Fruit ~ More Fruit ~ Much Fruit

Spirit producing fruit will go on producing

from one life to another.

There will be fruit, more fruit, much fruit.

~**~

Such a beautiful picture but not always an easy process.

As Christians, we often pray that God will

make us more fruitful, but we do not always

enjoy the pruning process that follows.

In my last post I shared with you on The True Vine  

that apart from the Vine we can do nothing.

Abiding in Christ reflects one's dependence on Him,

communion with Him, and obedience to Him.

When we remain in these things our lives will

result in becoming fruitful for Christ.

It is Christ alone, who provides grace and provision

for the needs in life.

 Therefore ~ we must remain faithful to our service for

               the Lord and to the study of His Word in order to bear fruit.  

"Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit;
so shall ye be my disciples."
(John 15:8)
 A true branch, united with the vine, will always bear fruit.
There is always fruit where there is life.
"I am the Vine, ye are the branches;
He that abideth in me, and I in him,
the same bringeth forth much fruit;
for without me ye can do nothing."
(John 15:5)
If there is no fruit, the branch is worthless
and it is cast away and burned.

There are two ways that the branches are pruned,
by cutting away the dead wood and by cutting away living tissue.
With the living tissue you do not want the life of the vine 
to become dissipated causing the quality of the crop to become jeopardized.
~ I found it quite interesting as I researched the pruning process of a vine ~
The pruning process is the most important part of the enterprise,
and those who do the pruning must be carefully trained
so as to know where to cut, how much to cut and even what angle to make the cut. 
After finding this out I've made sure my husband and I were extra careful
when pruning our trees.

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away;
and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it,
that it may bring forth more fruit."
(John 15:1-2)
Because the Father loves us, He prunes us and encourages us
to bear more fruit for His glory.
Sometimes this pruning process hurts,
but in the end we will rejoice over God's love for us.
We may not want it ~ but we need it.

  How does the Father prune us?
Many times it is simply through His Word as it convicts and cleanses us.
"That he might sanctify and cleanse it with
the washing of water by the word.
That he might present it to himself a glorious church,
not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing;
but that it should be holy and without blemish."
(Ephesians 5:26-27)
Our Heavenly Father is ever so near to us 
when He is pruning our lives.
It is the sweet fruit of trusting in the Lord
and allowing Him to do the work that is needed in and through us
that will produce joy to the glory of God.     

~**~

Sometimes the pruning process comes as God must chasten us.
            "Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous;
nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness
unto them which are exercised thereby."
(Hebrews 12:11) 
Hebrews 12 1 through 11 is excellent!
Our Heavenly Father makes no mistakes ~ He knows what we need
in order to grow and produce more fruit.

~**~

In the end we must remember that the fruit we are producing
is not for ourselves, but for others.
We should strive to be gracious women
who willingly feed others by our words as well as our actions.
"The lips of the righteous feed many;
but fools die for want of wisdom."
(Proverbs 10:21)
This verse should cause us to see the importance
of serving others, not just pleasing ourselves.
The Spirit produced fruit will go on producing from one life to another.
There will be fruit ~ more fruit ~ much fruit.

We bear fruit when we win others for Christ (Romans 1:13)
We are a part of the harvest (John 4:35-38)
As we grow in holiness and obedience,
we are bearing fruit (Romans 6:22)
The fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) is the kind of Christian
character that glorifies God and makes Christ real to others.
God's Word has so much for us.
Oh ~ that we might dig deep and grace our lives with the nuggets of gold
that are found through out the Scriptures.
"That ye might walk worthy of the Lord,
unto all pleasing, bearing fruit in every
good work and increasing in the knowledge of God."
(Colossians 1:10)
All to the glory of God, that should be our utmost desire!
"By him therefore let us offer sacrifice of praise to God continually,
that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name."
(Hebrews 13:15) 

~**~

All for Jesus, all for Jesus!
Our Precious Heavenly Father,
have Your own way in our lives.
Prune us as needed so we may
bear much fruit to Your glory.
Amen.

Be Beautiful!
~ Debbie ~ 

I have joined Stephanie's party over at
Roses of Inspiration