Ephesians 2:8-10 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we
should walk in them.”
(4) Spiritual Fruit often
looks a lot like a changed perspective. That fruit in our lives shows more in
the active work in us. God decides what He wants in us and out of us. We need
to look at the things that are unseen and not the seen things.
2 Corinthians 5:7 “For we walk by faith, not by sight. We must
work out by faith, what He works in us.
Isaiah 55:6-9 “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon. For
my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares
the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the
earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Never before has there been
more access to the Word of God via books, magazines, radio, television, CD’s,
DVD’s, movies, computers, pods, pads or phones, yet never has it been more
difficult for churches in America to see fruit due to distractions. People are
choosing to spend less time with God and churches are declining. People have
allowed themselves to believe about church, the Bible, and the living God (the Father,
Son and Holy Spirit), whatever they want to believe and how important they are
to them. But church and Christian-living is not about us; it is about Jesus
Christ and His kingdom work “which God prepared beforehand, that we should
walk in them”. Church is about what you
have in Christ that equips us to speak to others about the gospel truth. Not
about what the church has to give to us or what it can do for us, but what we
have to give to the Lord and what we can do for His church, which He is the
head. Is it really a priority to reach others for Christ and bring the gospel
of salvation to a lost and dying world? God is doing His part, but are we doing
ours. We don’t save people; that is the work of the Holy Spirit, but we share
the good news of the gospel and bring the light and love of Christ into the
darkness of sin and unbelief, pointing them to the One who does. Forgiveness
and Salvation are found in no other, so why are we not inviting everyone know
to church with us?
Acts
4:12 “Salvation is
found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind
by which we must be saved.”
The farmer waits patently
for the harvest by faithfully working their butts off on the farm until it
comes … and they take it seriously. We represent Christ and God gave us good
works to do in advancing the kingdom of heaven, while decreasing the future population
of hell. We are responsible for our family, friends and those in our sphere of
influence who do not know the Lord. The Great Commission of Christ was a
commandment, not a suggestion. Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and said to them, “All
authority in
heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
that I have commanded
you. And behold, I am
with you always, to the
end of the age.” All of us
here today want to see fruit in our lives. May the Holy Spirit open our eyes to
see what God wants us to see, open our ears to hear what God wants us to hear,
and open our hearts that we may respond and become the disciples that Jesus
wants us to be.
In
Christ, Brian
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