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Thursday, July
31, 2008
Grin and Bear It
Galatians 5:22-26 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. (25) If we
live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. (26) Let us not be
desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. (KJV)
While some religious groups and
organizations limit being fruitful to just the flesh, thinking that they
have to have large families, being fruitful in the spiritual realm is what
will be truly pleasing to our heavenly Father. It takes a healthy tree that
is nourished on a daily basis to bring forth and bear this fruit, while
anything else will leave one dried up and withering.
Psalms 1:1-4 Blessed is the man that
walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of
sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. (2) But his delight is in
the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. (3) And
he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth
his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he
doeth shall prosper. (4) The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff
which the wind driveth away. (KJV)
What kind of farmer would you be if all
your crops were dried up and withering away? You wouldn’t last very long
before you went out of business, because somewhere along the line you got
some bad counsel that obviously wasn’t of the Lord. Unless one becomes
rooted and grounded in the truth, planted and nourished with living waters
from the river of life, you won’t last long in the realm of the Spirit
either but will dry up and wither away, eventually to be burned. There are
a lot of cheap imitations out there, those that claim they are of God but
actually not rooted and established in sound doctrine, but rather holding
more to man’s outward interpretations of what should be words that bring
spirit and life to the believer. You may not realize it at the time or even
in some cases are not that concerned about it, but eventually it is going
to manifest what source you have become attached to or rooted in; which is either
going to be fertile or sterile ground.
John 15:1-3 I am the true vine, and my
Father is the husbandman. (2) Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he
taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it
may bring forth more fruit. (3) Now ye are clean through the word which I
have spoken unto you. (KJV)
Williams New Testament translation
of John 15:1-3
1. "I am the real vine, and my
Father is the cultivator. 2. He cuts away any branch on me that stops
bearing fruit, and He repeatedly prunes every branch that continues to bear
fruit, to make it bear more. 3. You are already pruned because of the
teaching that I have given you.
You know, some of that stuff you keep
hanging onto or those so called godly counselors you think are bringing you
life are actually pulling you down, not building you up. Rather than
letting the Lord have His way, and pruning you the way He sees fit, you end
up throwing a fit and are no longer fit for His kingdom. You have a choice
in the matter, because one way or another something is going to get cut
off, either the dead things in your life or your place in the kingdom of
God and the body of Christ, so which will it be? You have been grafted into
the tree of life, that being Christ the one true real vine, so as long as
you continue rooted and grounded in Him you too will be the real deal as
well.
John 15:4-6 Abide in me, and I in you. As
the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no
more can ye, except ye abide in me. (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. (6) If a man abide not in me, he is cast
forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into
the fire, and they are burned. (KJV)
Williams New Testament translation
of John 15:4-6
4. You must remain in union with me and I
will remain in union with you. Just
as no branch by itself can bear fruit unless it remains united to the vine,
so you cannot unless you remain in union with me. 5. I am the vine, you are
the branches. Whoever remains in
union with me and I in union with him will bear abundant fruit, because you
cannot do anything cut off from union with me. 6. If anyone does not remain
in union with me, he is thrown away as a mere branch and is dried up; then
it is picked up and thrown into the fire and burned up.
You know, you really have to put on some
spiritual blinders to think that this one and done doctrine, this once
saved always saved stuff flies with our Lord. Oh there will be plenty of
flies, but we all know what attracts flies don’t we? Oh you can get saved
and walk with our Lord but don’t think for one moment you can’t walk away
either; sometimes without the person even aware it happened. Without Him,
without knowing who Christ the one true vine is for yourself you can do
nothing, notta, zip, zilch, ain’t happening, period. Keep in mind folks,
that in the end when someone is gathered and cast into the fire it is on
the opposite side of heaven and not the one they should have inherited. You
as a child of God are responsible for bearing the fruit of the Spirit, and
not just on certain days or during certain periods of time when people say
they are holy or special, but being in season, ready to give an answer to
any one that would ask of the hope within you.
John 15:7-8 If ye abide in me, and my
words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto
you. (8) Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall
ye be my disciples. (KJV)
Williams New Testament translation
of John 15:7-8
7. If you remain in union with me and my
words remain in you, you may ask whatever you please and you shall have it.
8. By your continuously bearing abundant fruit and in this way proving
yourselves to be real disciples of mine, my Father is glorified.
Whose words really have the most
influence on you today? Are they words of life that remain a part of you,
or is it something you have departed from? Out of your belly, or heart, should
be flowing rivers of living waters bringing life to those around you
because you have remained rooted and grounded in truth, the one true vine
that you have become a partaker of. If you truly desire to honor, or
worship the Father, which is what the definition of the word glorified
means, then for today stay planted and firm in His word bearing much of His
fruit letting Him increase as we decrease.
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