Produce Good Fruit

What are the fruits of your labor? What are the fruits of your relationships? What are the fruits of those you see around you? Do you recognize good fruits and bad fruits? Are you wondering what types of fruits you are producing?

We see all kinds of people as we go about are lives. We see people of different races, ethnic backgrounds, cultural backgrounds, shapes, and sizes. If we take time to notice, we’ll find that those don’t really matter when it comes to the types of fruit they produce. So, what does matter?

We might want to say it is the way they were raised. Yet we see people who were raised in bad neighborhoods or in foster homes that produce wonderful fruit. We may want to say some are just predisposed to be bad people. Yet we see people who have been in gangs, deeply involved in drugs and alcohol, and even sexual slavery who produce good fruit.

You see, it really comes down to two things. First, each person needs to hear the good news about Jesus Christ. Second, that person needs to decide to follow Him. Once these two things have happened, everything else will fall in place.

What we often observe is the person who has grown up in the church takes it for granted and often has a harder time producing good fruit. Yet the person who has lived in the horrible happenings of the world will make an immediate change, once they know Jesus. In some ways, we just don’t understand this. We would think the person who has grown up knowing who Jesus is would be more appreciative.

What I’ve found is that unless we have experienced hardship, we don’t appreciate the good. The most obvious experience I’ve had with this is attending Marine Corps boot camp and being a Drill Instructor. Boot camp has a plethora of tests, many of which purposely put your face in the dirt to determine if you will get back up or simply give up. Going through that crucible forces you to experience tough situations and appreciate the good.

This is why we often hear some people say it wasn’t until they hit rock bottom that they finally looked up and saw Jesus offering His hand to pull them up. It is at a time like this that we will fully accept Him. In order to produce the good fruit He wants us to produce, we must fully accept Him and live for Him. At that point, we become the good tree, not because of ourselves but because Jesus is filling us with His Spirit.

I pray each one of us will see the fruit we are producing and decide we need Jesus. I pray all of us will accept Jesus fully into our lives. I pray we follow God’s plan for our lives. Recognize Jesus’ outstretched hand and take it. See that you need Him. Decide to accept and follow Him fully. Trust Jesus.

Matthew 12:33 “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.”

Praise God

Do you give thanks for what you have? Do you praise the courage of people who put their lives on the line for you? Are you generally a thankful person? Would you praise someone if they saved your life? Will you praise God?

We see a lot of thanks going out to doctors, nurses, and other medical staff at this time and rightfully so. We see signs along the road praising them and calling them heroes. We hear people giving thanks for the work these professionals are doing. We certainly should, since many of them are putting their own lives and the lives of their families on the line for us. Some are working tireless hours and may not see their families for days.

Yet are we forgetting to give thanks to someone? Are we forgetting to praise God for creating such wonderful people to serve us? There is absolutely nothing wrong for thanking and praising the medical professionals who are working hard during this time. Yet we also need to thank God and praise Him for creating a heart of service in these people. It is God who is working through them, whether they realize it or not.

If we truly believe that God creates everything, we must believe that God created these people. We must believe that God created a heart of service in them. We must believe that God gave them the intellectual capacity to learn their medical profession. We must believe that God put a spark in them that caused them to choose their profession. Do we believe that?

If we believe that God did all of this, should we not praise Him for doing so? I believe we should be praising God for all that He does, which includes creating the wonderful souls who serve us in this time of need. I believe God should be praised for His workmanship and His loving hands working in these troubling times. We know that God works everything for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). So, if we love Him and believe He created everything, let’s praise Him for creating these wonderful servants.

I pray we all take a few moments to thank God and praise Him for all He does for us. I pray each one of us will especially praise Him for creating our medical staff and working in their lives. I pray we believe God is the Creator of all things and all people. I pray we praise Him when we praise those who are serving us. Give thanks to God. Praise God for His works. Give God the glory He so rightly deserves. Know that God is in control.

Luke 17:15-19 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. 

Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

Loving Sacrifice

Do you consider yourself a sincere person? Are you a loving person? Do you love with sincerity? Are you willing to put those you love above yourselves? Are you willing to sacrifice for them? Do you honor those you love? Or, are you self-centered, only looking to your own wants?

God, through Jesus Christ, has called us to a higher standard. Jesus set the perfect example for us in love and self-sacrifice. Jesus shows us what it means to put others above ourselves. It wasn’t simply the fact He was crucified for us. It goes much further than that.

Let’s start with what many consider to be His first miracle. Jesus, a few of His disciples, and His mother were at a wedding. A potentially embarrassing situation arose—they ran out of wine. Jesus’ mother told Jesus and implied He should fix the problem. Jesus initially stated His time had not yet come but relented and turned water into wine. The embarrassment for the bride groom was avoided (John 2:1-12). Jesus put a friend’s need above His own desire to hold off performing miracles for a while longer.

We may say we would do such a thing, if we were put in that situation. Perhaps someone has been at a wedding reception where something was missing or running short and they went to get what was needed. I’m sure many of us would do such a favor for a friend.

Let’s take an example of something a little closer to home and far more common. What if we come across someone who is hungry? Are we willing to spend our money to buy food for them? I’m sure some of us would. Jesus provides another example when He feeds the five thousand in Matthew 14:13-21. You may say, “Well, He just performed another miracle.” That is true. Yet His disciples wanted to turn the people away. They wanted to send the people off to buy their own food. The disciples were unwilling to share what they had. They were unwilling to trust God to provide for them, if they were willing to give away what they had. Jesus did the opposite—He provided.

In another case, Peter is being pressured to pay the temple tax upon arrival in Capernaum. He doesn’t have the money and asks Jesus what to do. Jesus provides the money to bail out His friend. Sure, it is a miracle that He tells Peter to go fishing and get the coin from the mouth of the first fish he catches, but Jesus provides for Peter (Matthew 17:24-27). Notice that Peter would have known that Jesus didn’t have the money either, yet he went to Jesus to ask what to do about the tax. Also notice that Jesus saw the deeper, underlying question and likely panic Peter felt. Jesus loved His friend and provided for him.

I pray each of us will put others ahead of ourselves, especially our loved ones. I pray we give up our selfish desires as a sacrifice for others. I pray we all love with sincerity and show it to each other on a daily basis. Honor others. Put others above yourself. Do what is good. Love with sincerity. Trust God to provide.

Romans 12:9-12 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.

Filled With Hope

Are you filled with hope? Where does your hope come from? Does it come from the promise of a promotion at work? Perhaps a new relationship? Or, are you without much hope right now? Do you know there is a hope available to you that has no end?

When the word hope is used in our language today, it is often used to replace the word wish. That’s not really its meaning. The modern definition is having a feeling that something we want is attainable. Yet that isn’t the definition meant when we read it in the Bible. The meaning in the Bible is what today’s dictionaries call an archaic meaning, which is to put trust in whatever it is you hope for. In other words, if you put your hope in Jesus Christ, you put your trust in Him.

We are to hope in God, in Jesus Christ. Our hope should not be a simple wish, but a confidence that what we hope for will come to pass. Jesus is our cornerstone (1 Peter 2:6-8), our foundation. He came to provide us with hope, joy, and peace when we trust Him. He does this by filling us with the Holy Spirit.

Perhaps you are wondering why you don’t have hope, if you are filled with the Holy Spirit. The simple answer is our pride. You see, we want to be in control, we deceive ourselves into thinking we are in control, and we don’t allow the Holy Spirit to work our lives. Simply put, we squelch His work.

If we want to have an overflowing hope, we must get out of the way. We must stop thinking we are in control and allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives. We are to spend time in prayer, asking God to help us get out of the way and allow His Spirit to work for us and in us.

We have the ultimate hope readily available to us. We can have an overflowing hope that provides us with joy and peace. We can experience this hope regardless of our situation. Putting our trust in God is putting our hope into action.

Unfortunately, in our technology riddled culture, we have lost the awe of God. We put our trust in electronic gadgets. We can get answers to our questions in the blink of an eye with a quick search on our smart phones. We look at them to provide answers to every question that pops in our heads, never stopping to ask God to provide the answers to the most important questions. Instead, we try to rationally come up with our answers using logic based on answers we got from our smart phones.

I pray we all start looking to God to find answers to our important questions. I pray each of us will set aside our pride and belief that we are in control to rely on God, allowing the Holy Spirit to work in our lives. I pray we put our hope in God. Look to God for answers. Trust Him to provide. Put your hope in God. He is trustworthy.

Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Be of Sober Mind

Would you consider yourself to be of sober mind? Do you think rationally through the situation before reacting (or overreacting)? Are you relying on God to provide you an answer? Are you taking advantage of the blessings God has blessed you with to assess your situation properly?

Sober mindedness is a sorely needed trait in today’s culture. It seems everyone has gone overboard with their drama. We see people constantly having to out do everyone else. If someone has experienced pain, the next person’s pain had to be described as worse. We can’t simply be hungry anymore; we have to describe ourselves as starving.

Thankfully, there are a few sober minded people in our society. If we didn’t have them, our society would fall into complete anarchy. Unfortunately, it seems we have fewer and fewer of the sober minded people in positions they need to be in. We find people in leadership positions who overreact as badly as the five-year-old who just ran his battery powered jeep into a tree.

We see in today’s Scripture that we are called to be of sober mind. We are not to overreact. We are to be alert, aware of what is going on around us. This doesn’t simply mean what is physically going on but also the social, emotional, and spiritual happenings.

We see people who don’t want to watch the news. They say all that is shown is bad news. For the most part they are correct. Yet there are some good news stories that are shown. More importantly, there are information news stories that keep us updated on laws, ordinances, openings, closings, and a wide variety of events that affect our everyday lives.

Being of sober mind requires us to be educated. That doesn’t mean having a college degree. It does mean continuing to educate ourselves regarding new inventions, events, and new information that will affect our lives and the lives of our loved ones. If we keep our heads in the sand, we will be completely blindsided and wonder why.

Being sober minded also means putting our hope in Jesus Christ. It means understanding His grace. It means being assured we are covered by it while not taking advantage of it. You see, if we try taking advantage of His grace, we continue to willfully sin, which puts us in danger of falling from His grace. It can lead us down a path of destruction, one step at a time.

I pray all of us will be of sober mind. I pray each one of us will be alert. I pray we understand the grace of God. I pray we determine to not take advantage of His grace. Grow in maturity in faith. Be of sober mind. Hope in God’s grace. Trust Jesus Christ. Ask Him to guide you through life.

1 Peter 1:13 Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming.

Living in Truth

Are you living in truth? Or, do you continue to deceive yourself? Are you living according to the false beliefs of the world? Or, are you living according to the truth as revealed in Jesus Christ? What choice have you made?

We all live as we choose. We may not think so at times. Especially when we falsely believe someone else is forcing a lifestyle on us. We quickly forget that we have a choice. We determine to put the blame on someone else. Yet it is our choice to live in truth or falsehood.

Keep in mind this discussion is not about where we live, as in location. It is not about whether we currently live in a bad situation or not. It is not about whether we are poor or rich. It is not about liking something that someone else does not. It’s far deeper than any of that.

Truth is often projected as a concept that is situational or relative. That concept could not be further from the truth. It is a lie the world and Satan is telling us. The truth we are to trust in is the truth of Jesus Christ and His teachings.

In order to properly understand the truth, we must study it. It is hard, not physically, but emotionally. We find that we are living lives full of falseness—full of lies. We lie to ourselves. We lie about others. We lie in our confessions. We lie in our actions. We lie in our behaviors.

To live by the truth means to take a hard look at our inner beings. It requires us to change, put off our old selves and put on the new in Christ. It requires us to stop being who we think we are and become who God created us to be. It requires us to perform a heart transplant, giving up our worldly heart and inserting a Godly heart. Unfortunately, far too many of us are unwilling to do this, which ends in our destruction. Nothing about living by the truth is easy. We simply don’t want to face the truth nor live by it.

I pray we all decide to live by the truth. I pray each one of us will face the truth about ourselves and accept the truth of Jesus Christ. I pray we will make the heart transplant to become like Jesus in all we do. Take on the truth. Live by the truth. Make the hard choice. Put off the old, put on the new. Ask God to make the heart transplant.

Ephesians 4:20-24 That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

God at Work, Working with God

Do you trust that God will take care of you? Do you know, really know deep down, that He is constantly at work? Will you stop to appreciate the work He has done in your life? Or, are you simply going through life totally unaware that God is working in your life?

We live in a busy world, even in this time of social distancing and people being laid off work. It seems we are conditioned to continually be busy doing something, even it is simply sitting and looking at our smart phone. All our busyness keeps us from recognizing how God is working in our lives. We all know it. Yet what are we going to do to change it?

My own confession is I have a list of “to do’s” longer than I can remember. I sometimes get anxious about all that “needs” done and set arbitrary timelines for those tasks. However, I remind myself from time-to-time to stop, take a breather, and relax in the knowledge that God is at work.

When we stop to recognize God is working, we can relax a bit. We may not completely stop working ourselves, but we can lower our stress levels. We can stop worrying about those tasks. We realize they are not as important as we make them out to be. Don’t take this the wrong way, there are still tasks to get done and we still need to work. We just don’t need to over stress ourselves about them.

The other positive that comes out of this is we begin to prioritize tasks based on God’s priorities. We begin including Him in our decisions. We find that we are accomplishing the tasks that are most important. Often, we find our tasks are being completed faster. This may sound like an oxymoron. I’m reminded of a saying that a sniper uses to slow themselves down, “fast is slow and slow is fast.” You see, when we slow down to prioritize and think through the tasks, we get them right the first time.

I believe this is how God works. He has His plan. He has prioritized what He is going to do. He has thought through those tasks and developed the most efficient means to accomplish them. He has set the timing perfectly to accomplish His plan.

I pray that we slow down, take time to think about our tasks. I pray we all continue to work yet do so more efficiently and effectively. I pray each of us will recognize God is working in our lives and we decide to work alongside Him. See God at work today. Trust He is working on your behalf. Decide to work with Him. Slow down to think. Spend quality time with God.

John 5:16-17 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him.In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.”

Persevering in Faith

How do you handle trials? How well do you migrate your way through being tested? Are you able to withstand the tests you face in strength? Or do you give up? Do you know there is a reward waiting on the other side of the test?

We face many tests and trials in our lifetimes. Some of them are relatively easy tests while others are much more difficult. It’s those difficult ones that really put us to the test—push us to our limits. Those tests and trials can bring us to our knees, which is where we ought to be anyway.

We are not promised a rose garden in this life. Jesus stated we would have trouble in this world, but we are to take heart because He has overcome the world (John 16:33). When we face trials we should be on our knees in prayer, asking Jesus to carry us through.

I know, that’s easy to say and hard to do when we are in the middle of an especially difficult situation. Our natural tendency is to either wonder how we’ll get through it or decide we will gut it out. Unfortunately, our natural desire leaves God out of the equation. We forget (or deny) that He is a mighty God that can overcome any trouble we are facing.

We are encouraged in Scripture to continue through the trial, not giving up, and we will receive a reward. In the end, we receive multiple rewards. The immediate reward is taking another step toward maturity. We find that we grow in our abilities and understanding. We gain strength and courage to handle future difficult situations.

We also receive an eternal reward. When we persevere and continue in our faith, we receive the reward of eternity with God. Sure, we often look at that as sometime in the distant future and almost discount it. Yet we should not discount it so quickly. There is not one of us who can guarantee another day on this earth for ourselves, as Jesus states in Matthew 6:27.

As we continue to walk in faith, trusting God to provide, our faith will increase as well. We begin our faith journey by taking the initial step. We must continue to take steps of faith one at a time. As we continue, each step will become easier, even if the step is a difficult one.

I pray each of us will continue to persevere in our faith. I pray we continue to step out in faith, trusting God to lead us and protect us. I pray we all persevere through whatever difficulties we face and grow in our faith. Face difficulty in faith. Trust God to carry you through. Take the next step in faith. Increase your faith as you go. Trust there is a reward on the other side.

James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

A Higher Standard

Are you walking through life completely blinded? Do you just go with the flow, go with whatever is popular at the moment? Are you allowing yourself to be pulled in a negative direction? Are you aware that Satan is behind those harmful ways?

Our world has spiraled downward for so long that people who are considered good by others still pursue multiple negative behaviors. Those negative behaviors include shirking our responsibilities, skipping out on our jobs, ignoring family, becoming a drunkard, carousing around, and disobedience of laws to name just a few.

As Christians we are called to a higher standard (Ephesians 5:1-20). Take a look at what Paul lists as the standard for us. Unfortunately, we have set aside the instructions of God for the popularity of the moment or our own fleshly desires. We have been enticed by Satan to disobedience.

Oh, we won’t think of it that way and that’s a large part of the problem. We fail to take a hard look at ourselves in the mirror. We go on believing we are right. We don’t want anyone else telling us how to live, how to behave. Sadly, it will lead to our downfall and eternal destruction.

There is no doubt that even the best of us will sin. Jesus will cover those sins for us. We can trust that. Yet we are called to stop our willful sinning and follow Him. He knows we can’t be perfect, that’s why He had to come into this world to be the perfect sacrifice.

Satan is laughing at many of us who call ourselves Christians. He knows he has his hooks in us and isn’t going to release them. If he hasn’t gotten them fully set in us yet, he continues to work to trick us into being hooked. He’s got the bait dangling out there and waiting for us to bite, then he’ll set the hook.

There is only one way to resist the bait. There is only One who can protect us. There is only one thing we can do to guard ourselves from the trappings of Satan. Jesus Christ is our Savior. We must trust Him and delve into God’s Word. We are called to a higher standard.

I pray each of us will trust Jesus. I pray we all dig into God’s Word. I pray we are on guard against Satan’s trappings. I pray each one of us will resist the bait he throws out in front of us. Trust Jesus. Read God’s Word. Be on your guard. Resist Satan. God is trustworthy. Jesus will be with you always.

1 Peter 5:8-9 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

Striving in Faith

Are you continuing to move forward today? Are you struggling to understand why? Is your desire to continue flagging? Have you wondered where God is? Have you asked Him to intercede on your behalf? Will you reach out to Him and people of faith to help?

Sometimes our perseverance can wear thin. We may begin to wonder why we continue to strive toward a goal. Our desire to continue putting forth the effort weakens. Perhaps we are holding on by a thread. We may wonder if it is all really worth it.

In the story of Job, after all his sons and daughters had been killed, his wife asked why he should continue. She told him to “curse God and die” (Job 2:9). Job would do no such thing. We may lose much of what we have worked for and come to a similar point—ready to quit.

Yet we see many examples of God carrying His people through various troubles, including Job and his wife. There are examples of God working miracles in battles, in great escapes, blessing childless people with children, raising people from the dead, and feeding many with little.

These are examples we can read about in the Bible and we can easily discard them as being thousands of years ago. We may believe God doesn’t work in our world today. We may think He won’t work in our lives because we are insignificant. However, we would be wrong.

God continues to work in the world today. If we doubt that, reach out to others who have a strong faith in God. Ask them how God has worked in their lives. Ask them for specific examples. You will likely be surprised at how many examples they can provide, some of which seem to be miracles and very likely are. If not miracles, they are the working of the Holy Spirit doing something totally unexpected to lift the person.

I could testify of many times this has happened to me. No, I am not thinking of the everyday act of waking or getting me to a destination safely, but significant happenings that only God could perform. Times of unexplainable intercession that no one on this earth could have known about or pulled off.

I pray each of us will continue in our faith of God and His miraculous abilities. I pray we all reach out to someone who can tell us of personal stories of faith, if we need our faith boosted. I pray we all strive to put our hope in the living God who can and will work miracles in our lives. Be strong in your faith. Reach out when needed. Stand firm on God’s promises. Know that God is always working.

1 Timothy 4:10 That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.