Shiny
Red
Ripe
Firm
Nutritious
Crunchy
Sweet
Juicy
Delicious
Those are words describing a Red Apple.
If an apple tree is watered, pruned, has sunlight
and given nutrients it will bear healthy red apples.
Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Self Control
Those are words describing the Fruit of the Spirit.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there
is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature
with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step
with the Spirit.” Galatians 5:22-25 NIV
If we “Keep in step
with the Spirit” we will bear fruit with these characteristics.
But how do we “keep in step”?
It’s like tending an apple tree.
To get the Fruit of the Spirit we need Christ’s rain to fall
upon us, we need to be nourish by our Creator, we need to be pruned by God, we
need to grow in HIS light and not hide in the shadows of this world.
So how do we do all that?
Simple…stay plugged into the tree - AKA God.
He is the tree, we are the vines. We get what we need by staying connected to Him.
Being connected to
Him takes more than church attendance, offerings and tithes…it means obeying
ALL His commandments- even the ones we don’t like, such as loving EVERYONE.
Remember back to “The Cost of Discipleship Chapter 19”, we
talked about recognizing wolves in sheep clothing by the fruit they bear.
We also discussed looking at our own fruit.
So I ask you now, how does your fruit look?
Is it a ripe, juicy, crisp apple…or a bruised, dry, mushy
mess?
To help you recognize the difference between Godly fruit and
worldly, take a look at this list:
Hateful
Depressed
Full of Turmoil
Resigned
Rude
Mean
Deceitful
Violent
Self-indulgent
Ask God to help you evaluate your fruit. I
bet you need some pruning.
I know I do.
"Because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son." Heb 12:6 NIV
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