John 15:16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.
Many of us have either read or heard Jesus' teaching in John 15 regarding the vine and the branches. The Lord likens our relationship with Him to a vine and its branches. The branches are dependent on the vine. Without the vine the branches will either die or wither. The branches continuously get its nourishment from the vine. Branches are repeatedly pruned in order to bear more fruit. A vinedresser continuously works on branches lest some die or wither. A branch that is not able to bear fruit either dies or withers. When a branch dies or withers it becomes useless as a result it is cut off and cast into fire. If an unfruitful vine continuously suffers from diseases it is also cut off lest the disease affects the more fruitful branches.
Our relationship with God is best illustrated using the vine and the branches. Our continuous abidance in The Lord produces more fruit and results in prayer. The Lord empowers us as long as we remain in Him. Our abidance in The Lord goes with a lot of training. He has to repeatedly prune us so we can bear the fruit that He desires. What fruit does the Lord desire us to bear?
Galatians 5: 22-23.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
Our habitual fellowship with The Lord causes us to bear more of these 9 fruits. Fruit bearing is supposed to start the day we gave our lives to The Lord. Though early signs of fruits may not always be visible to us but the work of The Holy Spirit begins. One of the works of The Holy Spirit in the life of a believer is to transform him into the image of Christ. The beauty of a fruit is not seen in its early stages until it fully matures and begins to blossom. In the same way a new believer does not have much fruit to show but as he continues to abide in The Lord his life takes shape and he bears more fruit.
Naturally we feel attracted to fruits that are ripe and disease free. Likewise unbelievers see the inward and outward glory of a believer. Although they have a contrasting lifestyle, the unbeliever sees the attractive nature of a fruit bearing believer. Fruit bearing does not necessarily depend on how long one received salvation. One may have known The Lord for a long time but he may not have much fruit to show. We bear more fruit when we fully surrender our lives to The Lord. As we surrender fully He severs the bad fruit from our lives and nourish us so that we can bear the fruit that He desires.
Looking at the foundational text, The Lord was commissioning His disciples to go and bear fruit. His commission took effect shortly after His resurrection. The apostles habitually fellowshiped with The Lord. Their fruits were visible to all. Their fruit remained even in the Lord's physical absence. They never lacked spiritually. Their works were evident of their fruits. In our dispensation we have been given the same commission. We are to show the world our fruits and our fruit should remain. Sometimes we claim we are on fire for God only to fizzle out soon. Most of us have become spasmodic believers. There is no consistency in our fruit bearing. Other believers are non-existent.
One may be experiencing joy after praying or singing to The Lord but the next moment he may experience signs of depression. That's a sign of a bad fruit. A thorn among lilies. These mixed feelings are often caused by our unfaithfulness in our walk with God. When ones prayer, worship and bible reading is ebbing then you know he is certainly bearing bad fruits or he is in the process. We should continuously examine our lives daily to see if we are bearing more fruit or we are allowing a bad fruit to grow alongside the good fruit. A bad fruit is like a pest or disease that attacks a branch. When a branch is attacked by a disease it doesn't produce the fruit that the vinedresser requires. Likewise when we feed on negative emotions and bad behavior like anger,strife,envy, we do not produce the kind of fruit that The Lord requires.
If we do not produce the desired fruit then it means our fruit did not remain. If we continue to produce bad fruit we will eventually be severed and cast into fire. The commission is to bear fruit that remains. As we go into the world our fruit is supposed to testify of us. A believer mus t be known for his fruit before his gifts. If our fruits do not remain we will eventually fall for the world and be corrupted. We can only bear good fruits if we habitually spend more time with The Lord.
Glory To Jesus
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