ARE YOU FRUITFUL?
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FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
WHAT IS SPIRITUAL FRUIT?
AS WE WALK AROUND THE GROCERY SECTION OF THE LOCAL STORE WHAT DO YOU NOTICE?
THE APPLES -YOU CAN SEE YOUR REFLECTION IN THE POLISHED SURFACE
MY FAVOURITE IS RED DELICIOUS AND GRANNY SMITH
SPLIT OPEN THE APPLE SEEDS MAKE A STAR SHAPED DESIGN
ORANGES - HAVE A SWEET AROMA - SKIN SOFT AND SPONGY
BANANAS -COME IN GROUPS OR CLUSTERS - THEY PERCH DELICATELY YELLOW SKIN SOMETIMES WITH BROWN SPOTS
STRAWBERRIES WEAR THEIR SEEDS AS CLOAKS
PINEAPPLES WITH THEIR PRICKLY EXTERIOR HAVE A SWEET SYRUPY INTERIOR
COCONUTS HAVE A HARD TO BREAK BARRIER TO GET THROUGH TO GET TO THE GOOD STUFF INSIDE
FRUIT COMES IN VARIOUS SHAPES AND SIZES
ALL OF IT NUTRITIOUS AND VERY DISTINCT AND EVEN UNIQUE
FRUIT IS THE EVIDENCE THAT A PLANT OR A TREE OR A VINE HAS BEEN PLANTED AND ROOTED AND ESTABLISHED
FED
NURTURED
WATERED
PRUNED
AND NOW IT IS REPRODUCING AND DISPLAYING THE SPLENDORE OF THE VINE
OR TREE.
BUT THIS IS FRUIT YOU SAY
ELISA MORGAN IN HER BOOK - NAKED FRUIT PUTS IT LIKE THIS:
SLIDE ELIZA QUOTE
SPIRITUAL FRUIT IS WHAT RESULTS IN OUR LIVES WHEN WE ROOT OURSELVES IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
WHEN WE LIVE LIVES CONNECTED WITH GOD HE GROWS HIS NATURE IN US AND THE RESULT IS FRUIT
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
WELL PAUL GIVES US THE OPPOSITE OF THIS AND I WANT US TO CONSIDER IT FOR THE MOMENT
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,
idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,
envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,
envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
GALATIANS 5:20-
GALATIONS
HOWEVER WE WANT TO SAVOUR THE FRUIT, THAT RESULTS FROM A LIFE LIVED CONNECTED TO GOD.
A HEALTHY LIFE
A LIFE IN CANAAN
REMEMBER WHEN CALEB AND JOSHUA WENT TO SPY OUT THE LAND AND CAME BACK WITH A GOOD REPORT AND THEY HAD FRUIT TO PROVE THAT IT WAS GOOD
And they came to the Valley of Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them; they also brought some pomegranates and figs.
THIS IS THE KIND OF FRUIT THAT WE WANT TO FIND IN OUR LIVES THROUGH CHRIST OUR LORD.
SLIDE
YOU SEE THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT ARE THE GOD LIKE QUALITIES THAT MAKE US LOOK LIKE HIM.
THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT IS NOT MEANT TO CHANGE YOU INTO AN UNRECOGNIZEABLE PERSON, IT IS MEANT TO ENHANCE OUR OWN PERSONALITIES. GIVEN TO US BY GOD.
UNIQUE
SPECIAL
WE MAY EXPERIENCE THE SAME THING IN A DIFFERENT WAY.
WHY DO YOU THINK THAT THE BIBLE USES A METAPHOR OF FRUIT FOR REFERRING TO GODLY QUALITIES.
TAKE MARKETING FOR INSTANCE.
IT APPEALS TO ALL OF OUR SENSES
SIGHT
TOUCH
TASTE
SOUND
SMELL
SLIDE
WHEN YOU GO TO THE MARKETS IN SUMMER OR TO THE STORE.
WE DON’T SEE FRUIT TREES FOR SALE
WHEN GOD SENT HIS SON HE DID IT SO THAT WE WILL HAVE LIFE IN ABUNDANCE
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
SO THE BEST WAY TO MARKET THE SPIRIT FILLED LIFE IS TO USE THE METAPHOR OF FRUIT.
FRUIT IS REPRESENTATIVE OF LIFE, HOPE, PEACE.
YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT THIS GOD IS LIKE THAT WE TALK ABOUT THEN STICK AROUND AND WAIT FOR THE FRUIT TO FLOURISH AND YOU WILL MEET HIM.
WE NEED TO BE FRUIT BEARING PEOPLE OF GOD
WE NEED TO BE THE PEOPLE THAT SHOW THE VERY NATURE OF GOD TO THOSE AROUND US BY IMITATING HIM IN FRUITFULNESS
GOD CREATED YOU THE WAY YOU ARE
4FT 5FT 6 FT
DARK HAIR, BLUE EYES
BLOND HAIR, DARK EYES
WHATEVER IT LOOKS LIKE
OUR GENETICS DETERMINE THE RESULTS OF OUR PHYSICAL BODIES
WHEN WE RECEIVE THE SEED OF HOPE INTO THE SOIL OF OUR LIVES AND BEGIN A CONNECTED RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
HE LIVES INSIDE OF US
WE GET HIS SPIRITUAL DNA
HE TILLS THE SOIL
AND WE BEGIN TO GROW THOSE QUALITIES THAT RESEMBLE HIS NATURE
WE CANT MAKE OURSELVES LOOK LIKE GOD
ONLY GOD CAN DO THAT
AND IN THE SAME WAY THAT WE CANT GROW WITHOUT GOD, GOD CANT GROW US WITHOUT OUR COOPERATION
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.
Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.
THE SCRIPTURE IN JOHN GIVES US THE RECIPE
BE RECEPTIVE
BE READY TO BE PRUNED
STAY CONNECTED
COME AND MEET GOD!
LOVE - A LIFE OF
LOVE - A LIFE OF
LOVE IS NOT ABOUT WHAT WE FEEL FOR OTHERS - IT’S ABOUT WHAT WE DO FOR OTHERS. ~DR DAVID JEREMIAH~
IN HIS BOOK “A LIFE BEYOND AMAZING”
WHAT IS LOVE?
WE TALK ABOUT LOVE SO CASUALLY
WE LOVE PIZZA
ICE CREAM
CHOCOLATE
IN THE NIV BIBLE THE WORD LOVE OCCURS 567 TIMES. FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION
THE STORY OF THE BIBLE IS STORY OF GOD’S UNCONDITIONAL AND RELENTLESS LOVE FOR MANKIND.
LOVE IS THE FOUNDATION OF EVERYTHING GOOD.
THIS IS NOT JUST GOD’S LOVE FOR US BUT OUR LOVE FOR EACH OTHER
TO BECOME A CHRISTIAN MEANS THAT THE VERY LOVE OF GOD IS POURED INTO YUR HEART, IT GROES WITHIN YOU JUST AS GRAPES GROW ON A VINE. FOR THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT IS LOVE.
NOW I HAVE TO WARN YOU THAT THIS LOVE IS NOT JUST A FEELING OR A SENSATION THAT YOU FEEL.
IT HAS HANDS AND FEET AND HANDLES THE EVERYDAY NUTS ANS BOLTS OF LIFE
IT FEEDS THE HUNGRY
HUGS THE LONELY
CARES FOR THE SICK
COMFORTS THOSE WHO ARE MOURNING
PUTS UP WITH THOSE WHO ARE DIFFICULT
UNTIL JESUS CAME TO EARTH - THE LOVE WE KNEW IT TO BE VERY SELF CENTRED . WHEN GIVEN THERE WAS THE EXPECTATION OF GETTING SOMETHING BACK
JESUS CAME TO SHOW US NOT
PHILEO LOVE - FRIENDSHIP
NOT EROS LOVE - EROTIC
AGAPE
BUT AGAPE
THIS IS DIVINE, UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
AT THE HEART OF AGAPE LOVE THERE IS SACRIFICE
IT IS NOT THE LOVE WE HAVE COME TO KNOW IN THE MOVIES AND TV SHOWS
AGAPE IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF LOVE
EVERYONE WANTS THIS LOVE BUT VERY FEW GIVE IT BECAUSE OF THE SACRIFICE INVOLVED
But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.
WE ARE MADE UNLOVELY BY OUR SIN YET GODS LOVE SEES BEYOND THAT - HE SEES THE PERSON HE CREATED
PRECIOUS, BEAUTIFUL, HANDSOME AMAZING YOU!!
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST STORY:
SLIDE BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
THE BEAST NEEDED TO BE LOVED FOR WHO HE WAS AND NOT FOR WHAT HE LOOKED LIKE ONLY THEN WAS THE CURSE LIFTED FROM HIM.
DR JEREMIAH SAYS IN HIS BOOK THAT THE BEST WAY HE HAS HEARD AGAPE LOVE EXPLAINED IS THIS:
SLIDE
“IT IS THE POWER TO MOVE US TOWARD ANOTHER PERSON WITH NO EXPECTATION OF REWARD”
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
JESUS COMMANDED THAT WE LOVE ONE ANOTHER
By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
THE WORLD IS WATCHING US TO SEE IF JESUS HAS REALLY MADE A DIFFERENCE IN OUR LIVES
If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
YOU SEE THE CHURCH IN EPHESUS IN WAS TOLD TO GO BACK TO THEIR FIRST LOVE
AGAPE LOVE DOES NOT FOLLOW IT LEADS BY EXAMPLE
LOVE IS A VERB - IT IS A DOING WORD
IT GETS INTO ACTION AND LEADS OUR HEART TO CHANGED LIVES.
A GIFT OF LOVE
A GIFT OF LOVE
LOVE IS A GIFT THAT IS GIVEN TO US WHEN WE COME TO SALVATION
IT IS ALSO SOMETHING WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR DEVELOPING
THIS GIFT GIVEN TO US BY THE HOLY SPIRIT
and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
WE ALL KNOW WHAT PAUL WROTE IN CORINTHIANS 13
SKIP SOME VERSES IN PPT
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant
or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
CHAPTER 14 STARTS WITH THESE TWO WORDS:
PERSUE LOVE
THE MOST DIFFICULT TASK THAT IS GIVEN TO FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST
HOW DO WE LOVE THOSE UNLOVEABLE?
LOVE ONE ANOTHER COMMAND
DR JEREMIAH IN HIS BOOK STATES IT LIKE THIS
THESE ARE THE ONE ANOTHER’S THAT DO NOT APPEAR IN THE BIBLE
HUMBLE ONE ANOTHER
SCRUTINIZE ONE ANOTHER
By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
PRESSURE ONE ANOTHER
INTERRUPT ONE ANOTHER
EXCLUDE ONE ANOTHER
JUDGE ONE ANOTHER
HE STATES: “OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER REVEAL TO US WHAT WE REALLY BELIEVE AS OPPOSED TO WHAT WE THINK WE BELIEVE. SO OUR CONVICTIONS AS APPOSED TO OUR OPINION.
THERFORE, WHEN WE MISTREAT EACH OTHER, OUR PROBLEM IS NOT A LACK OF SURFACE NICENESS BUT A LACK OF GOSPEL DEPTH. WHAT WE NEED IS TRUE FAITH.
WE CAN GATHER THAT SINCE WE FIND THIS STRUGGLE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT WRITINGS IT IS NOT UNIQUE TO THIS TIME
SLIDE
Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,
But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?
Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
1 JOHN
The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
WE ARE NOT ABLE TO LOVE UNTIL WE UNDERSTAND GODS LOVE FOR US
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
WHEN WE UNDERSTAND GODS LOVE FOR US WILL WE BE ABLE TO LOVE MORE
A VERY SOBERING SCRIPTURE IN 1 JOHN REMINDS US:
If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.
And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
WHEN PAUL SAID IN THE BEGINNING OF CHAPTER 14 - PERSUE LOVE, THIS IS WHAT WE NEED TO DO.
HE TELLS US THAT IS WHAT HE DID
And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,
I JUST WANT US TO TRULY LOOK AT WHAT PAUL REMINDS US OF
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant
or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
PATIENCE WITH EACH OTHER - INSTANT NOT ENDURING
ENVY - REJOICE WHEN OTHERS ARE BLESSED - LET OTHERS BLESSINGS ENCOURAGE US TO KNOW WE TOO CAN BE BLESSED
ARROGANCE
PRIDE
THESE ARE PITFALLS THAT TRIP US UP
GOD COMMANDED US NOT FORCED US TO LOVE
JESUS REMINDED HIS FOLLOWERS
And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
OUR CROSS IS NOT A LIFE OF HARDSHIP AND FILLED WITH DISASTER, IT IS LIVING UNSELFISHLY.
WALKING IN LOVE IS COSTLY AND IT TAKES EFFORT
Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.
For without cause they hid their net for me; without cause they dug a pit for my life.
WE NEED TO PRAY FOR MORE LOVE
And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,
LOVE THOSE WHO ARE AGAINST YOU
LOVE IS RISKY - WE WILL GET DISAPPOINTED AND LET DOWN
WHEN OTHERS TREAT YOU BADLY YOU ARE TO PRAY FOR THEM AND BLESS THEM AND DO IT EVEN WHEN YOU DON’T WANT TO - DO IT BECAUSE YOU DESIRE TO BE OBEDIENT TO GOD
DR JEREMIAH SAYS IN HIS BOOK - WE DO THIS BY DOING IT ONE STEP AT A TIME
WE THINK IF WE MAKE ONE BIG DEPOSIT INTO THE LOVE BANK IT WILL KEEP EARNING US INTEREST
INSTEAD WE HAVE TO WITHDRAW FROM THE BANK EVERY DAY IN ORDER FOR OUR INVESTMENT TO GROW
JESUS DIED ON THE CROSS BUT NOT BEFORE HE DIED TO ALL OF THE THINGS WE STRUGGLE WITH. HE ENDURED THE INSULTS AND SHAME AND REJECTION AND WENT TO THE CROSS ANYWAY
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
THIS IS MY PRAYER FOR ALL THAT I JOIN WITH PAUL THE APOSTLE AND PRAY IT
that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.