Bearing Spiritual Fruit

A friend and fellow-disciple shared the following verse with me today:

John 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches:  he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit:  for without me ye can do nothing.

The reminder of this verse (and the passage in John 15) made me think of a couple of things today.  First of all, the last phrase of the verse is so paramount and central to our lives as believers.  We Christians are the best at looking busy and filling our schedules with activity, and yet getting a lot of nothing accomplished!  It's not just that you will be able to handle the small stuff and ask God to help you with the big stuff.  It's not that at all.  Don't kid yourself into believing that all your hard work and efforts will eventually pay off.  Do you think that God is impressed or that he will bless all of your great efforts?

The key to a fruitful Christian life does not lie in your abilities; it lies in your abideability.  The moment you disconnect yourself from that place of abiding in Christ, trusting him for everything, depending on him to come through and staying in His Word, you are on your own - and on your own all your efforts, abilities, strengths, strategies, and plans will all equal up to a big, fat ZERO.  Sadly, when we as believers get disconnected from Christ due to our sin, pridefulness or indifference, often it seems like we are still making strides and accomplishments.  It sometimes appears that we are doing fine on autopilot.  But if we believe this scripture, we have to own up to the reality of our situation apart from Christ - we are accomplishing NOTHING.  Nothing is progressing spiritually.  No fruit is being born, cultivated or produced.  None of our efforts will make an eternal impact.

The second thing that this passage reminds me of is the simplicity of our walk with Christ and the difference between my relationship with Christ and my fellowship with him.  The day I placed my faith in Jesus Christ, I began an eternal relationship with him.  God became my father and I became his son.  That relationship will never change - no matter what I do, how I live, or how I feel.  My relationship with Christ is set and I will always have that relationship. 

But my fellowship with him is another story.  I can make poor choices to involve myself in sinful behaviors and live disobediently, and even though none of this will change my relationship with him, my fellowship will be gravely affected.  This lack of fellowship happens when I am not abiding in him and this leads to periods of unfruitfulness in my life.  Christians who live their lives disconnected and not abiding in Christ are not in danger of losing their salvation, but they are certainly in danger of losing their eternal rewards and inheritance.  Another passage that talks about our spiritual fruit explains it this way:

Galatians 5:19  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21  Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 

Refusing to abide in Christ will produce things in your life too, but these things have no eternal value.  Believers who refuse to consistently abide in Christ will one day stand before the Lord, naked and ashamed.  Even though they have eternal life because they, at one time, placed their faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ for forgiveness of their sins, they will have no reward or inheritance in heaven.  No crowns to cast at Jesus' feet.  No "well done thou good and faithful servant".

The Christian who finds themselves out of fellowship with the Lord (not abiding in Christ through the word of God and obedience to the word), can immediately get back into fellowship and a place of abiding. 

I John 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Confessing and repenting of sin will also put the believer back in a place of abiding fellowship and fruit-bearing. 

Galatians 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.  24  And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

This is the fruitful Christian life and it's the only life worth living!

Who Really Has the Hard Heart?

Mark 16:14  Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.  15  And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

I was at a conference recently and was struck anew by a statement that I've heard before, but needed to hear again.  "What if the lack of seeing and experiencing the outpouring of the Spirit of God in our world has less to do with the hardness of the hearts of the lost (those who don't follow Christ) and more to do with the hardness and idolatry of Christians and Christian leaders?"
 

Some believers are quick to point the finger at the lost world and to accuse them of being hardened to the gospel.  They will say that the lack of people coming to Christ around them is solely the result of the dark and sinful world we live in and that if they would just repent and listen to God, they would be saved. 

But what if the people who really need to repent are the Christians?  What if God's people were the ones on their faces before the Lord begging him to forgive them of their sin and the hardness of their hearts?  What if brokenhearted believers starting pleading with God to work in their cities, neighborhoods, workplaces and schools?  Would we see more people coming to Christ? 

Before you are too quick to conclude that the lack of spiritual fruit around you is the result of the hardness of others, take a minute to evaluate your own walk and fellowship with the Lord.  Are you walking in sweet fellowship with the Lord?  Are you broken on a regular basis over the deceitfulness of your sin nature and how prone you are to wander from the Lord?  You might come to a different conclusion about the lost world around you.  Instead of being quick to get frustrated and even angry at the darkness you see in our world, ask God to break your heart for the sin that so many are in bondage to.  Instead of posting rants on Facebook or other social media about how the world is messed up, you might consider taking the latest news headlines before the throne of God with effectual and fervent prayer and leave the social media posts to someone else. 

Focused on the Mission

Matthew 28:18  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.  19  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:  20  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

When Jesus spoke these words to his disciples, they were not confused.  They understood clearly that this meant they needed to go find people who were not already following Jesus and lead them to faith and obedience in him, so those people could, in turn, go find others and do the same.

But some Christians today read these same words and think Jesus meant to go find people who say they are already followers of Jesus and try to persuade them to to do it better.  And they do this in the name of "discipleship".  This mindset can be a problem and a hindrance to making disciples who make disciples.

Don't misunderstand, we do have a responsibility in the church to equip and train (and disciple) other believers to do the work of the ministry.  But sometimes believers get equipped and trained to the exclusion of fulfilling the Great Commission......not to the actual reproduction of making disciples.  Let's be clear about the the mission God has given us - it is to reach a lost a dying world who are hopeless without the Lord Jesus Christ and to continue to reproduce new disciples.  We need equipping and training very much, but if the equipping and training is not producing the fruit of disciple-making, we are missing the point.

It has been said that the true test of parenting is not in how your kids "turn out" but how your grandkids turn out.  This is so true.  This kind of reproduction is not just taught, but caught as well.  You will not reproduce what you say, but who you are.  You may have read all the best parenting books and attended all the seminars, but what is going to change your kids is not the information you gathered, but your life.  Bible truth is so important.  A disciple is a "learner" and to grow as a disciple you must grow as a student of the Word (II Pet 3:18, II Tim 2:15).  But the healthy disciple will not just learn biblical truth, they will live it.  The application of biblical truth will produce a vibrant spiritual life and that life is what will be reproduced into the lives of other people.  Contrariwise, the opposite will be reproduced too.  If a disciple is lazy in the Word, lacks biblical character and thinks that attending services each week fulfills the mission, they will reproduce this as well.  Some churches are full of church attenders instead of disciple makers.

That is why it is so imperative that we reach the lost.  We are not called to spiritual inbreeding.  A continual inward focus (only on other believers within the church) will produce a lackluster approach to the Great Commission.  If a follower of Jesus is not continually and intentionally making investments in people who are not already followers of Jesus, they will never fulfill what Jesus gave them to accomplish.  In fact, I don't believe the disciple-making process is complete until the disciple reaches someone who becomes a disciple......this is when spiritual parenting becomes spiritual grand parenting.  This is a life worth living! 

  

The Fear of the Lord is the Healthiest Thing for You

Deuteronomy 5:29  O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!



I just don't get the fear of the Lord like I ought.  From a humanistic standpoint, fearing God is detestable and something to avoid.  With that mindset, people view God as cruel, mean-spirited, controlling, manipulating & authoritarian.  But that is not God's true character, or the purpose of the fear of the Lord.  This kind of fear (the kind the bible describes) is healthy, good, loving and the best thing for mankind.  And, contrary to some popular teaching and belief, the fear of the Lord is not just a "deep respect" or "reverence" (although that is part of it).  The fear of the Lord is fear.  Fear that my sin before a righteous and holy God is worthy of death and eternal punishment.  Fear that an infinitely big God could have squashed me like a little bug if he so chose.  Fear of him as the almighty Creator and me, in his sight, as his needy, dependent and helpless creation.  I am nothing compared to him and I must be in acknowledgement of that reality.  But the love in the fear of the Lord is that God does not desire to do this to his creation.  He doesn't desire for any man to face the ghastly consequences for his sin.  He has called his creation to fear living the kind of life that is contrary to the life that he designed for mankind.  To fear living the kind of life that will destroy your life - that will only bring you grief and heartache.  The fear of the Lord is to hate evil (Prov. 8:13).  I can't love my sin or do things my way and fear the Lord at the same time.  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom (Prov. 1:7, 9:10).  The fear of the Lord prolongs days (Prov. 10:27).  The fear of the Lord brings strong confidence (Prov. 14:26) and the fear of the Lord is a fountain of life (Prov. 14:27).  None of this sounds cruel, hateful, controlling or manipulating to me.  This kind of fear will bring the best possible life.  This fear is not for God's benefit, as some would suppose, but to benefit you!  At the same time, it brings God the glory that he is due.  This is healthy fear! 

Flipping Our Way of Thinking

I Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

 

Sometimes words need to take on a different meaning in our lives.  Think about the words "stubbornness" and "contentment".  Normally, we would think of one in a negative context (to be stubborn is not normally a trait to be desired) and the other in a positive context (it's normally a good thing to be content).  Right?  Not necessarily.  Consider the verse above.  We are called as believers to be stedfast & unmoveable in the work of the Lord.  That sounds kind of like stubbornness to me.  Did you know you ought to be stubborn about some things?  When the majority of Christians around you are giving their half-hearted, excuse-ridden and lethargic effort, you must dig your heals in the sand and say "NO, I'M NOT GONNA LIVE LIKE THAT!  I REFUSE THE HALF-HEARTED CHRISTIAN LIFE!  I REFUSE TO GIVE GOD MY LEFTOVERS!  I'M GONNA STAND ON HIS WORD AND GET BUSY IN HIS WORK!"  That kind of stubbornness is really good.  But not many are stubborn like that.  

Equally, this verse tells us to abound in the work of the Lord.  Abounding implies movement.  Did you know there is a good kind of contentment and a bad kind?  The contentment that says "Lord, you are all I need.  If I have you and nothing else, I will be good" is the good kind of contentment.  But the contentment that says "I'm alright with my life how it is now and I don't want to change the status quo or get too radical about anything" is not a good kind of contentment.  As believers, we must learn how to hold dearly to the good kind of contentment (in the Lord) but adamantly refuse the bad contentment of keeping things at the status quo.  We must always be abounding toward the next thing God wants us to tackle for Him.

The work of the ministry is difficult.  No, actually I believe the work of the ministry is impossible!  But we serve a God who makes the impossible possible everyday.  Believer, if you are discouraged today because of the difficulty of being involved in the work of the Lord, take heart and don't give up!  Your labor in the Lord is not in vain!  Be stubborn and refuse to quit.  Be content in the Lord, but don't be content to sit still where you are today.  Get up and get moving and join God in His impossible work.  It's the only life worth living.

Multiplication

Living the principle that when we add, God multiplies!

Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few.   And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full.   So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out.  II Kings 4.3-5

I still remember when multiplication was first introduced to me in school.  With addition and subtraction firmly in my grasp, our third grade teacher opened the flood gates to this new-fangled math, complete with it's charts, tables to memorize and staggering patterns.  Life, as I knew it, would never be the same! I was now a multiplier!  I was a genius!  I could conquer the world!  Nothing could stop me!  I'm over-exaggerating the excitement, of course, (if you are catching my sarcasm), but it did change the game a bit when it came to my understanding and appreciation of numbers (so humor me).

But, in light of the above passage, I am still quite amazed by the power of multiplication.  In particular, with how God can take our simple faithfulness and obedience and multiply it far beyond what we could ever imagine!  Simply put, we are called to add to our faith (II Peter 1:5-7) and God takes our efforts (which don't add up to much) and multiplies them for his glory.  The woman from II Kings 4 was asked to do a simple thing - borrow as many empty vessels as possible, take the little bit of oil that she had and pour it out into those vessels until all of them were filled.  Consistently in scripture, oil is a picture of the Holy Spirit and the vessels picture the lives of people (empty until they are filled with the Spirit of God). But did you notice what God did in this story?  He did the real work - multiplication of the poured out oil! This is exactly what we are called to do.  Pour out the gift of the Holy Spirit through sharing the gospel and sharing God's goodness in our lives with others. This is the responsibility of every believer.