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Pastor Chris White says to all of you: HELLO MY FRIENDS. May the Lord bless you today.
HOLA MIS AMIGOS. Que el Señor los bendiga.
In the natural world, fruit is the result of
a healthy plant producing what it was designed to produce (Genesis 1:11–12). In the Bible, the word fruit is
often used to describe a person’s outward actions that result from the
condition of the heart.
Good fruit is that which is produced by the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22 gives us a starting place:
the fruit of His Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The
more we allow the Holy Spirit free rein in our lives, the more this fruit is
evident (Galatians 5:16, 25). Jesus told His followers, “I chose you
and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last” (John 15:16). Righteous fruit has eternal
benefit.
Jesus told us clearly what we must do to bear good fruit. He said, “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. 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” (John 15:4–5). A branch must stay firmly
attached to the trunk to stay alive. As disciples of Christ, we must stay
firmly connected to Him to remain spiritually productive. A branch draws
strength, nourishment, protection, and energy from the vine. If it is broken
off, it quickly dies and becomes unfruitful. When we neglect our spiritual
life, ignore the Word of God, skimp on prayer, and withhold areas of our lives
from the scrutiny of the Holy Spirit, we are like a branch broken off the vine.
Our lives become fruitless. We need daily surrender, daily communication, and daily—sometimes
hourly—repentance and connection with the Holy Spirit in order to “walk in the
Spirit and not fulfill the lusts of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). Staying intimately connected
to the True Vine is the only way to “bear fruit
in old age” (Psalm 92:14), to “run and not grow weary” (Isaiah 40:31), and to not “grow weary in
well-doing” (Galatians 6:9).
One counterfeit to bearing good fruit is pretense. We can become experts at the
routines, the lingo, and “acting Christian,” while experiencing no real power
and bearing no eternal fruit. Our hearts remain self-centered, angry, and
joyless even while we go through the motions of serving God. We can easily slip
into the role of the Pharisees in judging ourselves by how we think we appear
to others and neglecting that secret place of the heart where all good fruit
germinates. When we love, desire, pursue, and fear the same things that the
rest of the world does, we are not abiding in Christ, even though our lives may
be filled with church-related activity. And, often, we don’t realize that we
are living fruitless lives (1 John 2:15–17).
Our works will be tested by fire. Using a different metaphor than fruit, 1 Corinthians 3:12–14 says, “If anyone
builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or
straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it
to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of
each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a
reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be
saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.”
God is the judge of even our thoughts and motivations. All will be brought to
the light when we stand before Him (Hebrews 4:12–13). A poor widow in a one-room
hut can bear as much fruit as a televangelist leading giant crusades if she is
surrendered to God in everything and using all He has given her for His glory.
As fruit is unique to each tree, our fruit is unique to us. God knows what He
has entrusted to each of us and what He expects us to do with it (Luke 12:48). Our responsibility before God is
to be “faithful with little” so that He can trust us with much (Matthew 25:21).
Thank you to Got Questions Ministries
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