A Fruitful Harvest: He produces

This series on fruitfulness has been such a joy to do.  If you haven't read the series from the beginning, I encourage you to do so.  I have loved doing it. It seems so appropriate that we come to the end of this at this time of year....harvest time!

Finally , we come to what the gardener has been planning for and working for:
 

9.  He produces
 

 

This is what it is all about.  This is what all the planning, preparing, planting, providing,

protecting, propping and pruning has been for...that the plants will bear fruit.

 

 

 

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And God, the Master Gardener, has planned, prepared, planted, provided, protected, propped and pruned so that we also might bear fruit.

John 15:8  "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples."

John 15:16  "You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear  fruit, and that your fruit would remain."

Romans 7:4  "Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ,  so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God."

Col 1:9  "For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,  so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God"

So we see that it is God’s desire for us to bear fruit.

If God desires for us to bear fruit, then what does that fruit look like?

Webster says that fruit is the produce or effect of something. 

A tree or plant will produce  ( or reproduce) themselves…a product that represents the parent…an apple tree will not bring forth carrots…it will produce apples..

The fruit will have the characteristics of the parent plant.

When we are talking about spiritual fruit, we are talking about the fruit that will have the characteristics of the spirit…spiritual fruit will bear the character of God, our Father.

          Galations 5:22  "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control."

These are all attributes of God…things that represent His nature.  As His children, we should be bearing fruit in our lives that represent His nature.

What do we need to do to have this spiritual fruit?

Look back at John 15.  Jesus said that He is the vine and we are the branches.  A branch cannot produce fruit by itself…it can’t make fruit just by trying really hard.  It has no power within itself to do anything….it has to be connected to the vine…the source of its life.

We need to have the life of Jesus within us to produce the fruit of his spirit.

The Word tells us that we are dead in our sins…we have no spiritual life within us.  We are not born with it.  We must be born spiritually…born by the spirit…we must have the life of the Holy Spirit within us.

In John chapter 3, Jesus was talking to Nicodemus, a Jewish ruler, and He said to him…..

 "I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God." "What do You mean?" exclaimed Nicodemus. "How can an old man go back into his mother's womb and be born again?" Jesus replied, "I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.  Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don't be surprised when I say, 'You must be born again.'

           Romans 8:10  "And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of
                                           sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. 
                                          The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just
                                          as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, He will give life to your mortal
                                          bodies by this same Spirit living within you."

          John 14:17  "...the Spirit of truth………. He dwells with you and will be in you."

What can keep us from bearing fruit?

When we have been born again of the spirit and there is no spiritual fruit in our lives, there is a reason.  It could be sin, discouragement, laziness, busyness, or we have been neglecting our relationship with the Lord.  

          John 15:4-5  "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it
                                      abides in the vine, so 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, he bears much fruit, for
                                      apart from Me you can do nothing."

In the dictionary 'abide' means to:  remain, stay, dwell, continue, live

          1John 3:24  "The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We
                                know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us."

 

          John 15:10  "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My
                                Father's commandments and abide in His love."

***Abiding is directly related to  obedience.  When we are in disobedience to the Holy Spirit, we cut ourselves off from communion with Him..we cut off the flow of His work in us.  He is our life source.

 

Bearing fruit is natural for a healthy branch.  it doesn’t work or strain to produce fruit.

If the branch is vitally connected to the vine and drawing its life source from the vine, it will automatically produce fruit.... The life of the vine flows into the branch and produces the fruit. 

 So there is nothing WE can do to produce fruit in our lives...

God does the work in us and through us by the power of the Holy Spirit...we only abide...

We obey and stay connected to Him.

If we don’t stay connected....if we choose to not walk in obedience...the flow from the vine to the branch can be quenched.  (pinched off)

          1Thess. 5:19  "Do not quench the Spirit"    Don't pinch off the life flow.
 

You see, the fruit the Holy spirit produces in our lives is not to be kept or hoarded for ourselves.  If we are allowing the Holy Spirit to produce His fruit within us.....If we are filled with love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, humility, self control....then those things will flow through us and affect the way we relate to others around us.

If we have ‘inward’ fruit, we will have ‘outward’ fruit.

             John 7:38…Jesus said  "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his
                                      innermost being will flow rivers of living water. … this He spoke of the Spirit,
                                      whom those who believed in Him were to receive."

If we allow Him, the Spirit will overflow in our lives to others around us.  Eph. 5:18- tells us to be filled with the spirit---and it means continually being filled to overflowing.

 

 This is His desire and purpose for us....to be producing fruit that reflects His nature.

Surrender and obedience are directly related to abiding.  And to obey, we need to know what He requires of us….in His Word…to stay connected.

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~So, think about where you are right now.

~Are you a  branch that is connected to the vine, drawing your life from Him?

~Have you been born anew by the Spirit and have His Spirit living in you?

~Is your life producing fruit that represents His nature?  Love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness (humility), self control?

Are you quenching the flow of the Holy Spirit..pinching off the flow of life by sin, disobedience, neglect, laziness, ignorance, not being continually washed clean by the Word?

During this time of Harvest, let's all take some time to look at our lives and allow the Lord to show us if we are truly producing the fruit He desires for us. 
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I pray that this series on A Fruitful Harvest has ministered to you as much as it has to me and that you continue to abide in Him and allow His Spirit to flow through you to produce much fruit for His glory.

                          Have a Blessed Thanksgiving!