Friday, May 27, 2016

Bearing The Right Fruit - You Can't Pick Mangoes From An Apple Tree

My Utmost For His Highest
 
…tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high. —Luke 24:49
 
“The disciples had to tarry, staying in Jerusalem until the day of Pentecost, not only for their own preparation but because they had to wait until the Lord was actually glorified. […] The statement in John 7:39— “…for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified”— does not pertain to us. The Holy Spirit has been given; the Lord is glorified— our waiting is not dependent on the providence of God, but on our own spiritual fitness.[…] The attitude of receiving and welcoming the Holy Spirit into our lives is to be the continual attitude of a believer. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we receive reviving life from our ascended Lord. It is not the baptism of the Holy Spirit that changes people, but the power of the ascended Christ coming into their lives through the Holy Spirit.” CHAMBERS
 
If you have been born again.  Are you thinking, “What do you mean “if””? In John chapter 3, a teacher of the Law, Nicodemus came to Jesus to talk about eternal life.  Jesus cut the conversation short.  “Nicodemus, you must be born again.”  It is not good enough to know about Jesus.  To know what the Bible says.  You are nothing more than an outsider looking in.  Unless there is true conversion.  An act of faith that has transpired and the Holy Spirit has sealed you for heaven, you are not a Christian, merely religious. The Holy Spirit is the source of the spiritual power that is in us.  Without the Spirit there is no spiritual connection. We continue to walk this earth for God’s purpose and glory, not for ours alone.  We fulfill God’s purpose and bring Him glory by yielding our lives to the Spirit.  Abandoning ourselves to living for God.  So what characterizes your life?  You must be on your guard.  The flesh, your old nature, is always waiting for the opportunity to rise up and dominate you.  Don’t take your salvation for granted.  Don’t think that there is nothing for you to do but go along for the ride.  A neglected faith will always result in a carnal life.  Take an honest look to see what kind of fruit is being produced on your “branches”.
 
(Galatians 5:16,19-23,25)   “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh….(fruit of the Flesh) The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. …. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”
 
A curious thing, when people read those verses, the tendency is to read the fruit of the flesh and focus on what they don’t do.  When they read the fruit of the Spirit they focus on what they do, do.  That is the flesh at work.  That is not the “honest look” I am talking about. And my point.  We have this treasure, our new nature, in jars of clay, our mortal bodies.  The fruit of the flesh comes from our old nature.  The fruit of the Spirit from our new nature.
 
(John 15:5-6) [Jesus] “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers …. ”  Bearing the right fruit in this new life is totally dependent on staying connected to the Vine.  CHARLEY

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