Do you have a green thumb? Do you garden, plant flowers, or have the super power to make all things grow out of the ground? I must confess, this is not my strong suit. I am a Grass Assassin. I admire people who garden every year. If you are one of these super humans, you have my utmost respect. It seems these people always have a surplus of food, and it's always a joy for them to give away Wal-Mart sacks full of vegetables to their friends. My favorite is fresh garden corn-on-the-cob. My mouth is watering, and stomach growling just thinking about it. I'm not an expert on gardening, but I do know it takes a lot of work to make a garden grow and produce a crop. You have to till the soil, plant the seeds, fertilize, pull the weeds, and watch out for critters trying to steel your food-just to name a few. It seems this is a full-time job, but in the end it's well worth it.
Our spiritual lives are much like a garden. In Matthew 13, Jesus talks about the Parable of the Sower. He said, "Behold, a sower went out to sow, and as he sowed some fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where there was not much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. but when the sun was up they were scorched, And because they had no root they withered away." Matt. 13:3-6
"And because they had no root they withered away." v.6
In our spiritual walk with the LORD, it's so important that we take root in God's Word so we don't "wither away". In 2 Kings 19:30 says that God's people shall take root downward, and bear fruit upward. God wants to make us more like Him, and He does this by pruning us so we can bear fruit.
"Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit." John 15:2
"Abide in Me, and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. " John 15:4-5
"By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, so you will be My disciples." John 15:8
What is this "spiritual fruit" that the Bible is talking about here in the book of John? The fruit of the Spirit is found in Galatians 5:22-23. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law." The fruit of the Spirit are God's character qualities that He wants to be part of our character.
1 Cor. 13:13 says, the greatest of these is love. It goes back to the first and greatest commandment mentioned in Matt. 22:37-40. Jesus said to him, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."
"Abide in Me, and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. " John 15:4-5
"By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, so you will be My disciples." John 15:8
What is this "spiritual fruit" that the Bible is talking about here in the book of John? The fruit of the Spirit is found in Galatians 5:22-23. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law." The fruit of the Spirit are God's character qualities that He wants to be part of our character.
1 Cor. 13:13 says, the greatest of these is love. It goes back to the first and greatest commandment mentioned in Matt. 22:37-40. Jesus said to him, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."
If we dig down deep, take root, and bear the fruit of the Spirit then God will make His home with us. God has the best green thumb ever! God the Father is the vinedresser. Jesus is the vine. The Holy Spirit gives us the power to live it out daily. If we remain in the vine then we are His workmanship-His masterpiece! We are His pièce de résistance!
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