The last few weeks, we’ve been learning how to deal with sin. How do we overcome sin and temptation and take the way out that God always faithfully provides?
One of the keys that enable us to do this is to choose to focus not on the lesser things that we are giving up, but to focus on the good things that we were created for.
It’s tough for many of us to say, “No.” However, when we keep in mind the awesome things that we are saying “Yes!” to, it’s easier to say, “No!” to everything else.
Saving money works this way. If we say that we want to save money just for the sake of having some extra, we won’t likely do it.
However, if we’re saving up for that big thing that we really want, our mindset changes. All of the sudden, I’m choosing between eating an expensive restaurant burger or a boat. I’m choosing between that coffee or a bigger house. I’m choosing between a Sheetz run and a comfortable retirement.
When we keep in mind the better thing that we are saying, “Yes!” to, it’s easier to say, “No!” to everything else.
Think about our lives as a block of granite and God as an artist. He always sees exactly who we were created to be. To bring out that creation, though, He has to chip away at everything that does not belong.
He has to say, “No.” to everything that does not belong in order for us to be transformed from a blockhead to a work of art.
As the chunks and chips get chiseled away, who we were created to be begins to emerge. Chipping away the stuff that doesn’t belong isn’t intended to hurt us or to steal away fun from our lives, it is all for our benefit and ultimately for our good!
As we allow Him to chip away at our lives and begin to see what He sees, it becomes easier and easier to allow Him to do His work instead of resisting it.
Ephesians 2:10 (AMP)
For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us].
Who doesn’t want to live the good life, right?
Works of art can be cool, but a functional work of art? That’s awesome! And that is what you and I are! Awesome works of art that God created to do good things!
We were created not just to do good, but to be good.
In fact, it is really only when we are spiritually transformed and renewed that we can truly do good because it is done from the source of a pure heart with pure motives.
When we are good, we do good.
When we are spiritually renewed, supernatural things are done naturally.
Our source is not ourselves, it is then the Holy Spirit within us.
Our life path is not of our own design, but our Creator’s.
We walk in those paths living the good life!
When we live in this way, our lives begin producing different results.
The Bible refers to these life results as fruits. We’ve gone over the lists from Galatians 5 lots of times comparing the life fruits produced from living to please our own flesh versus living empowered by the Holy Spirit.
We were created to bear good fruit.
People can say absolutely anything about themselves.
Social media has created social distance.
People can now convey whatever online persona they want, which can be radically different than who they truly are.
People can leverage this ability to do what is called catfishing in order to deceive and lure people into romance or financial scams.
People can become social chameleons pretending to be someone who fits in with people groups online to infiltrate and be accepted by them.
People can create multiple different online identities and personas for multiple different purposes which is called sockpuppeting.
However, the fruits that our lives produce don’t lie; they reveal truth.
This is nothing new. Waaaaaay before social media, the internet, cell phones, and most technology as we know it, Jesus still warned us about these behaviors. He said:
Matthew 7:15-23
15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
That’s right. People identifying as one thing, but truly being another thing is nothing new. People were saying that they were prophets. They were pretending to be sheep.
They talk like Christians, act like Christians. Hanging out with church people, go to church with them. They don’t just show up to church, they are active in church giving prophecies.
They look like Christians on the outside.
However, they are something radically different on the inside.
Jesus warned us to watch for them.
The Greek word that Jesus used that is translated to watch or to beware or to be on guard for is the word prosechō.
In Greek writings outside of the Bible, this word was used to describe a ship that arrives at land and simply touches it. The ship doesn’t dock or moor or berth; there is no commitment to stay there on that land.
The ship simply arrives and touches land to check things out while still retaining the option to quickly return back to open waters.
That’s the same idea here. Watch, be aware, be on guard with people. Wait to see who they truly are before forming deep and lasting relationships with them. How do we do that? Jesus taught:
16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
We recognize such people by the fruit produced by their lifestyles; who they truly are, not just what they say or do.
We were created to bear good fruit.
Jesus went on to warn not to trust what they say or do by teaching:
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
We enter the kingdom of God not by what we say or do, but by who we are. Children of God adopted into His family because we chose to receive His adoption. We choose to live by faith in Him; wholly surrendered as clay in the hands of the Potter; art in the hands of the Creator.
If we live by faith in Him, then our lives will produce the fruits of the Spirit.
Galatians 5:21-25
21b I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this (fruits of the flesh) will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
We were created to bear good fruit.
As Jesus taught, it is by these fruits that we can look at anyone’s lifestyle and determine whether they are a child of God or are simply catfishing or chameleoning or sockpuppeting or whatever else you want to call their deception.
Sadly, they may not be doing it maliciously, but actually be deceived, themselves, and believe that they are something that they are not…
So, how do we bear the good fruits that we were created for?
We know that we can’t do it on our own, so how do we do it?
Well, we need to get cut off from our old lifestyle and grafted into another one!
Paul taught about how we, as non-Jewish, people have the opportunity to enter into a covenant with God and receive all of the promises that He made just to His people, the Jews.
When they chose to reject Jesus, they cut themselves off from the root leaving room for us to graft ourselves into that root; the root of Jesse, the covenant of old, the source of true life!
Romans 11:16-24
16 If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.
17 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18 do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 20 Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.
22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. 23 And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!
You and I. A bunch of wild things! Branches belonging to the world.
When we chose to put our faith in Jesus and receive His salvation, we cut ourselves off from the world and graft ourselves into God.
We now must continue to live by faith and trust in Him and receive all that we need from Him as our source root.
Jesus declared:
John 15:1-8 (NLT)
1 “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3 You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
We are branches, Jesus is the vine, and our Heavenly Father is the gardener.
Jesus is the perfect vine deeply rooted into the endless and bountiful resources of Heaven. There is never lack and always perfect nourishment available to us.
A branch’s entire role is to stay connected to the vine. If it does, it will naturally do what it was created to do; soak in the sun and produce a whole lot of good fruit!
Living the good life!
Skilled gardeners can even produce what is called a fruit salad tree. Branches of several different fruit trees within the same genus can be grafted onto a single trunk and produce their unique fruits.
One tree can produce lemons, limes, oranges, and grapefruits.
One tree can produce peaches, plums, nectarines, and apricots.
That’s a pretty good picture of what the body of Christ looks like. He is the vine, the root trunk, and we are all different branches grafted into Him. If we remain connected to the vine, we will receive from Christ all that we need to live a healthy and fruitful life.
Join us next week when we’ll learn about the process that God uses to take us from where we are at to living our best lives that produce more good fruits than we could ever imagine!
Until then, stay connected and bear fruit!