If a boxer can work for months and months to get in
a ring for 15 rounds, what should a believer be able to do
for Jesus to gain a crown of glory? All Christians have
tremendous potential within them. The zoe life of God in
their spirits contains a unique substance the Bible calls
“the fruit of the spirit.” This fruit contains nine parts:
love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness and temperance.

The Bible considers these qualities a fruit because it
continually grows and produces. But it can also be compared
to an explosive, for it only releases its tremendous
power when ignited.

For example, the Bible says that faith will move mountains
and cast things into the sea. But we can carry faith
around with us forever and never move a mountain. To see
the power of faith, it must be ignited like a stick of dynamite.
The fuse that sets off this power is the spoken Word
of the living God.

This does not mean that we ignore the negative
circumstances when we speak His Word. It means we do
not live in them. We are deciding by what we say, the
kind of forces we release. We can either release the forces
of the kingdom of hell with all its demons or the forces
of the kingdom of God with all its angelic army. Both sides
are standing, waiting to see what we will say. In one sense,
we are like kings holding court.

Because we are made in the likeness of Jesus, our
words hold authority, as His do. Our words are the determining
factor. What we say is what we get.

Gloria Copeland