Fruit is a product of relationship

How many times have you heard someone tell you that they think that at the end of their life they will have some kind of experience where God will stand at the entrance of heaven with a great big scale and put all their life actions on either the good or bad side of the scale and the side to which the scale tips determines their eternal destiny? I know I've heard various renditions of this thought more times than I can count.

I'm so grateful for what I see when I read Ephesians 2:4-10 (NIV):

4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

When I read this I realize that God has done everything for me. He saved me, brought me into relationship with Himself, just because He chose to love me. He gave me the faith to believe in Him.

I've found in my life that the more I come to understand and believe this truth, in the deepest parts of my heart, the more I want to get closer to God. The more I long for the His Word, delight in praising and thanking Him, desire to linger in His presence. The more I stay connected to Him, the more I open up avenues for His Spirit to work in my life. The more He works in my life, the more I become others focused, not in the sense of judging them, but in the sense of wanting to let God use me in their lives to bless them.

I find it interesting that in verse 9 of the Bible passage above it says that God did all that He did because He has a purpose for the lives of each of His followers, a purpose for us to do good. In Galatians 5 it talks about the freedom we can experience in Christ and how our natural, sinful, nature is at odds with the work of God's spirit in us. In Galatians 5:22-23 it even describes what the product, or fruit, of God's spirit working in us will look like:


22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

We absolutely don't come into relationship with God because of any good actions on our part. We can spend eternity with God simply because of His gift of faith in His son who died on our behalf. Yet, as I come into relationship with God He does change me. he does produce these 9 things described above. As Joyce pointed out earlier this week, the process by which God works is not always one that we would naturally think of as pleasurable. Just as pruning rose bushes allows them to produce more roses, so God's pruning in my life allows me to produce more fruit.

What are some ways God's worked in your life to make you fruitful?

Working at the Fruit Stand - What God Won't Ask

Christians enjoy talking about fruit like they are spiritual vegans!  Some Christians use the word "good person" like God is Santa Clause checking his list to see who's naughty and or nice. Various emotional muggings take place in churches where there are guilt trips, redemptive works, or required religious ceremonies for salvation.

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

This week your dynamic Kingdom Bloggers are going to be writing about faith, works and the fruit of the Spirit.

True freedom is in salvation through Jesus Christ. I suppose that it is easy to lay back once we have our ticket to paradise. Many do. Others seem to grasp grace as a license to do whatever they want to. Like the spoiled child with diplomatic immunity, they feel as if they can disregard the laws of the "land." And then there are others that feel obligated to follow certain rules and traditions while their heart is far from God.

It's easy to think that maybe we should do something to earn God's love. I have heard lots of folks that feel as if the church will fall down when they show up. As if any of us could get clean enough or be presentable to God on our own.

Without faith, it is impossible to please God.

Galatians 5:19-25 talks about what is the fruit of salvation. The analogy of fruit simply means that it is something that grows from the plants DNA. It is the natural process by which many plants show their beauty, and provide food for many. That is the true nature of God.

When I was in the Caribbean, I had a taxi driver stop to let me pick an avocado. I have never had a tastier one. If we look around us, it is easy to see others who may have more anointing, or gifting in their lives than we do. I am not talking about talent or charisma, but the ability to see Jesus as we observe their lives. This is fruit. What do others see when they observe our lives?

This is a hard topic to give a testimony about. If I toot my own horn about how much fruit my walk with Jesus shows, than I am being not so humble. I did receive this email that other day - see how you measure up to the fruit of the Kingdom. Truthfully, I didn't do so good.


What God Won't Ask
By: Author Unknown

God won't ask what kind of car you drove.
He will ask how many people you took places they needed to go..

God won't ask the square footage of your home.
He will ask how many people you took into your home.

God won't ask how many fancy clothes you had in your closet.
He will ask how many of those clothes you gave away to Salvation Army.

God won't ask what social class you were in.
He will ask if you preferred others over yourself..

God won't ask how many material possessions you had.
He will ask whether those material possessions dictated your life.

God won't ask what your highest salary was.
He will ask if you trampled over any people to obtain that salary.

God won't ask how much overtime you worked.
He will ask did you work overtime for your family.

God won't ask how many promotions you received.
He will ask what you did to promote others.

God won't ask what your job title was.
He will ask did you perform your job to the best of your ability.

God won't ask how many promotions you took to chase the dollar bill.
He will ask how many promotions you refused to advance your family's quality of life.

God won't ask how many times you didn't run around around on your spouse.
He will ask how many times you did.

God won't ask how many degrees you have.
He will ask how many people you thanked for getting those degrees.

God won't ask what your parents did to help you.
He will ask what you did to help your parents.

God won't ask what you did to help yourself.
He will ask what you did to help others.

God won't ask how many friends you had.
He will ask how many people you were a friend to.

God won't ask what you did to protect your rights.
He will ask what you did to protect the rights of others.

God won't ask what neighborhood you lived in.
He will ask what other neighborhoods you visited.

God won't ask how many times you told the truth.
He will ask how many times you told a lie.

God won't ask about the color of your skin.
He will ask about the color of your heart.

God won't ask how many times your deeds matched your words.
He will ask how many times they didn't.

God ordinarily will not show you His will in order for you to consider it.
He will show you His will when He knows you are willing to do it.