| Fruits from the Holy Spirit By Rev. Mark E. Vatcher |
Our blessed Holy Father first gives us His only Begotten Son so that we may have
eternal life in His holy presence and guess what it gets better. Jesus our Lord and
Saviour leaves us God the Holy Spirit whom will give us love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. All these gifts to those whom
believe and trust in Him. Wow! I must say brothers and sisters, the gifts from
heaven keep on coming. But what? You say that you are lacking some of these
gifts promised to you…… Well guess what, these gifts are yours if you let go of the
sinful flesh and trust in God to deliver you from your bondage. Jesus tells us in a
parable how we begin to yield these fruits in:
(Matthew 13: 3-8)” Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying:
"Behold, a sower went out to sow. ”And as he sowed, some seed fell by the
wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. "Some fell on stony places, where
they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had
no depth of earth. ”But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because
they had no root they withered away. "And some fell among thorns, and the thorns
sprang up and choked them.”But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop:
some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."”
Which one of these represents YOU?
The first seed represents a hardened heart. If your heart is hardened to the
Gospel, then the seed of the Scripture never had a chance to take root in your
heart. Barring a radical change of heart in you, you will die a bitter, hardened
person and spend eternity in hell. Please change for your sake.
The second part of the parable is easy to understand, but very sad. At one point in
your life, perhaps in your younger years, you recognized the truth of the Gospel
and had a temporary response to it. But as the years went by, you found other
treasures to occupy your heart and mind. Now there's no trace of your initial
enthusiasm, and the Gospel is a distant childhood memory. You are not
necessarily a "bad" person, but you are essentially a dead person. If you return to
Jesus with all your heart, you can recapture the joy and live with Him eternally.
Otherwise, you will spend eternity in hell. Please change for your sake now!
The third part of the parable is familiar to us, and is also sad. Perhaps you came to
the Lord at a Crusade or by a friend, and have been attending church more-or-less
regularly since then. But your heart and mind are very full of other stuff. You
admire the people who intimately know the Scriptures, and perhaps have read
parts of the Bible. But the LORD Jesus Christ is not the ruling passion in your
life. "Maybe someday" you'll take a class or something. You are saved (I hope!), but
your life is not bearing any fruit helpful to others.
The fourth part is my hope for us all. Regardless of when you received and
responded to the seed of the Word, you have made a conscious decision to make
Jesus the LORD of your life. You have given the Holy Spirit permission to rule your
heart and change it from the inside out. The Holy Spirit, in turn, has made your
life fruitful. Maybe you wasted 5 or 25 or 44 years of your life following other
priorities. But NOW you are living a mature commitment to Jesus, and your life is a
fruitful blessing to those around you. I truly hope this is you in your Christian
walk to glorify God. If not start now and change your priorities. Serving God
becoming your first priority, and everything else coming in second after Him.
eternal life in His holy presence and guess what it gets better. Jesus our Lord and
Saviour leaves us God the Holy Spirit whom will give us love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. All these gifts to those whom
believe and trust in Him. Wow! I must say brothers and sisters, the gifts from
heaven keep on coming. But what? You say that you are lacking some of these
gifts promised to you…… Well guess what, these gifts are yours if you let go of the
sinful flesh and trust in God to deliver you from your bondage. Jesus tells us in a
parable how we begin to yield these fruits in:
(Matthew 13: 3-8)” Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying:
"Behold, a sower went out to sow. ”And as he sowed, some seed fell by the
wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. "Some fell on stony places, where
they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had
no depth of earth. ”But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because
they had no root they withered away. "And some fell among thorns, and the thorns
sprang up and choked them.”But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop:
some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."”
Which one of these represents YOU?
The first seed represents a hardened heart. If your heart is hardened to the
Gospel, then the seed of the Scripture never had a chance to take root in your
heart. Barring a radical change of heart in you, you will die a bitter, hardened
person and spend eternity in hell. Please change for your sake.
The second part of the parable is easy to understand, but very sad. At one point in
your life, perhaps in your younger years, you recognized the truth of the Gospel
and had a temporary response to it. But as the years went by, you found other
treasures to occupy your heart and mind. Now there's no trace of your initial
enthusiasm, and the Gospel is a distant childhood memory. You are not
necessarily a "bad" person, but you are essentially a dead person. If you return to
Jesus with all your heart, you can recapture the joy and live with Him eternally.
Otherwise, you will spend eternity in hell. Please change for your sake now!
The third part of the parable is familiar to us, and is also sad. Perhaps you came to
the Lord at a Crusade or by a friend, and have been attending church more-or-less
regularly since then. But your heart and mind are very full of other stuff. You
admire the people who intimately know the Scriptures, and perhaps have read
parts of the Bible. But the LORD Jesus Christ is not the ruling passion in your
life. "Maybe someday" you'll take a class or something. You are saved (I hope!), but
your life is not bearing any fruit helpful to others.
The fourth part is my hope for us all. Regardless of when you received and
responded to the seed of the Word, you have made a conscious decision to make
Jesus the LORD of your life. You have given the Holy Spirit permission to rule your
heart and change it from the inside out. The Holy Spirit, in turn, has made your
life fruitful. Maybe you wasted 5 or 25 or 44 years of your life following other
priorities. But NOW you are living a mature commitment to Jesus, and your life is a
fruitful blessing to those around you. I truly hope this is you in your Christian
walk to glorify God. If not start now and change your priorities. Serving God
becoming your first priority, and everything else coming in second after Him.
|
Let us look further into the fruit of the Spirit and go to the very beginning in
Genesis, and what its meaning is. I found the concept of bearing fruit in the very
first chapter of the Bible, in:
(Genesis 1:11-12) “Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that
yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is
in itself, on the earth;" and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb
that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is
in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.”
There are several important points in these two simple verses we should point out
here. Some plants are like grains and grasses. If cultivated, a portion of the crop
must be held back as seed for the next year's harvest. The plants themselves die
out after the growing season. These crops must be planted, cultivated, harvested,
and replanted in an annual cycle.
The planting, cultivating and harvesting of grains and grasses are a picture of
Christian service. Because as Christians are know by our selfless service to others.
The fruits of the Holy Spirit are evident through our works: evangelizing, helping
the needy, participating in mission’s activities, serving in child care, teaching etc.
the list of selfless act are endless. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to us to
enable us to do these works. The gifts of the Holy Spirit empower us for service.
Fruit trees are a picture of the hearts of believers. It takes years for a Christian to
reach maturity and bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
The fruit of the Holy Spirit is a changed heart. A heart changed by the Holy Spirit
has the attributes mentioned above in (Galatians 5:22-23) Love, joy, peace, long-
suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control. Note what God
teaches us about seeds: every herb "yields seed according to its kind." Likewise
every fruit tree "yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself." Every
plant yields seeds according to its kind. Jesus said a tree is known by its fruit,
whether good or bad. You can't harvest figs from thorn bushes.
If your heart is a thorn bush, it is yielding a continual harvest of thorns and seeds
without your conscious knowledge or control. You are continually reproducing what
is in your heart, whether good or bad. The good news is that you are not a
helpless spectator in this process. Your conscious decision to receive the free gift
of salvation by faith enabled you to receive an implant of eternal life in your heart.
Your ongoing submission to the LORD Jesus Christ enables the Holy Spirit to
nourish this new nature and bring it to fruit-bearing maturity.
Start today bearing fruit from the Holy Spirit, read the word every day and follow it,
find a good church to become a part of. Please click here for our recommended
church types. Let the Holy Spirit work in you to glory God with everything you do.
Let us pray now and continue of Christian journey to glorify God in our lives:
Genesis, and what its meaning is. I found the concept of bearing fruit in the very
first chapter of the Bible, in:
(Genesis 1:11-12) “Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that
yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is
in itself, on the earth;" and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb
that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is
in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.”
There are several important points in these two simple verses we should point out
here. Some plants are like grains and grasses. If cultivated, a portion of the crop
must be held back as seed for the next year's harvest. The plants themselves die
out after the growing season. These crops must be planted, cultivated, harvested,
and replanted in an annual cycle.
The planting, cultivating and harvesting of grains and grasses are a picture of
Christian service. Because as Christians are know by our selfless service to others.
The fruits of the Holy Spirit are evident through our works: evangelizing, helping
the needy, participating in mission’s activities, serving in child care, teaching etc.
the list of selfless act are endless. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to us to
enable us to do these works. The gifts of the Holy Spirit empower us for service.
Fruit trees are a picture of the hearts of believers. It takes years for a Christian to
reach maturity and bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
The fruit of the Holy Spirit is a changed heart. A heart changed by the Holy Spirit
has the attributes mentioned above in (Galatians 5:22-23) Love, joy, peace, long-
suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control. Note what God
teaches us about seeds: every herb "yields seed according to its kind." Likewise
every fruit tree "yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself." Every
plant yields seeds according to its kind. Jesus said a tree is known by its fruit,
whether good or bad. You can't harvest figs from thorn bushes.
If your heart is a thorn bush, it is yielding a continual harvest of thorns and seeds
without your conscious knowledge or control. You are continually reproducing what
is in your heart, whether good or bad. The good news is that you are not a
helpless spectator in this process. Your conscious decision to receive the free gift
of salvation by faith enabled you to receive an implant of eternal life in your heart.
Your ongoing submission to the LORD Jesus Christ enables the Holy Spirit to
nourish this new nature and bring it to fruit-bearing maturity.
Start today bearing fruit from the Holy Spirit, read the word every day and follow it,
find a good church to become a part of. Please click here for our recommended
church types. Let the Holy Spirit work in you to glory God with everything you do.
Let us pray now and continue of Christian journey to glorify God in our lives:
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