SPIRITUAL FRUIT In the morning, as Jesus returned to the city, he became hungry. When he saw a fig tree by the road, he went up to the tree and found nothing on it but leaves. He said to the tree, "May fruit never grow on you again!" At once the fig tree dried up. The disciples were surprised to see this. They asked, "How did the fig tree dry up so quickly?" Jesus answered them, "I can guarantee this truth: If you have faith and do not doubt, you will be able to do what I did to the fig tree. You could also say to this mountain, 'Be uprooted and thrown into the sea,' and it will happen. Have faith that you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." Matthew 21:18-22
Jesus is hungry. You know and I know that if He wanted food, all He had to do was bless this tree and fruit would appear. However, that is not what Jesus chose to do on this particular day. Instead, Jesus chose to teach his disciples a lesson regarding the importance of spiritual fruit in their lives. According to Paul, the fruit of the Spirit is, "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23) Jesus didn't talk about these particular fruits, but let's assume they are implied. A Christian who does not display fruit in his or her life is useless to the kingdom and will be cut off. According to John, we are to "love the brethren." Since, this is the first fruit of the Spirit, it must be important. How then, can we be fruitful? I believe it is as Jesus told the disciples that day, we must have faith. Now, I don't think Jesus meant we would move literal "mountains." I think the mountains we can move are things like depression and anger - the fruits of sin. Please don't get me wrong. I'm not implying that being depressed or angry is a sin. They are sometimes the result of sin against us. Understand? If not - email me - okay? These two fruit worms have done a lot in my life to remove love, joy, and peace in the past. However, I am learning that when I keep my eyes focused on Jesus, the love returns with an abundance of joy. Let's pray today that the fruit of the Spirit will be evident in the life of our church. Each of us has been given a spiritual gift in order to complete the Body of Christ. Let's pray that each of us will understand what our spiritual gifts are and then have the faith to use those gifts for the building up of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Some of you have the gift of encouragement, some intercession, and some helps. It doesn't matter what the gift is - it simply matters that you use it. A word of encouragement goes a long way for a person who is depressed. Proverbs 25:11, "Like golden apples in silver settings, so is a word spoken at the right time." Now, who among us wouldn't like to have a basket of golden apples in silver settings when we're down and out? Yep! We all need words of encouragement spoken from a sincere heart. Let's pray that people will recognize their gifts and begin to trust and obey God's direction. Father, we come to You today praying for our brothers and sisters who, like us, need to help from You in knowing what their gifts are and then they need You to point them in the right direction to use them. Please Holy Spirit, fill each of us with wisdom and understanding so that we will know the Father's will and way that we might make our lives useful and fruitful. We hunger to bring Him glory! O. Addison Gethers e-mail address [email protected] [email protected] twitter URL http//:twitter.com/OAddisonGethers Messenger contact window live/msn messenger: [email protected] aim: durangoadd64 skype: cowboys62 yahoo messenger: OADDISONGETHERS rs --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Deaf-Blind Inspirational Life Group" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/dbilg?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
