Trees and Fruit

Luke 6:43-45 ""A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit. 44A tree is identified by the kind of fruit it produces. Figs never grow on thornbushes or grapes on bramble bushes. 45A good person produces good deeds from a good heart, and an evil person produces evil deeds from an evil heart. Whatever is in your heart determines what you say."

-Are any of you scared to death of speaking in front of a group of people? When polls are done, public speaking is voted people's number one fear...even surpassing people's fear of death. But do you realize that we as Christians preach a sermon everyday and every minute of our lives? Our very lives as Christians preach to others just by our daily actions and the words that come out of our mouths. Just being a Spirit-filled Christian is more powerful than any sermon a preacher preaches. The message preached from the pulpit is not the sermon, the actual sermon begins when we as Christians apply that message to our lives.

-Looking at the verse, we see that just as the fruit reveals the type of tree, so the fruit reveals the root of that tree. Our actions identify what kind of person we are. Spiritual fruit comes through the process of spiritual growth and maturity. What fruit are YOU bearing, good or bad?

-If your life is God-centered and God-focused, your fruit will be godly fruit. Your actions will take on a similarity to the actions and life of Christ.

-In the the times of Jesus, a disciple was one who studied for years under one rabbi. The ultimate goal of the disciple was to finally be chosen as the one to take over the rabbi's work and to be seen as being exactly like his teacher. As children of God, we Christian are disciples of Jesus Christ. Our goal as disciples, then, should ultimately be to become just like Jesus. Although we are imperfect and being exactly like Christ in righteousness and purity is impossible, we should ever strive to become more and more like Him in our lives; to strive toward that perfection.

-Spiritual infancy is a stage that should be grown out of quickly if our roots are truly in Christ. We cannot work effectively for the work of God and His Kingdom when we are still immature spiritually. We must move toward spiritual maturity and start bearing good fruit. Is God getting the fruit from you that He deserves? Is the fruit you are bearing in your life matching the faithfulness and love God has shown you; all the work He has invested and done in your life to mold you into who He wants you to be?

-Where are YOUR roots dug into? Are they in the soil of the world, or are they in God's Word? What are you drawing your spiritual nourishment from? Is the tree of your life being watered by prayer and fellowship with Christ? Or are you letting the influences of this world wilt your spiritual walk.

-According to verse 45 of this passage, what comes out of our mouths reveal what is really going on inside of us. Our speech reveals our thoughts, and our thoughts reveal our souls. In the original language, the verb tense used for the words coming out of our mouths is in the present progressive. It signifies a continual habit of speech (not just the occassional slip-up we all experience).

-What speech and thought processes dominate your life? What values and priorities govern your choices? What is the reference point your speech is governed by; is it of the Lord, or does it stem from secularism?

-What do non-Christians around you see....do they see someone different than themselves, or do they see someone who's not much different in words and actions than they are? Do they see God revealed to them through your actions, or do they see just an image of the secular world?

-You see, Christians....our lives and actions should be such that those who do not know God will "see" Him through us before we even open our mouths. Our lives must utterly emanate the love and actions of the rabbi we follow as disciples, our Lord Jesus Christ. We all must examine ourselves and see if our actions truly are showing where our roots lie.