What Kind of Fruit Grows on Your Tree?

8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. John 15:8 (ESV)

Jesus said that a tree is known by its fruit - a good tree bears good fruit and a bad tree bears bad fruit. (see Matt. 12:33) He also said in John 15, that His Father is glorified when we bear much fruit. Basil of Caesarea, a 4th Century church leader taught, "A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds." Since life has been figuratively illustrated as a tree, the question is, what kind of fruit grows on your tree? 

I don't know a lot about trees; I always had trouble identifying trees even by their leaves in middle school science class. When we moved from Knoxville to Jefferson City we had a number of fruit trees in our yard. My dad knew they were fruit trees, but we just didn't know what kind of fruit they would bear ... until spring when the apple trees bloomed and produced apples. Then, late summer we discovered that we also had peach trees. We knew what type of trees they were, simply by the fruit they bore. 

This is also true of our lives. Those around us know what kind of people we are because of the fruit that we bear in our daily living. What kind of fruit grows on the tree of your life? Most people are more interested in picking fruit than in producing fruit, ("it's easier to be a consumer than a contributor" John Maxwell), but Jesus calls us to bear fruit, so what kind of fruit grows on the tree of your life? 

Galatians 5:22 tells us that the follower of Christ will bear the FRUIT of the Holy Spirit, and then it gives nine qualities to that fruit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (is the song stuck in your head now?). We've been studying these nine qualities on Sunday mornings at Grace Point and this week we are looking at "goodness" - what is it? Where does it come from? and How is it seen in our lives? You can join us live (9am), join us on Facebook live, or listen to the messages at our website. 

But I want to talk briefly about bearing the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. I think John 15 gives us three principles for bearing healthy fruit of the Spirit. God's Spirit bears His fruit in our lives when we ... 

1. ... Remain connected to the source of fruit
Jesus says in John 14:4-5, "Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing." Christ is the source of power that produces fruit in our lives; when we are connected to Him, He produces His fruit in our lives - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, etc. If those things are missing from our lives, the place to start is in checking our connection to Him. Some questions to think about - Have I ever been connected to Him? (Have you ever been saved by Christ?) Am I staying connected to Him through prayer, study of His word, fellowship with His followers, regular worship, obedience, etc.? When we are connected to the right source of Christ, He will produce good fruit in our lives. If those things that are listed in Galatians 5:22 are missing from our lives, we need to check our connection to the source of fruit. 

2. ... Are pruned and disciplined
Jesus says in v.2, "He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more." Fruit bearing is God's greatest desire for His children. Just like every parent wants their children to grow up to be mature, productive adults who contribute more than they consume, God wants His children to grow up to bear fruit that pleases Him. So to produce the most fruit in our lives, He sometimes cuts things away that hinder us from bearing the most fruit - we call this "being disciplined" by God. Sometimes things He removes from our lives aren't bad things, they're just not the best things for producing His fruit. You will be fruitful only as you become disciplined by God; pruning is the price for producing. Pruning can be a painful process, but when we remember that God's goal is to get the best fruit from our lives, we can endure and cooperate with His process. Finally ...

3. ... Realize the glory it brings God when we bear much fruit. 
Jesus says in v.8, "When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father." When our lives are abounding in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control God is pleased, He is glorified. When we bear the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, it is evidence that we are Jesus' disciples, God is our Father and He is praised, exalted and glorified. When the tree of our life bears His fruit, we are healthy and God is pleased. 

So what kind of fruit grows on the tree of your life? Is it the fruit of God's Spirit? Is it good fruit? Because a good tree brings forth good fruit. Are you connected to the Vine? If not, get in touch with me, I'd love to help you make that connection...

Blessed, Broken and Given

"He was known to them in the breaking of the bread."  Luke 24:35 (ESV)



We've had a number of storms in the U.S. this year. I was reading an article that stated that the number of tornadoes that have been confirmed from January through June of this year is 92. Some of them were in un-populated areas or didn't touch the ground, while others created significant devastation. There were other storms too,  such as hurricanes, winter storms and flooding that have affected lives across our nation. 

I was thinking about storms because I ran across a quote from a Japanese writer that touched a nerve with me. Haruki Murakami wrote: "When you come out of the storm you won't be the same person that walked in. That's what the storm is all about." I don't know if Mr. Murakami is a Christian or not, but I think there is some truth to his statement. All of us have gone through "storms of life" that have left their mark on us and caused us to be different than we were before they hit. 

This Sunday we will observe the Lord's Supper where we will sip the cup and break bread as the Lord has instructed us to do until He returns. One of my favorite stories in the Bible about "breaking bread" is in Luke 24:13-35. It's after Jesus' crucifixion and on the day of His resurrection. Two of His disciples have left Jerusalem and are journeying to Emmaus, about seven miles away. We're not told why they are leaving Jerusalem, perhaps out of fear that what happened to Jesus might also happen to them, and during the journey the resurrected Jesus joins them. Initially His true identity is hidden from them, but when they reach Emmaus, they ask Him to stay and eat with them. And the bible says that when He was at the table with them, "He took bread and blessed and broke it, and gave it to them." (v.30) Suddenly their eyes were opened to His true identity and their lives were changed forever. That night they returned to Jerusalem to affirm to the other disciples that the Savior was indeed alive. And in v.35 of that chapter it says, "He was known to them in the breaking of the bread."  Luke 24:35 (ESV)

Something about the breaking of bread caused them to realize who He was. They knew Him through the breaking of bread. There was something familiar about Jesus breaking the bread that arrested their attention and opened their eyes to the truth. He took the bread, He blessed it, He broke it, then He gave it. It was familiar to them because it was a pattern they had seen in Jesus before.

Luke 9 - People had been following Him listening to Him teach; they were hungry, but there was only 5 loaves, and 2 fish to feed the crowd. But Jesus took the loaves and the fish and He blessed them, He broke them, and then He gave them to the disciples to give to the people, and more than 5,000 people were fed.

Luke 22, He gathered with His disciples for a celebration of the Passover meal, the last meal before His crucifixion, and the Bible says He took the bread, He blessed it, He broke it, and He gave it to His disciples.

1 Corinthians 11 - Paul indicates this was the pattern that the early church had learned of Jesus - passing down what had been given to him, Paul says that on the night of His last meal with His disciples, He took the bread, gave thanks or blessed it, broke it and then gave it to the disciples.

It was a familiar pattern, and maybe there is a deeper, spiritual meaning to that pattern of blessing, breaking and giving. Maybe it was familiar because it is also the pattern that God often uses in handling His people. Don't we see this same pattern in the men and women God used in the Scriptures?

Don't we see this same pattern in the life of Abraham? God took him from his family, and He blessed him with land, and material possessions, and promises and finally a son Isaac, then He broke him when he told him to take his only son Isaac and sacrifice him; but then He gave him a ram to sacrifice instead and he gave Isaac to be the heir of the promise, and through him God would bring forth a great nation for His glory. 

And don't we see this pattern in the life of Joseph? God took him from his father and his family, and sent him to be a slave in Egypt in Potiphar's home; and then He broke him when He had him put in jail, but then He gave Joseph to be the second in command in all of Egypt, and He gave him to preserve his family when his brothers came seeking food.

Don't we see this pattern in the life of Moses? God took him as a little baby, sparing him from being killed, and he blessed him by putting him in the home of Pharoah, yet being raised by his mother. But then Moses tried to do things his way and take matters into his own hands and so God broke him and put him on the back side of the dessert for 40 years. But then God gave him to the people of Israel to be the one through whom God would deliver them from slavery.

And don't we see this pattern in the life of the disciples? Jesus takes His disciples when He calls them from their businesses and families and ordinary life, and then He blesses them with miracles and wonders, and words of life. But then He breaks them when He dies on the cross and they thought everything was over. But then He rose from the dead and He gave them the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, and then He gave those 120 disciples to turn the world upside down!

Isn't this the pattern we see in the life of Jesus Himself? God took Him from glory (Jesus didn't consider being equal with God something to grasp onto, Philippians 2), and He took Him from the womb of Mary and He blessed Him with a fullness of grace and truth, and He blessed Him with purpose and ministry. But then He broke Him - in the Garden of Gethsemane His sweat became as drops of blood; and He broke Him with scourging and then crucifixion. But all that was done so He could raise Him from the dead and He gave Him to be the Savior of the world.

Isn't this indicative of the way God works in the lives of those He uses greatly? It's not just about the bread, it's about life. In your life, and in my life, this is the way God often works. He blesses us with life, and good things, then He breaks us, taking us through storms of life, trials, sufferings and such and in doing so He changes us. Then He uses us and our storm experiences to be an encouragement, a source of hope and healing to others in the storms. The storm changes us and God uses us for His glory. 

And when we celebrate the Lord's Supper we are reminded of Jesus, whom God took, and blessed, a broke and gave on a cross for your sins and mine, to be the Savior of the world.

I invite you to join us Sunday as we remember the one who was blessed, and broken and given...