Thursday, August 29, 2013

A Tree Is Known By Its Fruit


Luke 6:43-45
A Tree Is Known By Its Fruit

     “For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit: nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which is in his heart.” -Jesus
     Jesus tells us here that what comes out of our mouth is what is in our heart and if our heart is pure then good things will come up out of our lives, both from our mouths and from our actions.
     I have a question. Why does it seem like sometimes both good and bad things come out of us. Some times we are full of love towards people and at other times we can think incredibly harsh thoughts about those same people? How come it seems like we are able to produce both good and bad fruit? Here are my thoughts on this subject. It seems to me that Jesus’ words in verse 45 give us a clue. He says, “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good.” Jesus is talking about our heart. Now if our heart is set on Him and our desire is filled with the longing to be with Him and serving Him then what comes forth from our mouths will be good fruit. Our heart is on Him and our actions towards others will be inspired and motivated by Jesus Himself for we are in love with Him and it has become our desire to do His will. We desire Him to have complete control of all that we do.
     Now if for a moment we take our eyes off of Jesus and we look to someone or something else to be our joy and excitement such as a wife or job or house or car or entertainment, then the fruit of that love will come out of our mouths and actions. Whatever it is that fills our hearts with the desire for it, that is what comes forth from our lives. Or if like Peter we step out of the boat in the middle of a raging storm to walk across the water to Jesus and we, like he did, take our eyes off of Jesus and look at the wind and the storm we will rapidly sink beneath the waves. How easy it is to be like Peter and to take our eyes off of Jesus. It is incredibly easy to look at the storm instead of at Jesus and lose all hope of rescue. Also, how easy it is for the Devil to use something we desire to tempt us to take our eyes off of Jesus to seek after it. (It is even more cunning when he uses things that are lawful to us by God’s rules.)
     Our lives bear the fruit of what we desire and pursue. We must be careful that if there are things here on earth that we want, that we are careful not to set our affections on them more then upon Jesus. Our desires must be set on Him and for all other things we must wait patiently to receive them from His hand. He is the giver of all good gifts and will be faithful to give them to us, and as Hudson Taylor that wonderful missionary to China said, “If it truly is a good gift then God will give it and if it is not a good gift, why want it?”
     We will bear the fruit of what our heart desires and if we truly desire Jesus there will be no lack of good fruit coming forth from our lives. If we turn from that desire for Him even for a moment we allow ourselves to plant seeds that will bring up bad fruit out of our lives. We must quickly turn from these things and fix our eyes back on Jesus and pray that He will uproot all of the bad seeds that we have planted that they may not grow in us. We must strive to keep the weeds pulled from the garden of our hearts that the soil may always have plenty of room to produce good fruit.
     May God bless each one of us this week and may He fill our hearts with a renewed longing to be close to Him and to have our lives full of good fruit.

17 comments:

  1. I agree with this blog and I like it a lot. I believe the devil does try to tempt everyone with everything they like such as music for an example and people do not know they maybe focused on the wrong messages that they are giving out. It is always good to look for God and keep a relationship with him because you're actions and mind will change with him in your life. Reassure yourself where you are and what are your choices.

    -College student, Felicia V.

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    1. I agree it is possible for humans to be producers of both positive hand negative energies. There has to be a balance to life. In order to fully appreciate the good in life, we need the bad to exist so we have something to compare life experiences against.As we become older and go through trying times in life, the negative experiences make us all wiser as to how to reach for the positives. In Luke's lesson, he states individuals turn from the good in order to see the bad. In response to this, I say it is human nature to look at the bad and develop emotions of fear and anger. The ones who are knowledgable will look at the negative and plow through regardless of how frightful it may be. We experience different events in life for soul growth purposes. Our soul learns and grows while we live on this rock we called earth. Negative energies are, in an odd way, instructors. For when you truimph over bad, your own personal good becomes stronger. Humans can speak and perform both bad and good because we are in a constant battle between two forceswho try to impact our lives. It is up to the individual's soul plan to incorporate positive life lessons in order to walk the path of positive light. ~College Student Kim S.

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    2. Hi Kim. It's the battle of the flesh against the spirit. The word says,ALL THINGS work together for our good who are called according to his purpose. The good, bad and the ugly.....birth change,growth. I just keep praying and seeking Jesus, He sees, He knows, He loves us......His beloved child. It is a daily walk. We must renew our minds to keep the sin man in check. We need our armour on daily..... the helmetof salvation to keep our thoughts in Christ. God knows our hearts and the stinkin thinking towards anyone,and the breastplate of rightousness to cover our hearts. For out of the heart a man speaketh,but by our fleshly nature we hurt, we judge. We feel we say stupid things we shouldn't.........and we repent an strive to continue the battle.......God is no respector of persons. He loves us because we are his. He sees us as his masterpiece in the making..he knows ....When push comes to shove, Its YOU and JESUS.....YOU either sink or swim in the living waters..... Faith and action......you are known by your fruits.......and love...Let your light shine before men that they may see and glorifiy your father in heaven.................blessings.........SU

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    3. FELICIA - Great comment . Always good to look for God. How often we miss him in the little things.7 times a day I will praise Him. Change is growth.

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    5. Hello KIM.
      Nice to meet you. Got a question for you...Are you saying you believe our bad thoughts towards people are NOT put in our hearts by the devil, but just get there from human nature? I am tryting to picture in my head what you are saying.
      Getting back to Seth's message, what if he is right...that there is a devil putting evil thoughts in our hearts?

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  2. I firmly believe that when surrender ourselves to the will of our Lord, our lives then, and only then, can bear the good fruit. Life is filled with trials and temptations; however,we must remain fixed on the Lord in order to bear good fruits. This blog helps us to reflect on our relationship here...in order to gain eternal life.

    Francine G, retired teacher

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    1. Hello Francine. Nice to meet you. I agree with your comment.

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  3. In Gen 2:9, 16-17; the Lord planted every type of tree, and God said may eat of any accept the tree of knowledge of good and evil. There was another tree, the tree of live.
    Man did eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, then God cast them out before they could eat of the tree of live.
    Now in Revelation 22: 1, 2; there’s only one tree, the tree of life. Why can good and evil come out of man? We eat from the wrong tree, even when do something good, feed the poor, going to church.
    We should be eating from the tree of life (Jesus) then the good is from Jesus and not us.
    Satan uses goodness to distract us from Christ, Satan tell us look at all the good things you’re doing and we get caught up in doing good without Christ.

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    1. LARRY.....faith without works is dead. We do good because in Christ we are called to do good to all whenever possible, to christians, and non christians a like loving everyone. The word says do good when ever you can. Not that our works gets us in heaven, only by Jesus can we enter in by his grace and forgiveness.,but we do because we love Jesus.....

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    2. Hi everyone Matt.7:17,18,19
      Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

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    3. To Claudette and Kim,
      Not everything that comes from our mind is not from the devil because we have a mind and some thoughts are from us. so I wouldn't give the devil all the credit and Jesus is the one we go to when we ask for forgivness because we have an advicit.

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    4. HI Carmella. I was aking Kim if she beleives bad, evil thoughts are from the devil or if she thinks these bad thoughts come from "nature" . In her comment, she calls these bad thoughts negative energies. God Bless , Claudette

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    5. LARRY. Hi Larry. I like the way you brought up the idea of the tree
      of good and evil. (It wish I could double check the verses you quoted, but I dont have bible at this moment...I would soak into it even more). I didn't even think to go to those verses. And again, I love the way you brought them into the study. God Bless brother.

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  4. What a comfort to know that we will reap a good harvest if we keep our minds stayed on God, His goodness and His love. I really want to make this the dedication of my heart, to sew seeds of God's love to people in the world, and in turn, reap a good harvest. When we constantly meditate on God, though we may meet up on obstruction, He comforts us and enables us to say "It is well"! May our hearts continue to bare the fruit of God's love!

    Rashida R. - College Graduate

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  5. Rashida. What an inpiring comment. God bless!

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  6. i both agree and disagree with this blog. i agree with this blog because if u believe in god with all your heart then good things will happen. But in my exeperinece there are some cases that are not in your control that u wish and hope and pray for the best and it doesnt workout your way and i feel like u didnt do enough to have your thought and prays answered the way you want it. the devil is out to get us but it is up to us to stop himthrough the faith in god so. i believe this is both right and wrong.......

    Omar R.28

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