Where's the Fruit?

(etsy.com)

If you’ve asked Jesus into your heart, He’s there. (So, think about where you take Him every day…….or what you’re saying that breaks His heart, or the actions you take daily that displease Him. I’m glad He’s so forgiving, but, are we taking His grace for granted?)

If He’s alive in us, so is the fruit of His Spirit! By fruit, I mean, the manifestations of His Spirit; the evidence He’s in there.  The New Living Translation says it this way: “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control…” – Galatians 5:22-23

These are the attributes that will manifest in our lives when we allow God’s Spirit to take over.

When we go through trials in life, as Christians, these are the things God is cultivating within us; the things He wants us to see in ourselves. Sometimes these are the very things we deny about ourselves.  “Oh, you think I’m faithful, eh? Well, let me tell you this…….” Or “Me? Good? How can you say that about me?” or “I have so little patience it’s ridiculous!”

(bouncingwithstyle.com)

 To prove to us that He’s alive in there and that we now possess His attributes, the facets of His love, He allows us to go through tests and trials so that we can see for ourselves what He already knows; that He’s really in there, producing all kinds of great fruit in us and through us. We may hate that we have to go through certain things in this life; perhaps if we were so stubborn and tough to convince of His promises, we’d face less trials.

God’s Word tells us, “These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold – though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” – 1 Peter 1:7 (NLT)

Testing will bring us great joy because Jesus is really alive in us! Hallelujah!

(sermoncentral.com)

Without testing, we don’t believe we can use that fruit in our lives. Just as when David fought Goliath, he went with what he trusted; his own weapon. “So [King] Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he clothed him with a coat of mail. David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these for I have not tested them.” So David took them off.” – 1 Samuel 17:38-39 (NKJV)

David, instead, chose to take his sling and some smooth stones into battle with the giant. To me, armor and a sword sounds more like what I’d want, but, David wasn’t convinced they’d do him any good, but rather, might hinder him.

God tests us for our own good; to prove to us that His power is real, and is actually within us!

Look for Him and the fruit of His Spirit as you go through your day. He’s there, and all that He promises will be revealed to us!

 

(theguardian.com)

Fruitful

Apple Blossom photo courtesy of Darlene Folk.

Though I love plants, here in Colorado the only luck I seem to have with growing anything is with houseplants. But whether it’s a fruit tree, a rosebush in your yard or begonia in my window, pruning them makes them plush, bushier, more beautiful, and produce more blossoms, instead of spending their energy growing spindly and flowerless.

 

In the book of John, Jesus tells us that He is the vine and we are His branches, and that His Father is the gardener that keeps us pruned – for our own good and His glory. (John 25:1-8)

 

When our lives are not as productive as they should be, perhaps we’re resisting that pruning. So often we insist on doing things our way, without even considering that our way might not be the way God want us to go about it.

 

In our own reasoning, we will do things completely different than the way God chooses to. (There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Proverbs 14:12 KJV)

 

If I had to come up with a plan to redeem mankind, I don’t think my finite brain would have come up with a plan like His. Jesus leaving His throne in heaven to take my place on the cross seems like a harsh way to go – but Jesus Himself said to His Father, “Not my will, but Thine.”

 

That makes me stop and take a second look at what I’m doing during my day and with my life and ask, “God, is this what you’d have me do?”

 

Then comes the harder part; listening for His reply. Yes, we’ll recognize His voice if we’re seeking Him with all our heart. He’s the good Shepherd and we are the sheep of His pasture. We’ll follow Him closely if we’re paying attention, but sheep can be dumb and wander off wherever the grass looks greener.

 

Take the time to be intentional; about the things you do, about submitting yourself to God and about listening for His voice and direction. The pruning will begin and you’ll start producing beautiful (blossoms) fruit immediately.

 

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—  just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.” John 10:14-15 (NIV)

 

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.” John 10:27-28 (NIV)

Gardening

 

Some of us love the feel of moist, rich soil crumbling in our hands, pulling at it with our fingers, knowing what can grow there. Even the smell of it tickles our senses.

 

While praying this morning for someone I love dearly, I began to pull away at the roots of bitterness and anger. I’ve had issues with anger myself, so I began praying for myself, as well. In my mind, I could see the roots being lifted out of the dark, rich soil. The fact that the soil was so fertile blessed me, knowing good things can grow and are growing here, too! Like when I was a child, weeding the garden back home on the farm, I shook off the dirt from the large and tiny roots, alike. But instead of tossing the weed into a weed pile, I threw it over a cliff, into a fiery abyss was completely destroyed, never to grow here again.

My fingers dug deep into the ground, breaking up the soil as I prayed over it and asked God to bless it and fertilize it and plant His seeds there, the seeds of the fruit of the spirit, seeds of love, joy peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance… (Galatians 5:22-23 KJV). Then I realized that these seeds have already been planted here and I excitedly began to look around for the fruit of those seeds.

 

All of us who love plants, love watching them grow and produce. Scientists love to watch their projects progress, artists love to see their masterpieces morph all the way to their unveiling. So, too with God, as He watches us learn to love Him and trust Him with everything He’s given us. He’s watching us grow up to conform to His image, the image in which He created us in the first place.

 

God has given us the authority to pull up the snares (Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like… Galatians 5:19-21 KJV), to make room for the fruit of His Spirit to grow abundantly in our lives.

 

Time to do some gardening?

 

Fertilizing Our Garden

While talking to my cashier at the store yesterday, he put my most recent blog post in a better perspective for me. The other day I wrote about fertilizer, this will make more sense if you read it first – I quoted Paul in Philippians 3:7-10. I guess I’d never realized where Paul was really going with his statement.

My cashier pointed out that by accomplishing the things we do in life, but not giving God the glory, or by not doing them for God’s glory – they becomes dung, manure not even fit to be used for fertilizer.

Though I took a different train of thought, counting all my experiences, good and bad, as the fertilizer that grows the garden of my life, his comments struck a chord with me. What if I let all that fertilizer go to waste by not allowing my life to bring glory to God? My travails and triumphs should make me a better person, all for the glory of God – but if my fertilizer becomes sterile, my garden will be a barren wasteland.

I pondered this a while.

Does my life glorify God? Does the garden of my life produce the fruit of the Spirit?

Do I praise Him in the midst of my miseries? Do I thank Him in the midst of my daily blessings? Do I show Him to the lost and dying world around me – or am I too busy making fertilizer that I’m not using effectively?

‘All for the glory of God’ - what does that mean to you? Does what you’re going through from day to day count for anything?

Romans 4:20-21 ‘He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.’ (KJV)