The Root of Fruit...

So I've been thinking....I hear about New Year's resolutions and I applaud everyone who has goals at the beginning of the year for areas in their life that are lacking. I've done the same thing myself sort of as a commitment to God that I am willing to let him work in me the peaceable fruit of righteousness. God honors that and makes sure we have opportunities to grow in those areas as only He can.

The other evening we were discussing in Bible study with our church family the need to have the fruit of the Spirit as our 'goals' for  a new year. I had a 'revelation' that evening, but it really was an old understanding coming at me in a new and amazing way.

Paul lists the fruit of the flesh in Galatians 5, and then he lists the fruit of the Spirit. How beautiful the Spirit fruit is! But then he tells us HOW to produce that fruit after he lists it. It is simply by walking in the Spirit and living by the Spirit. How simply refreshing that thot was to me. If I am walking and living that way, then God will produce that fruit (HIS fruit) in me.

Often times we are walking through life and we don't really know what God is up to at the immediate time of his working. That's far beyond our comprehension. What all our obedience is giving him aid to do in our lives is too great for us to even see at the time of it's 'doing'. But in a few years, we can look back and see with greater understanding just what God was doing and how he was increasing the Life and Fruit in our lives.

We are well aware of the lack in our lives if we are honest. The truth of the matter is, we might as well admit that outside of Christ, we are nothing. Scripture says that. Outside of Christ, our righteousness is filthy rags and of no value to God. Only the life of Christ in us makes us acceptable and clean before the God of all the ages. If there is a weak area in our lives where we feel some of that Spirit fruit should be greater, all we need to do is ask our selves what roots we have left 'unaxed'.

We strive so hard sometimes to be right, to do the right things, and to produce that fruit that we surely as Christians MUST have. Thse are noble aspirations, but the work we really need to do is as Jesus said, to "lay the ax to the root of the tree", meaning to surrender all and to get ourselves out of the way. Paul calls it 'being crucified with Christ". Seriously, my friends, whenever we get to that place of complete brokenness in our lives, where we have laid down it all...the dreams, the hopes, the plans, the lofty aspirations to make a difference in the world in specific terms we have laid out, the family, the friends, the reputation, houses, lands...EVERYTHING...then the ax has sufficiently killed that root of selfishness and pride to the point that JESUS CHRIST is the theme of our lives.

While it is true that we can always choose to serve the flesh, we can get to a place in our lives where we truly are broken and we truly embrace the cross bearing life that Jesus called us to embrace. The Cross is an instrument of death. Everyone who heard Jesus' repeatedly say that to follow Him, we need to deny ourselves and take up our cross, understood the reality of the word picture he used because it was a common instrument used to administer the death penalty to criminals. If we 'fall on the Rock and are broken', fully surrendered to Christ in everything, then our biggest struggle will not be ourselves. Sure, we'll still be given the same opportunities to live for me or to live for Him, but the decision will be made and we will swiftly choose Him on a consistent basis.

If you do not know this kind of life and are a Christ follower, I am hear to shout out an encouragement that you truly can know that rest that He talks about in Matthew where he calls us to come unto him, all who labor and are heavy laden. BUT notice how he says our rest will come..."take my yoke upon you and learn of me and you will find rest for your souls'. So learning of Christ, thru carrying our cross that kills our flesh, is where true rest comes from. And this endless striving to have the right fruit and bigger fruit and more fruit will cease. No longer will we have to worry if we are producing it or not, because we WILL.

Is there no work to be done then? Absolutely yes...but the work is at the root level, in surrender and obedience to God. When that is our life choice consistently and daily, then the fruit will grow... God assures us of that. "Whatever you sow, that you will also reap".

I share this, at the beginning of 2017, to encourage us all to embrace the life of cross bearing that Jesus calls us to embrace. It is totally worth it. In it, there is LIFE and there is REST...

Love and blessings,
Marcia

PS
I feel incredibly blessed to have been trained by a preacher who speaks it simply but straight to the heart...Zac Poonen's sermons on this subject have stirred much hope in my heart thru the years and helped me to know how to lay that ax to the root of the tree. One sermon comes to mind where he tells the story of a certain insane asylum that had a test they gave patients to see if they were ready to leave the facility or not. They gave them a mop and a bucket, and then turned on a faucet in their cell and told them to clean up the mess. Only the ones who turned off the faucet were given a clean bill of health to leave the place. So it is in our Christian walk...we can use a mop and a bucket all the rest of our days on earth. Or we can turn off the faucet (lay the ax to the root of the tree). From the moment I heard this the first time, I knew which one I would choose! It has been the second most important decision of my life, the first one being that I turned from my sins and received salvation by faith in Jesus' Christ. The faucet sometimes gets bumped back on again, but God gives us the power to turn it off and live consistently in the realm of freedom that comes when we wear Jesus' yoke, which is easy and when we take on his burden, which is light. This is the hope of his resurrection!!! I am delighted that I get to live in it daily, by the power of my Savior!