Jesus
taught that He was the true vine and that as Christians we were branches of
that vine in John Chapter 15. But any branch that does not bear fruit would be
cut off and the branches that did bear fruit He would prune so that they would
bear more fruit. The question we must ask ourselves today is which branch am I?
It is an important question for it gives us the answer of whether or not we are
truly His. Our eternal destination depends upon this. Hear the Word of God
today as spoken by Christ Himself in John 15:6, “If anyone does not abide in me he is
thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown
into the fire, and burned.”
So how do we know if we are bearing
fruit? By examining ourselves to see if the 3 types of spiritual fruit are present
in our lives.
The first type of fruit is that as
expressed in Galatians 5:22-23 where we
read that “…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” Do these spiritual
attitudes characterize our lives?
The second spiritual fruit is
action. Romans 6:20-22 explains, “When
you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit
were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The
end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and
have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its
end, eternal life.” Are you growing towards a life of righteousness?
The third type of fruit is that of
addition. Are you contributing to the increase of the kingdom of God by doing
your part in sharing the Gospel? It may not be that you are the one seeing the
actual conversion but are you contributing to the work of evangelism? Paul
explains in 1 Corinthians 3:6-9, “I
planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor
he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and
he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor.
For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.” We are
not supposed to show up for Church on Sundays and then expect that our pastor,
our leaders, or even the called missionaries are there to evangelize. We must
be bearing fruit that is part of the work of the Great Commission. Are you a
fellow worker with God?
2 Corinthians 13:5-6 says this, “Examine
yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not
realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? —unless indeed you
fail to meet the test! I hope you will find out that we have not failed the
test.”
Do you
pass the test of the 3 spiritual fruits? If so then stay the course and grow
more each day. If not then get on your knees now and ask God to fill you with
His Holy Spirit and lead you down the path of righteousness. Do not place your
trust of eternal life in what your religion tells you; place it in the truth of
the Word of God.
May God
richly bless you today and fill you with the power of His Holy Spirit and may
the love of Christ dwell within your heart.
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