story. A Jewish man traveling on an isolated road, is ambushed, beaten, robbed and left for dead by bandits. Two respected Jewish religious leaders come up, see him beaten and bloody by the side of the road, and walk on by. The Jews discriminated against the Samaritans because they were a mixed race of people who did not keep the Jewish Law. A Samaritan man rides by, sees this Jewish man in need, feels compassion, stops, cleans and bandages his wounds, puts him on his own donkey and takes him to the closest inn. He then pays the innkeeper to take care of him.

Kindness meets others’ needs because Jesus met our needs. Don’t do a random act of kindness. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you try a little kindness to everyone you meet.

Remember, God designed us to “do life together!”

Love and prayers,

Brad

•••

Subscribe to listen each week as the Manna class learns and grows together through their in-depth study of God's Word. This comprehensive, expository series is taught by Brad Hannink, a gifted communicator of the Bread of Life.

Manna is a Bible study life group that meets at Valley Baptist Church, located at 4800 Fruitvale Ave. in Bakersfield, California.

For more information, visit mannapodcast.com.

©2018, 2019, & 2020 - Brad Hannink - All Rights Reserved

Dear Manna Family,

I’m sure that we all have days where we can identify with the vulture who said to his friend, “Forget about patience, I’m just going to kill something!” We have been studying the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5, and today’s virtue is patience. Patience or long suffering, is the fourth virtue listed after love, joy and peace.

In this passage, the Greek word for patience is “makro thumia.” Makro thumia describes someone who pushes their anger far, far away. This is not being patient with difficult circumstances; it is being patient with difficult people. It literally means “long tempered” or having a “long fuse.” It refers to a person who has the power to retaliate, but instead exercises restraint.

The God of the Bible is a patient God who describes Himself as being “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth…..” (Exodus 34: 6)

The fact is that God has been slow to anger with the rebellious human race since the Garden of Eden.

The Apostle Paul reminds Christians that they are to be patient with each other.

Ephesians 4: 1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,

Vs 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love,

God calls us to be patient with others just like He has been patient with us. We offend God and we offend other people every day. God forgives us because He is patient, and we are called to do the same.

Noah was man in the Bible who exemplified patience and endurance.

Hebrews 11: 7 By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

God told Noah that He was going to destroy the earth with a worldwide flood. However, God was going to preserve Noah and his family. God commanded Noah to build an ark, really a very large barge, and gave him the exact construction specifications. We know that God is patient, because He waited over 100 years before He sent the flood. We also know that Noah was patient, because it took him and his 3 sons over 100 years to build this massive boat. As they were building, 2 Peter 2: 5 tells us that they were also preaching righteousness and repentance to the watching world.

It had never rained on earth before, and no one had never experienced a flood. However, by faith, Noah obeyed God, and patiently endured human opposition and rejection for…………..over 100 years. We know that the world ridiculed and rejected Noah’s preaching, because not one person responded after 100 years of building and preaching!! The only ones saved were the members of Noah’s own family. That’s 100 years of long suffering and it’s a good model for us.

I’m sure that sometime this week, we will all have an opportunity to practice being patient! As we follow the Holy Spirit’s direction and depend on His power, He gives us patience and the ability to endure and not retaliate.

Remember, God designed us to “do life together!”

Love and prayers,

Brad

•••

Subscribe to listen each week as the Manna class learns and grows together through their in-depth study of God's Word. This comprehensive, expository series is taught by Brad Hannink, a gifted communicator of the Bread of Life.

Manna is a Bible study life group that meets at Valley Baptist Church, located at 4800 Fruitvale Ave. in Bakersfield, California.

Manna believes in doing life together. If you’re in need of prayer, email us your request at [email protected] and our class will be happy to add it to our prayer list. Members of Manna get together each week to pray for those on the prayer list.

For more information, visit mannapodcast.com.

©2018, 2019, & 2020 - Brad Hannink - All Rights Reserved

Dear Manna Family,

We are living in a non-peaceful world. Waging war with words and weapons seems to be increasingly common. We are studying the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. Peace is the third virtue mentioned after love and joy. Peace is tranquility in the soul. It’s like the calm smooth surface of a lake as opposed to a hurricane storm surge. The Hebrew word for peace is shalom. Shalom expresses the idea of wholeness and completeness. It refers to a sense of order that replaces chaos. The God of the Bible is the God of peace, and He has made peace possible for people.

Before Christ, we were at war with God. Jesus Christ came to make peace by paying the penalty for our sin and satisfying God’s wrath. When we trust in Jesus’ payment for our sin, we are forgiven and experience peace with God. Forgiven people can experience the peace of God. The peace of God is an inner calm that is grounded in our saving relationship with Jesus.

Philippians 4: 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Vs 7 And the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

When we bring everything to God in prayer, we can stop being anxious.

I Peter 5:7…..casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

This is the picture of continually rolling a heavy weight of worries off our shoulders onto God’s shoulders, and letting Him carry it. The peace of God comes through the Holy Spirit, and guards our hearts from fear. Those who have peace with God should make peace with people. Jesus said “Blessed are the peacemakers.”

The Apostle Peter is someone who experienced the supernatural peace of God in extremely difficult circumstances. Acts 12 records the persecution against the church by King Herod. In order to please the Jewish religious leaders, Herod had the apostle James beheaded, and also arrested Peter and put him in prison. The entire church was fervently praying for his deliverance. On the very night before Peter’s public execution, he was in prison, chained between two soldiers and guarded by 14 more. An angel entered his cell, and Peter was sleeping so soundly, that the angel had to strike his side in order to wake him. All the guards remained asleep, Peter’s chains fell off him, and the doors and gates opened by themselves as he followed the angel out of the prison and into freedom.

It seems incredible that Peter could be sound asleep the night before his execution. You would think he would be anxious and awake on his last night on earth. However, Jesus had already promised Peter that he would live to an old age, and Peter was not yet old. Secondly, the church was fervently praying for Peter, and supernatural peace is one of the results of praying.

Whatever our worries, we should do what the old hymn says and “Take it to the LORD in Prayer.”

Remember, God designed us to “do life together!”

Love and prayers,

Brad

•••

Subscribe to listen each week as the Manna class learns and grows together through their in-depth study of God's Word. This comprehensive, expository series is taught by Brad Hannink, a gifted communicator of the Bread of Life.

Manna is a Bible study life group that meets at Valley Baptist Church, located at 4800 Fruitvale Ave. in Bakersfield, California.

Manna believes in doing life together. If you’re in need of prayer, email us your request at [email protected] and our class will be happy to add it to our prayer list. Members of Manna get together each week to pray for those on the prayer list.

For more information, visit mannapodcast.com.

©2018, 2019, & 2020 - Brad Hannink - All Rights Reserved

Dear Manna Family,

The song “Happy Days are Here Again!”, came out in November, 1929, ironically about the same time as the stock market crash. Happiness comes from the word happenstance, which means chance. Happy means that you are pleased with your current circumstances, which are changeable.

We are studying the Fruit of the Spirit. The first virtue listed in Galatians 5: 22 is love; today we’ll look at the second which is joy. Joy is deeper than happiness. Joy is not affected by changing circumstances. The Greek word for joy is chara, which means grace or gift; or charis, which means to rejoice. Joy is our response to God’s eternal gift of salvation, and the promise of heaven (Romans 5). Joy is a soul deep satisfaction in our relationship with God Himself. Our source of joy is ultimately the character God which never changes.

Jesus is our example of joy, even in the face of suffering and death.

Hebrews 12: 2 Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross……

It was the joy of obeying His Father, and the joy of heaven that enabled Jesus to endure suffering and death. We are commanded to follow Jesus’ example.

Philippians 4: 4 Rejoice……in the Lord……always, again I will say, rejoice!

This is a command, repeated twice, to be joyful all the time, in every circumstance. Notice that our joy is in the Lord, not in our changing circumstances. This verse was written by a man who understood suffering.

When Paul and Silas preached in Philippi, they were arrested, beaten and imprisoned.

Acts 16: 23 And when they had inflicted many blows on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailor to guard them securely;

Vs 24 and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison, and fastened their feet in the stocks.

Vs 25 But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.

They were beaten and bloody, in pain and in prison. You would think they would be moaning and complaining. However instead of complaining, they were singing………hymns of praise to God! Their joy was based on their relationship with Jesus, which not even pain could take away. We sing the Christmas Carol, “Joy to the World, the Lord has come……”. We have joy because Jesus invaded planet earth to set people free from sin and death. Our joy is eternal because Romans 8: 38-39 promises us that “nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Our joy is based on the unstoppable love of God through Jesus. This supernatural joy attracts attention.

When Paul and Silas were singing even when in prison, the other prisoners were listening. It is incomprehensible to the world that anyone could sing after being beaten bloody. Joy in the face of suffering is a witness to the world that God the Holy Spirit lives inside us. There is an old song, “Count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the LORD has done.” When you write that list, you just might experience joy!

Remember, God designed us to “do life together!”

Love and prayers,

Brad

•••

Subscribe to listen each week as the Manna class learns and grows together through their in-depth study of God's Word. This comprehensive, expository series is taught by Brad Hannink, a gifted communicator of the Bread of Life.

Manna is a Bible study life group that meets at Valley Baptist Church, located at 4800 Fruitvale Ave. in Bakersfield, California.

Manna believes in doing life together. If you’re in need of prayer, email us your request at [email protected] and our class will be happy to add it to our prayer list. Members of Manna get together each week to pray for those on the prayer list.

For more information, visit mannapodcast.com.

©2018, 2019, & 2020 - Brad Hannink - All Rights Reserved

Dear Manna Family,

It’s been estimated that throughout history, over 100 million love songs and poems have been written or recorded. As Tom Jones once sang, “Without love, I had nothing at all.” Galatians 5: 22-23 lists nine virtues as the fruit of the Spirit, and love is first on the list, because loving God and loving people are the foundation of the Christian life. This love is God’s love, and it is beautifully described in 1 Corinthians 13. God’s love is not an emotion, it is devotion. It is a decision to seek the best for others, and the devotion to sacrificially serve them.

Jesus set an example of humble service when He washed the disciples’ dirty feet. The supreme example of love took place when Jesus died in our place to pay the penalty for our sins. Before He went to the cross, He commanded His disciples to love like He loved.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you. (John 13:34).

What does that love look like?

We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. (I John 3: 16)

Love is sacrificial because it requires putting others’ needs before our own. Sacrificial love is not natural for us, it is supernatural and it comes from God the Holy Spirit.

Romans 5: 5 The love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

So, the Holy Spirit fills us with God’s sacrificial love which we are to share with others.

Judah, the fourth son of Jacob, is an example of sacrificial love. When he was 17 years old, Jacob’s sons sold their brother Joseph into Egypt as a slave because of jealousy. A regional famine then forces Jacob’s sons to go to Egypt and buy food. Unknown to them, their brother Joseph has become the Prime Minister of Egypt, and he recognizes them. He wants to reconcile his family, but he needs to know that their hearts have changed, so he arranges a test. He offers to keep their youngest brother Benjamin as a slave, and let the rest of his brothers go back home to their father. Judah then appeals to Joseph, and offers to give himself in exchange for his younger brother, Benjamin.

Genesis 44: 33 “Now, therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers.

Vs 34 For how shall I go up to my father if the lad is not with me, lest I see the evil that would overtake my father.

Judah’s agape love for his father and his younger brother motivated him to sacrifice his own freedom for their benefit. Joseph now knows that their hearts have been changed and he reveals himself to them as their brother and invites them to move to Egypt, so he can provide for them.

For the Christian, love is not an option or an emotion; it is a daily decision to love others like Jesus loves us. Today, ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with Jesus’s love, and then watch how He will put people in your life who need to experience the love of Jesus through you!

Remember, God designed us to “do life together!”

Love and prayers,

Brad

•••

Subscribe to listen each week as the Manna class learns and grows together through their in-depth study of God's Word. This comprehensive, expository series is taught by Brad Hannink, a gifted communicator of the Bread of Life.

Manna is a Bible study life group that meets at Valley Baptist Church, located at 4800 Fruitvale Ave. in Bakersfield, California.

Manna believes in doing life together. If you’re in need of prayer, email us your request at [email protected] and our class will be happy to add it to our prayer list. Members of Manna get together each week to pray for those on the prayer list.

For more information, visit mannapodcast.com.

©2018, 2019, & 2020 - Brad Hannink - All Rights Reserved

Dear Manna Family,

In 1965 John Lennon wrote a song called “Help!” Part of the chorus reads,

“Help me get my feet back on the ground,

Won’t you please, please help me?”

Jesus knows that we need help; supernatural help. So, God gave us the Holy Spirit who came to live inside us the moment we were saved.

The Greek word for the Holy Spirit is Paraclete, which roughly means “One who comes alongside to help.” The night before He went to the cross, Jesus told His disciples

John 14: 16 I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;

Vs 17……He (will) abide with you and will be in you.

The Holy Spirit is a gift from the Father who comes alongside us to help. Later on that same night, Jesus told His disciples how to access the Spirits help.

John 15: 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.

Vs 5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me, you can do nothing.

To abide means to remain connected. The mission of a plant is to produce fruit. The life of a plant flows from the root through the branches and produces fruit. A disconnected branch is a dead branch that produces no fruit. In the same way that physical fruit is the result of the life of the plant, so the fruit of the Spirit is the result of the supernatural life of Jesus in the believer. In the same way that a branch bears fruit, but doesn’t produce fruit, so the fruit of the Spirit is not produced by us, but in us, through the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s kind of like a lightbulb. We are the lightbulb, the Holy Spirit is the electricity, and as we stay connected to Him, His power flows through us and produces light.

Galatians 5: 22-23 discusses the fruit of the Spirit. This is a representative list of nine attitudes that characterize a life that is connected to and controlled by the Holy Spirit. These nine virtues come as a package; we don’t get to pick and choose which ones we want. They are like a bouquet of living flowers that over time grows more beautiful with proper care. As these virtues grow in our lives, we become more like Jesus. These nine virtues can be divided into three groups.

The first three qualities, love, joy and peace, focus upward on our relationship with God.

The second three, patience, kindness and goodness, focus outward on our relationships with others.

The last three, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, focus inward on our own private world.

The fruit of the Spirit is the result of the Holy Spirits’ presence and power in our lives. In the next several lessons, we’ll look at the nine flowers on this spiritual bouquet. We can’t produce spiritual fruit on our own. As we stay in step with the Holy Spirit, He grows our character more like Jesus.

Remember, God designed us to “do life together!”

Love and Prayers,

Brad

•••

Subscribe to listen each week as the Manna class learns and grows together through their in-depth study of God's Word. This comprehensive, expository series is taught by Brad Hannink, a gifted communicator of the Bread of Life.

Manna is a Bible study life group that meets at Valley Baptist Church, located at 4800 Fruitvale Ave. in Bakersfield, California.

Manna believes in doing life together. If you’re in need of prayer, email us your request at [email protected] and our class will be happy to add it to our prayer list. Members of Manna get together each week to pray for those on the prayer list.

For more information, visit mannapodcast.com.

©2018, 2019, & 2020 - Brad Hannink - All Rights Reserved

Dear Manna Family,

When I was a kid I used to watch caterpillars creating cocoons. And then, between 1-3 weeks later out came a butterfly or a moth, a creature vastly different than the caterpillar. This is a small picture of our Christian life. Before salvation we lived like a caterpillar, crawling around in sin. When Christ saved us, He gave us a new nature as different as a butterfly is to a caterpillar.

Jesus used the term “born again” to describe the spiritual birth of our new nature. When we were born again, our old self died with Jesus on the cross.

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me….

So, we have a new life in Christ, but we still have what the Bible calls “the flesh.” The flesh is that part of our old nature that is attracted to sin and opposed to God. The flesh is the traitor inside us that is attracted to temptation outside us. It’s almost like a butterfly who wants to crawl on the ground like a caterpillar again.

Warren Wiersbe illustrates this point by comparing sheep with pigs. It’s the nature of sheep to stay clean; it’s the nature of pigs to get dirty. It’s the nature of caterpillars to crawl; it’s the nature of butterflies to fly. Inside every Christian there is an ongoing battle between the flesh and the Spirit. Our flesh pulls us towards sin, like a pig, while the Spirit pulls us closer to Jesus, like a sheep. This tug of war inside us is one of the reasons why the Christian life is a struggle. Our new nature wants to do right, but we don’t have the power to do right by ourselves. The solution is found in

Galatians 5: 16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

Vs. 17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.

Paul often uses the word walk as a metaphor for everyday life. Walking by the Spirit is like walking arm in arm with the Holy Spirit. It’s keeping in step with the Spirit, marching in step with the Spirit. It’s moving in the same direction at the same pace. Walking together implies an intimate relationship where there is constant communication. It also means power. Walking by the Spirit is like walking on a moving walkway in an airport. You can keep stepping, but the moving walkway under your feet has its own power source that propels you forward.

When the flesh is in control, we become slaves to sin.

When the Spirit is in control, we conquer sin through His power.

Walking by the Spirit is very practical.

1. Trust in the Lord, and not yourself.

2. Read God’s word, and then do what it says.

3. Pray for God’s guidance, and then follow it.

4. Thank God every day for His faithfulness.

When you walk by the Spirit, you will still battle sin, but you will win those battles through Him.

Remember, God designed us to “do life together!”

Love and Prayers,

Brad

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Subscribe to listen each week as the Manna class learns and grows together through their in-depth study of God's Word. This comprehensive, expository series is taught by Brad Hannink, a gifted communicator of the Bread of Life.

Manna is a Bible study life group that meets at Valley Baptist Church, located at 4800 Fruitvale Ave. in Bakersfield, California.

Manna believes in doing life together. If you’re in need of prayer, email us your request at [email protected] and our class will be happy to add it to our prayer list. Members of Manna get together each week to pray for those on the prayer list.

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©2018, 2019, & 2020 - Brad Hannink - All Rights Reserved