"No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of." - Luke 6:43-45
I've been posting periodic pictures of my garden on here because I've been proud of it and think that it's grown pretty good for the first one I've done here. But all the pictures so far have just been of the plants (trees). That's the portion of the plant that we are able to see from a distance without being too close to the plant. It's the showy portion of the plants. For me, that draws comparison to how we sometimes live our lives. We are more focused on what we look like, how nice our car is, how big our house is, basically how other people see us from a distance. While certain aspects of that are important such has having good health (we can only help the sick when we ourselves are healthy), they're not the most important things in life.
For the plants to grow to the size they are now they must have a strong root system. This is the part of the plant that we cannot see but it brings in the water and other nutrients plants need to grow. It's not the pretty part of being a Christian, dressing up and making an appearance at church on Sunday mornings, or standing up praying glorifying ourselves as the Pharisee did. Our roots are daily reading of God's word, reading devotionals, praying, and having quiet time with him. It's the time and actions that no one else can see, that others may not even know we are doing that provides us with what we need to continue on. If a plant's roots aren't absorbing water and nutrients then it will eventually die. The same is true with us, if we aren't getting a daily dose of God's word and talking with Him daily then our spirit will gradually grow weaker and perish.
But how is a garden plant truly known? Now I know some people can recognize any plant by just seeing its size, shape, and leaves. But what really tells you the plant is the fruit, or in this case the vegetable, it produces. The same is true with us as Christians. The fruit of the spirit as listed in Galations 5 is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. As we go thru our daily lives, people will see the fruits that we produce, let's try to be sure that our fruits are Christlike and leading people to Jesus instead of away from him.
Lord, forgive me for the times that I don't show love to those who need it, that I don't have joy when I should be grateful for so much, when I don't have peace in stressful situations, when I lose my patience with those around me, when I'm not kind to those in need, when I don't exhibit goodness in my actions, when I want to give up and not remain faithful to your plan, when I don't use gentle words with people who may be struggling with something, and when I lose my temper and self-control in situations that in the grand scheme of things don't even matter. Help all the fruit I produce bring glory and honor to you. In your son Jesus' name I pray, amen.
I've been posting periodic pictures of my garden on here because I've been proud of it and think that it's grown pretty good for the first one I've done here. But all the pictures so far have just been of the plants (trees). That's the portion of the plant that we are able to see from a distance without being too close to the plant. It's the showy portion of the plants. For me, that draws comparison to how we sometimes live our lives. We are more focused on what we look like, how nice our car is, how big our house is, basically how other people see us from a distance. While certain aspects of that are important such has having good health (we can only help the sick when we ourselves are healthy), they're not the most important things in life.
For the plants to grow to the size they are now they must have a strong root system. This is the part of the plant that we cannot see but it brings in the water and other nutrients plants need to grow. It's not the pretty part of being a Christian, dressing up and making an appearance at church on Sunday mornings, or standing up praying glorifying ourselves as the Pharisee did. Our roots are daily reading of God's word, reading devotionals, praying, and having quiet time with him. It's the time and actions that no one else can see, that others may not even know we are doing that provides us with what we need to continue on. If a plant's roots aren't absorbing water and nutrients then it will eventually die. The same is true with us, if we aren't getting a daily dose of God's word and talking with Him daily then our spirit will gradually grow weaker and perish.
But how is a garden plant truly known? Now I know some people can recognize any plant by just seeing its size, shape, and leaves. But what really tells you the plant is the fruit, or in this case the vegetable, it produces. The same is true with us as Christians. The fruit of the spirit as listed in Galations 5 is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. As we go thru our daily lives, people will see the fruits that we produce, let's try to be sure that our fruits are Christlike and leading people to Jesus instead of away from him.
Lord, forgive me for the times that I don't show love to those who need it, that I don't have joy when I should be grateful for so much, when I don't have peace in stressful situations, when I lose my patience with those around me, when I'm not kind to those in need, when I don't exhibit goodness in my actions, when I want to give up and not remain faithful to your plan, when I don't use gentle words with people who may be struggling with something, and when I lose my temper and self-control in situations that in the grand scheme of things don't even matter. Help all the fruit I produce bring glory and honor to you. In your son Jesus' name I pray, amen.
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