Fruitfulness
Friends by the Special Grace of God, We are considering the issue of "fruitfulness" today. Being fruitful, what does it mean?
To be fruitful is to produce fruits abundantly, or to be prolific. fruitfulness is having the ability to be productive
Yeah I know many of us would say I am fruitful, I make so much profit from my business, My salary has increased in the past year or so . . . am a mother of these number of kids b
ecause when we hear fruitfulness our minds jump to the conclusion that it is about money, job promotion etc
Whereas God is saying something else . . . don't get me wrong, Personal fruitfulness is great, it is a good feeling to say I have this and that. especially when we compare ourselves with others we tend to feel superior in our achievements hence we can succinctly say we are fruitful in our own ways.
The Bible tells us much about fruitfulness and why our being fruitful is very important to God Almighty. You see the Bible tells us that Jesus Christ is the Vine and we are the branches therefore, we must be attached to Him to bear fruits and when we are not bearing fruits it means we are not of Him or partakers of the vine.
This express instruction and mind of God is seen in the Bible clearly in
John 15:1-5 1"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
The key to being fruitful doesn't necessarily have anything to do with your skills/knowledge neither has it got anything to do with our effort, will power, wealth or experience. . . though these are important factors for growth and personal fruitfulness but, "lets not forget that God gave us different gifts with which we can serve Him in our own different ways". what we are saying here is for you to be fruitful in the eyes of God you must be connected to the Vine (Jesus Christ) only in Him can we receive health and nutrients for bearing good fruits in our lives.
Fruit of the Spirit
As Christians we should focus more on the Spiritual Fruit. Spiritual fruits are the types of fruits we should strive to bear not that of temporary things that don't last.
Galatians 5:22-26. "22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Hold on! it is imperative to note here that this passage above shows us the types of fruits we ought to bear and we see why we need Jesus the Vine and the Holy Spirit of God to help us BEAR SUCH GOOD FRUITS. believe me nobody says it is easy to achieve them on our own. I Say We must be connected!
Further reading of the Bible will show how God wants every believer to bear fruits in Christ Jesus. Not only bearing such fruits but manifesting of the fruits also . . . We have to show forth the fruits of the Spirit in our daily lives so as to be pleasing to God and to escape the ultimate wrath of God to Come.
Luke 3:8-9 8Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 9And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
let us show show God our fruits today by being connected to the Vine in Jesus Mighty Name Amen.
Godbless
Channelofhealing
There are steps to be fruitful...effective....productive...
ReplyDeletestages of maturing in His love...
Being fruitful has a great deal to do with knowledge. Not head-knowledge but revelatory knowledge...
2 Peter 1:5-8 shows us this clearly....For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Again, there is just FRUIT of the Spirit, no fruits. ;) Check out this post and you'll understand why: Love
Blessed be the Lord
Sid
Dear Sidhart, I agree with your point but the thing I am trying to say here is that one should not misconstrue human fruitfulness and Spiritual fruitfulness ,Spiritual Fruitfulness which in the end matters to God hence the reason I said it is not by our effort. for many people are quick to judge themselves and give approval of their ratings /stewardship where God is concerned.
ReplyDeleteIn the post I said..."The key to being fruitful doesn't necessarily have anything to do with your skills/knowledge neither has it got anything to do with our effort, will power, wealth or experience". . . what am I trying to say here? am saying that many believe that without Christ they can do everything and am saying it is not so, maybe my write up didn't do much to show what I was trying to say. but the point remains that Christians should always remember that their being fruitful only lies in the Christ the vine and all Glory should be returned to God Almighty only the Holy spirit can make us understand this I have people around me who don't believe in God helping them they always say they did it by themselves.
Thanks again for the pointer am grateful this is why the blog is called Channelofhealing we are all channels.
Godbless you
The key lies in what we are given written confirmation of in the first part of the passage that Sidharth included. For it truly is as it is written: Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. {2 Peter 1:1-4 NIV}
ReplyDeleteIn other words: Spiritual gifts are GIFTS of our Heavenly Father's Holy Spirit that serve as obvious proof of the absolute truth of the matter truly being that someone truly is in Christ both for their own benefit and as a witness unto others; and it is in regards unto us wanting to naturally take credit for what we have been Spiritually given that we diminish the power of that witness, which is what COH is alluding unto. Very well done, my dear.
Ah okay.
ReplyDeleteFishHawk, are you calling the fruit of the Spirit spiritual gifts?
Sid
Unto Sidharth: Yes!!! For in the same way as the actual presence of His Holy Spirit is a gift of our Heavenly Father: so are the signs of His work in and through us.
ReplyDeleteNo, this is not to deny that we have any part to play in the process. For our Heavenly Father wants to have a very close and personal relationship with us, which involves working with us unto a certain extent; but where do we want the line drawn between where He ends and we begin???
There is a clear demarcation between fruit of the Spirit and spiritual gifts.
ReplyDeleteA fruit is naturally grown on a tree, it takes time...it takes a process. Of course it comes from the Lord, but it takes us spending time with Him...
While spiritual gifts [Gk: charismata] as mentioned in 1 Cor 12 and Romans 12, are like gifts hung on a Christmas tree. They are instantaneous. A person can have a supernatural manifestation of a gift and still be marred in his character.
The Holy Spirit is given as a gift. The choice of words is very specific. The Greek word here is "doreon" and not "charismata" [one used for "spiritual gifts". Just like faith is given to every man as a gift [Gk: dorea], but there is also a "charismata of faith" that is totally supernatural and instant, which has nothing to do with the person's personal faith.
I hope that makes it clear =)
Sid
My dear Sidharth:
ReplyDeleteThe best example of what I now know to be true about bearing Spiritual fruit is what I have experienced for myself. For I was raised in Southern Baptist church; and I was taught what is now considered to be a very "fundamentalist" doctrine that placed sole responsibility for the development of my character upon my parents at first and then upon myself. In fact: I even pastored a small Southern Baptist in the same traditions for a time.
It was not, however, until our Heavenly Father became truly "REAL" unto me that I came to know what true holiness was all about. For what I thought were love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control {Galatians 5:22-23} were just what I had been taught that they were by people not so unlike myself; and in comparison unto what our Heavenly Father considers them to be: none from amongst can bear any fruit without Him {John 15:5-17}.
Be assured that I have been given a taste of "His" fruit; and it was given quickly. For I now look at things in a much different way than I did before; and my attitude in general has changed dramatically.
In other words: the old me has passed away and a new me has come {2 Corinthians 5:17}; but I have only been given a taste of what is yet to come {1 Corinthians 13:12}. For it will not be until Judgment Day before my fruit is ready to harvest {1 John 3:2}.
Nonetheless: I hunger for more now; and this is the part that I can play in my Heavenly Father's plan for my own life as a part of this world. For I have been given a choice of being content with what I have been already given or earnestly being desirious of more and more of Him {2 Peter 1:5-11}; and it the same for many, many others: depending upon what He wants to accomplish in and through them {Philippians 2:13}.
Again I ask: where do we want the line drawn between where our Heavenly Father ends and we begin??? For if bearing fruit truly is mostly our responsibility: so be it; but if it is not: are not far too many being led astray???
Besides: is not the teaching that it is our responsibility to bear much fruit cheating our Heavenly Father out of the full measure of the glory that He can receive from us??? For the more we want to take credit: the less credit we can give Him {1 Corinthians 4:7}.
Dear brother,
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what you're talking about.
But I assume that you mean that God will bear the fruit by Himself.
However,we can bear fruit only by co-operating with Abba and yielding to His Spirit.
Since man has a free-will, he can either yield or not yield, he can obey or disobey.
There is a criteria Scripture shows us inorder to bear fruit..."Abiding in Him". When we yield to His Spirit, He furnishes the fruit in our spirits.
It is not so about spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts isn't the same as spiritual fruit.
Sidharth
My dear Sidharth:
ReplyDeleteWhat I was trying to say before is that what I thought was love before is not even close unto what our Heavenly Father considers it to be; and that after He became real unto me (as opposed unto just being who I had read about in the Bible): He allowed and enabled me to love much more like He loves, which is more passionate and longsuffering than what any of us can even start to naturally comprehend. I am far from perfected in love, however; but He promises to complete the good work that He has begun in me.
In other words: it was when I began to truly abide in our Heavenly Father that I began to bear His fruit; and even though I understand that I do have a part to play in the process (mainly in regards unto wanting to be more and more like Him): I do not consider that part to be of any great significance. For many of the changes that I have experienced in my character have been done without me even asking for them in the first-place!!!
Yes, it is entirely possible for our Heavenly Father to raise someone from the dead through even the most vile of sinners; but did He not do a similar work in me when He gave me a piece of His heart while I was as vile as anyone can be??? For the most dramatic of the changes that I have experienced so far in regards unto the fruits of His Holy Spirit occurred at almost very instant that He brought me into His Light.
Dear Fishhawk, I would love to use this opportunity to thank you so very much for your sincere contributions to this post.
ReplyDeleteI must say that I have really benefited from the insights to the word of God that we all have shared here am also grateful that the answers were shared with the love and knowledge of God
Godbless you and looking forward to learn more from such discussions in Jesus Mighty Name Amen.
appreciate your friendship.
Dear Sidhart, thanks for the input and may God continue to give you knowledge and understanding in Jesus Mighty Name Amen. I appreciate you friend.
ReplyDeleteGodblesss
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ReplyDeleteGod bless you COH on this post on fruitfulness. I've learnt that it is only through Jesus the Living saviour, real fruitfulness can be achieved.
ReplyDelete