**Daily Devotional** **October 15** *9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) 10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. - Eph 5:9-11 (KJV)* Paul has been advocating holiness (Ephesians 5:8), because it is the new nature of a born again Christian. Now he tells us that the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), can not manifest itself if we are not living a holy life. Otherwise the fruit, like God’s love, can not flow through us, when we are living in darkness, so we must walk in the light (1 John 1:7), so that the fruit of the Spirit will manifest itself in our lives. The word “Proving” here means to manifest, and it is telling us to be acceptable to the Lord, we must manifest the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. We need to die to ourselves, and let the Lord live through us, so that we will be pleasing to the Lord, and be able to glorify Him in all we do and say. The Greek word translated “fellowship” here means to partake with them, so it is telling us to not be a part of their ungodly deeds. This doesn’t mean that we should not have association with the ungodly, as we are the light of the world (Ephesians 5:8), and have to show it to the sinners, so we can get them saved. There is a big difference between associating with the ungodly, and participating with their deeds. A Christian must be very careful in associating with the ungodly, as it can cause you to fall, as evil communication (lifestyle), corrupts good manners (holiness) (1 Corinthians 15:33). Always be sure you are influencing the evil ones, and that they are not influencing you. Praise God for all His directions. Devotional by Pastor Joe W. Green, www.infinite-faith.com