FRUIT INSPECTORS

Let's begin with a scripture. Please turn to Matthew 7:15-20. "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them." Before we go into what this verse means, let's talk about what it does not mean. It does not mean that we are running around accusing everyone of not being a true believer because their fruit is bad and their character has not been perfected. With that said, let us pray. Glorious Heavenly Father, Your very name is holy and we worship You. Thank You for loving us so much that Your Son, Jesus, died in our place and suffered Your judgement on sin. Thank You for the Holy Spirit, what a most wonderful gift. Holy Spirit, please reveal the Word to us. It was written by You, and we need You to explain it to us. Help us to bear good fruit. Help us to Love and have compassion on all those around us. May we have great joy at Your Coming. We love You. In Jesus name...AMEN.

Thank you once again for joining me in another journey through God's Word. Regardless of whom you decide to worship, we are all fellow persons whom God loves and died for. During this discourse, I hope to answer three questions. 1) What is the fruit we are talking about. 2) Where and how do we get this fruit, and 3) why is fruit so important. So, let's start with what kind of fruit we are talking about. Galatians 5:22,23 says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Well, you might be thinking, I know a few people who don't confess Jesus as Lord and Messiah but seem to have these qualities. That may be true, but as we will find out in the next text, there is a fruit which can only come from God's grace. In fact, all things good come from God whether we admit it or not.

In order to prove to you that all fruit come from God, please go to Colossians 3:12. "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Now can you think of someone who possess these qualities apart from God? So, as you may surmise, we are talking about fruit which come from God. I like to call them God's very own nature.

Where and how do we get this most precious fruit? Like I said, from God, but let's allow the living Word to defend that statement. I would rather believe what it says versus what I say, any day of the week. We got our first clue in our reading of Colossians. The Holy Spirit, Himself, brings us the fruits of righteousness. May I assume something please? I believe we can also call these precious fruit...the fruit of love. For after all, the fruit we are talking about are surely the very nature of God. I John 4:8 says that "God is love." Got it? OK, Romans 5:5 says: "God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit." Please allow me to break it down for you. Jesus has ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God. He will be returning for His church (body, believers or saints). God has given unto us the gift of the Holy Spirit. We receive this gift by asking. He is received by faith. Still with me? Cool !!

Our glorious gift from God (the Holy Spirit) does many things. He shows us the Father and Son. He teaches us, empowers us and changes us. And you guessed it.....He helps us to produce fruit. But we are still left with the question of how He does it. How does God take a believer and follower of Christ Jesus, and take the old nature and turn it into something really wonderful, a new creature, just like our Lord? Let's think of it this way. Jesus is a spiritual vine. We are a branch. The Holy Spirit is the sap and life force flowing through the vine into the branches. Fruit is produced. Not just any ole fruit either. Fruit which bear the resemblance of the Father and Jesus Himself. Righteous fruit. Holy fruit.

Now for the part which may hurt a little bit. Go with me to John 15:1-2;5-6. "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, While every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." Like Joyce Meyer says, "Pruned if you do and pruned if you don't." And now for verse 5 and 6. "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, He will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned."

If you are like me, you might say: "I want my fruit, and I want it now." Unfortunately, our fruit of becoming more like Jesus does not happen over night. The Word instructs us to be patient and tells us that we are changed from glory to glory..a little bit at a time. We must believe that if we are in Christ Jesus, if we are abiding in the vine, then the fruit will come. We must tell ourselves, and satan, that God's love has been poured into our hearts and we ARE being changed. But what does abiding and being one with Christ mean. How do we cling to the vine (Jesus) which (by faith) will provide us the spiritual growth food we need (by the Holy Spirit)? Glad you asked.

Let's look, again, in the gospel of John for some more clues. In verse 3 we see this: "You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you." Jesus said this right in the middle of talking about producing fruit and abiding in the vine (once again, Christ Jesus). It seems out of place, but Jesus always says what He hears the Father saying, and at the right time. In chapter one of John, we learn that Jesus is the living Word. The Word, when energized by the Holy Spirit, washes us and makes us clean. But, there is always a condition with God, but..."As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you OBEY my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in His love." We find this in John 15:9,10.

Now we are getting some where. Almost everything you boil down in the scriptures usually come down to the same thing: Believe and Obey. If you think about it, that is what makes God, God in your life and mine. After we choose to repent of our sins and make Jesus our Lord. After we ask, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. We begin our abiding in the vine. We do that by prayer, reading and doing the Word,spending quality time with Father God in our secret place and worship. While we continue in such a manner, a change WILL occur, because God promises that it will. You will begin to be more holy, more righteous and filled more with God's love, nature and light. A light for the whole world to see. A win, win situation to be sure.

And now for a little more icing on the cake. Let's go to John again. Chapter 15:14-17 to be exact. "You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you (by the Holy Spirit..added by me). You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit-fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in My name. This is my command: Love each other."

So, dearly beloved, instead of keeping an eye on the fruit of others, inspect your own. Keep abiding and you Will see the change you desire. Be patient. You know what? Others in your life will see your transformation before you do. Keep the faith. Love God, yourself and others. Until next time, this is KennyG signing off.

I AM A MAN OF UNCLEAN LIPS

OK, first of all, please forgive me for the mug shot. I know it's not pretty, but God thinks that I am beautiful. He thinks that of you too. Did you know that Almighty God carries around a picture of you in the palms of His hands? I can just see Him dancing and singing every time He thinks of you and I. Great is His affection for us. You can see for yourself. Let's look at Isaiah 49:15,16. "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands."

Like my grandson says, "No, seriously," I too must say that it's time to get busy partaking of the Living Bread together. May we begin with prayer? I have found that anything we do without the Lord's help is counter productive, to say the least. "Glorious Father, we come to You with a great thirst to be nearer. With a great thirst to be righteous and holy, for You are holy. We come on bended knees, with a reverence for You and all that You stand for. You are high above us and we bow before You. Come now Holy Spirit and teach us the ways of God. Give us grace to do what our Father commands. Reduce us to love. Give us joy at the expectancy of Your Coming. In Jesus name.........AMEN.

Have you ever found yourself saying things that you wish you could take back? Sure you have. I bet Peter wished he had not denied the Lord. Isaiah seemed to understand the evil of the tongue. Let's read Isaiah 6:1-6. "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above Him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory.' At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. Woe to me! I cried. I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty." First let me say....WOW ! This is an awesome passage.

Did you see what was first on the mind of Isaiah? It wasn't his impure thoughts, disobedience or unforgiveness. Don't get me wrong, these things are bad, but his most blatant sin (which just couldn't come before the Lord) was his speech. Now, this passage doesn't say exactly what our man Isaiah has spoken with his lips, to bring such dread, godly sorrow and repentance. But I can say for certainty that he was a man just like us. That takes me back to asking you one more time. Have you ever spoken words which you wished with all your heart you hadn't? Lord knows that I have. And like you, I hate it with a passion. Such nasty and hateful things too. Oh the people we have hurt because of our unrestrained tongues. Of course it hurts our Daddy too. He created our tongues to praise Him and speak words of faith. I embrace Isaiah's cry. "Woe to me!" I cry. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips."

Time for some scary stuff. I apologize in advance. You guys and gals are so funny. I think I heard someone say, "I thought the mug shot was scary enough." I still love you though. Anyway, go to Matthew 12:36,37 with me would you please. "But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgement for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."

OK, please let me interject some good news at this point, before we beat up on ourselves some more. I John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from ALL unrighteousness." And that means gone completely. Psalms 103:12 says, "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." That's some good news indeed. We can take that to mean....all sinful acts. Included in that would be our words and thought life. Take it all to the blood my dearly beloved.

Time for a bunny trail. I know you have missed them. (LOL) Turn to Matthew 5:29 please. "If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell." I assure you that Jesus is not talking about body dismemberment. But, he is letting us know that sometimes we have to do extreme things, to keep us going in the right direction. The Israelites did just that. They found that keeping God's Word in front of their eyes would help keep their thoughts going in the right direction. They would write it on their doors, tie it to their forearms, whatever it took. We can do the same thing. For example, if we are having problems in the area of what our eyes look at, we can tie something around our wrist reminding us to look at something else. We can't look at two things at once. Neither can we have two thoughts at once. Protect our gates at all cost. What goes in our eyes and ears go directly to our soul and spirit. But, what can we do about the gate of the mouth? It has an outgoing flow.

We can't do anything. In this area we must rely on the might of the Holy Spirit. We must believe that He will help us if we ask. We must be patient while He works. Let's now look at what James said about the tongue and then we will follow up with King David's solution. James 3:3-12 says, "When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison."

"With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water." Oh God help us with this terrible beast !! Now, take a look at how King David approached the problem with his mouth. Yes, we all have a problem from time to time. We find it in Psalms 141:3. "Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips."

How do we conclude? When we sin, go to the blood as quick as possible. Understand that we need God's help to be righteous. We can not do it ourselves. BELIEVE !