Fruits

I would like for you to read the scripture several times before going into the devotion.  I am only going to focus on Luke 6:43-45, however verses 37-42 are a good reminder for us as well.

A Tree and Its Fruit

43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

These are tough scriptures for us all to read.  These are the kinds of scriptures you cannot escape; they are bold, demanding, and matter of fact.  These scripture states it is our responsibility to control what we say and do.  It does not matter what anyone else does, we are in control of our own actions, and words.  As I was studying these scriptures this week, I read an article saying, “ God assigns tasks according to what He sees in your heart.  Right now, how big would your assignment be from God?  Ponder on that statement for just a moment.  If God assigns tasks according to what He sees in your heart.  Right now, how big would your assignment be from God?  Wow what a question?  So then I began to think back on my week, and what God was trying to teach me.  I have been around long enough to know, if we are willing to learn, there is always a lesson to be taught.  I am currently being considered to be on the WinShape 2014 writing team.  This would be such an awesome experience, and so much fun, but I felt God in the quietness of my office ask, “Will you be ready if afforded the opportunity?  Is there anything in your spirit that you need to correct?” We all know from experience that God does not stir questions in us, that he does not already know the answer.  So I began to search and pray about how I look in His eyes.

Phillips Brooks said, “Do not pray for easy lives, pray to be stronger men.  Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers, pray for powers equal to your task.  Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be a miracle.”  It was a great moment when I read this because I realized I had been doing my job all wrong and backwards.  I should have been praying all along for God to give me power to match my tasks, not to make the task I was conquering easier.  L.R. Scarborough had even tougher words to say.  “If your place is not great enough to suit you, make it so.  The minister who is unable to make a place great is too weak to hold a great one.”   

EM Bounds- “Men are God’s method.  The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men”

You see there are no shortcuts to Character.  Character is what God builds in us through circumstances.  Character building is like on the job training. You can always take a shortcut, but in the end you might lack what you need for that BIG assignment from God.  Usually we do not like character building because it involves difficult situations.  God wants to grow us to the point; of no matter what we are faced with, we produce good fruit.  Remember the verse we read earlier: A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

So when we face those tough situations in life, we must remember there is always a lesson to be learned.  Things will always be unfair as long as we are on this earth.  Our job as Christians is to remember that one day we will all stand before God.  Mathew 12:36 I tell you that on the day of judgment, people will give an account for every worthless word they speak.  May we on our day of judgment not be found with worthless Words of speech, but things that will bear good fruit.

What will God write down about your life today?  Will it be worth writing down?

His Plan For Me
When I stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ 

And He shows His plan for me, 

The plan of my life as it might have been 

Had He had His way - and I see 

How I blocked Him here, and checked Him there, 

And I would not yield my will, 

Will there be grief in my Savior's eyes, 
Grief though He loves me still? 
Would He have me rich and I stand poor, 

Stripped of all but His grace, 

While memory runs like a hunted thing,
Down the paths I cannot retrace. 

Lord, of the years that are left to me 

I give them to Thy hand 

Take me and break me and mold me, 

To the pattern that Thou hast planned! 
-Author Unknown

I have been at camp for the past week.  Our theme this week was “Guard your heart, that is where it starts.”  That sounds like a relatively easy thing to do.  However, as camp progressed the questions got harder.  For example, who is sitting on the throne of your heart?  Does God control every part of your life or does something else?  In order to answer questions of this magnitude you have to stop all activity, and take time to reflect.  Honestly, it reminds me of the closet or storage area, you try to avoid looking at because it is overwhelming.  When you attempt to go in and organize the closet, you get so frustrated over what to do, you simply quit and do nothing.   Now, it makes matters worse because you have looked at the condition of the closet, yet did nothing to correct the problem.  Obviously, we all know that in order to clean the area, everything has to come out and be trashed, or placed in a specific spot.  Our hearts are no different.  Sometimes God ask us tough questions, and in order to find the answer, we have to look deep into our heart.  It is always easy to make excuses, blame others, and live in denial, but the results of these choices produce no change in our life.  God calls us to look through the surface, and seek the root of the problem.  Just like the storage closet, God wants us to pull everything out.  For some people that may not be hard, but for some it could be torturous.  Almost 12 years ago God stopped me in my tracks.  I was on such an emotional overload that my body literally shut itself down mentally and physically.  I had endured an extremely traumatic  event, and chose not to deal with it.  Instead I found myself mad at God, and turned the opposite direction.  I never will forget the day when God spoke to me so clearly and said, “Is this working for you?  You have a choice, choose me, or choose yourself, but you must decide?”  I have never heard anything from God, before or after that, as clearly as I did that day.  Here I was 26 years old, broken, and realizing I didn’t really know whom God was.  From that very moment when I said, “I choose you”; my life was transformed.  It was not an easy road, but God gradually restored my health and my life.  Not only did he restore me, he gave me a precious gift to minister to others.  I am aware everyday that I do not deserve the opportunity, but thanks to grace, I am allowed the privilege.  The only reason I tell you this part of my life is because covering things up, or making excuses for them does not solve the problem.  It only postpones the inevitable.    The second day of camp was “Beware of sin, it destroys from within”.   Literally, when we give anything else control of our life we are harboring sin, which will literally destroy us from the inside out.  The best part was day three when the message was “Receive what God’s giving; it’s the secret to living”.  Honestly, once we get everything out of our closet and into the light; we can easily see what is worth saving, and what needs to be tossed.  Then the process of cleaning starts to become easier and easier, and before we know it, we are excited because the muddled closet is now starting to look nice, clean, and purposeful again.  The same is true with our own lives.  Once we allow God’s light to shine on us, we can begin to see all the things we need to get rid of in our life; and before long we realize the joy we have been missing all along.  Sometimes looking at our self through God’s eyes can be difficult, but the result will always be an exceptional life with Him.

 So I ask you today, what sits on the throne of your heart? What controls everything you think, feel, say, and do?   Is it God, or something else?

Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

Pslam 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
 Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting