John 15:7-8
7 If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you. 8 “In this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples. (WEB) The best way that a farmer is honored is when he has a bountiful harvest. It is when he sees the fruit of all his labor come to fruition, that he and those around him celebrate all his investment into the fruit growing process. I imagine there is a great sense of satisfaction when a farmer looks at his crop and sees that it is as big and as bountiful as it could possibly be. That is what brings glory to the farmer. If the fruit is sickly and half the size that it should be, the farmer cannot rejoice because the fruit didn't live up to its potential. I think the fruitfulness that Jesus talks about in John 15 may be a little bit like that. The fruit that brings glory to our Heavenly Father is the bountiful supply of fruit that we display in our own lives. While the work that we are all called to is part of our life's fruitfulness, I believe that the Biblical definition of fruit can be found in Galatians 5:22-23... 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, 23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (WEB) The more that we bear the personal fruitfulness of being loved by God and loving ourselves, being at peace with God and ourselves, being full of the joy of the Lord, being patient with others and ourselves, being kind to others and ourselves... the more we will fulfill our destiny and bear the fruit that our Papa intended for us to yield. My prayer today is that we would all set our eyes on the fruit that is truly important to our God and Father. The fruit that grows and flourishes as a result of us living in an intimate relationship with the living God that lives in us. In today's Bible passage, Jesus encourages us to 'remain in Him'. When we make our home in His heart, when we choose to abide in His loving presence every moment of every day, the end result will be fruitfulness beyond our wildest dreams! It is the fruit born in the soil of a good and noble heart that truly brings glory to our Dad... Thirty, sixty and one hundredfold! Ephesians 3:14-21 14 For this cause, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man; 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,21 to him be the glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. (WEB) Comments are closed.
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