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 Fruitful Christian

Hawk

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

~Proverbs 3:5

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Staying intimately connected to the true Vine is the only way to “bear fruit in old age,” (Psalm 92:14) to “run and not grow weary” (Isaiah 40:31) and to not “grow weary in well-doing.” (Galatians 6:9) One counterfeit to bearing good fruit is pretense. We can become experts at the routines, the lingo, and “acting Christian,” while experiencing no real power and bearing no eternal fruit. Our hearts remain self-centered, angry, and joyless even while we go through the motions of serving God. We can easily slip into the role of the Pharisees in judging ourselves by how we think we appear to others and neglecting that secret place of the heart where all good fruit germinates. When we love, desire, pursue, and fear the same things that the rest of the world does, we are not abiding in Christ, even though our lives may be filled with church-related activity. And, often we don’t realize that we are living fruitless lives. (1 John 2:15-17) Our works will be tested by fire. Using a different metaphor than fruit, 1 Corinthians 3:12-14 says, “If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved; even though only as one "escaping through the flames.” God is the judge of even our thoughts and motivations. All will be brought to the light when we stand before Him. (Hebrews 4:12-13) A poor widow in a one-room hut can bear as much fruit as a televangelist leading giant crusades if she is surrendered to God in everything and using all He has given her for His glory. As fruit is unique to each tree, our fruit is unique to us. God knows what He has entrusted to each of us and what He expects us to do with it. (Luke 12:48) Our responsibility before God is to be “faithful with little” so that He can trust us with much. (Matthew 25:21)

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