Fruits of Our Faith Pt. 2 The Harvest Challenge should become a lifestyle of consistent sowing to produce a lifetime of reaping from the goodness of God.
Today we are going to continue from the last time I had the privilege to speak… Last time we looked at scripture from John 15:1-2 spoke about Vision, Valor and Victory. Which are things we need to have in our lives in order to produce and reap a harvest from the Fruit of our Faith in God.
Today’s message will be “Fruits of Our Faith Pt. 2”
John 15:7-8 NKJV
”If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.“
When we abide in Christ and His Words abide in us…
- God is glorified
- We bear much fruit
- We will be His disciples
Producing much fruit comes through abiding in Him and His words abiding in us… and in order to abide in Him and His words to abide in us there must be an acceptance in the authority of His word.
Like relationships it takes time with one another build trust and understanding… we have to abide in their presence to start to understand better and remove doubt in regards to what they say. Our trust grows and is strengthened when we abide in God’s presence. This requires constant interaction, especially through prayer and reading of His word.
The faithfulness and consistency of abiding in Him and obedience to His word, along with prayer, leads to the prayers of a disciple being done for them.
The mark of a true disciple according to the Scripture we read is that God is Glorified and there is evidence through bearing much fruit.
To be a disciple and bear much fruit, it takes…
1. DISCIPLINE
In order to prevent being Disciplined, we have to practice Discipline.
Proverbs 15:10 NKJV
Harsh discipline is for him who forsakes the way, And he who hates correction will die.
Discipline = Self-Control
Galatians 5:22-24 NKJV
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
We need the DISCIPLINE…
- Of Our Time
- Time management can either hinder or unlock our ability to do more for God… ultimately hindering or unlocking what we received from God
– The quality of our time is what determines the quality of the fruit that is produced
- Of Our Talk
- We sow what we reap… seeds of our tongue… the Bible reminds us that there is the power of life and death in the tongue
- Of Our Treasure
- harvest challenge was financial and we need discipline in order to reap of a harvest… to reap a harvest like we heard testimony of… if we only commit to little challenges we can’t expect a BIG HARVEST.
- Overall growth in our STEWARDSHIP is the key to future seasons of Harvest.
To be a disciple and bear much fruit, it takes…
- DETERMINATION (when it gets hard)
Things don’t always come easier… determination is always needed when things get hard.
Nehemiah 6:9 NLT
They were just trying to intimidate us, imagining that they could discourage us and stop the work. So I continued the work with even greater determination.
We need determination like Nehemiah had where we are faithful in building for the Lord and prepared for battle at the same time.
We must Recognize and Respond properly…. In order to do that it takes discernment.
To be a disciple and bear much fruit, it takes…
3. DISCERNMENT
Discernment: the ability to judge well
- (Biblical/spiritual guidance is the key)
Sometimes we don’t pray for Godly discernment and we end up making decisions in the flesh.
Flesh will always produce flesh (struggle, compromise, less than God’s best).
Proverbs 15:21 NKJV
Folly is joy to him who is destitute of discernment, But a man of understanding walks uprightly.
Proverbs 15:21 NLT
Foolishness brings joy to those with no sense; a sensible person stays on the right path.
When talking about discernment it is important to understand that THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE KNOWLEDGE AND THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF GOD.
Romans 1:28 NKJV
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a
debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;
Many know God but will not, do not, choose not, to ACKNOWLEDGE God.
A debased mind is an unapproved mind, mind that has lost the ability to make morally sound judgment. This mind lacks in discernment from the Lord and does not retain the knowledge of God.
A debased mind leads to unapproved decision making.
**Unapproved by God… maybe approved by others, by someone, some group, some people, but NOT approved by God.
- in other words, a debased or unapproved mind
leads to evil, ungodly things. Leading to destruction of our character and what we produce (fruit).
We need to grow in our discernment… we must grow in our time spent abiding in Him and His words abiding in us.
Philippians 1:9-11 NKJV
And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
Fruits of righteousness are only found in God, not in acts of unrighteousness or world things. A discerning mind will be able to tell the difference.
These fruits of our faith are evidence of God working in us. Evidence of discernment and an approved mind producing good fruit that can be seen by others.
We need to abide in Him and His words to abide in us so we can be His disciples and begin to exhibit the Fruits of Our Faith like never to bring Glory to God.
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