Show God the Fruit Every Single Day
Good Morning Friends,
I understand that tomato trees and lemons and mangos can produce fruit every month. Can you? Or are you only a Sunday Christian? Today we take a look in the mirror and ask if we have a phony faith that greens up on Sunday but never produces fruit? Friends, you are not to show yourself as having fruit unless you do. We are to show God the money. We are to walk the talk, we are to Show God the Fruit Every Single Day.
Scripture:In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Revelation 22:2 (KJV)
Jesus said, “I am the true vine, . . . Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”
John 15:1, 4 (NIV)
On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether perhaps he would find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it. Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves; and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. He was teaching and saying, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching. And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city. In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. Then Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Mark 11:12-24 (NRSV)
Message: Mondays and Tuesdays reveal a side of Jesus that most people do not want to deal with. Everybody loves a Jesus who takes children into his lap on a Sunday morning and tells us to love one another, but an angry Jesus turning over the tables of the money changers and cursing trees frankly scares us a little. But the acted out parables of the cleansing of the Temple and the cursing of the fig tree have a deeper message. The cleansing of the Temple shows us that a person who cannot feel anger at evil is likely a person who has no enthusiasm for good. It points to our need to repent. In the case of the fig tree, it is as if He is saying to us, Israel and to the disciples… ”Show me your fruit.” The problem, the confusing part, is that it is not even fig season. It seems a bit unfair, but if we think that way we miss the point all together. One needs to know that figs bear fruit before they leaf out, so the appearance of leaves implies fruit. Jesus is concerned with substance not show and appearances. Friends, the Christian life is more than showing up for church on Sunday. The Christian life is more than believing in only a Jesus in a manger. Friends, only when we get to know the object of our faith are we able to produce fruit and move mountains. Friends, this is serious business for the only things that will save us from the wrath of God is faith in Christ.
Pray we have a faith that is pleasing to God. Pray we repent. Pray we are forgiving people who bear fruit in His service. Pray our prayers are radical and effective. Pray we love the baby in the manger, the forgiver of sins and the calmer of storms but also rejoice in a Jesus that recognizes evil and fights for justice. Pray we have a relationship with both a Savior and King. Pray we bear fruit of love every day.
Daily Devotionals 