Tag Archives: bearing fruit

CHANGING LIVES, BEARING FRUIT

Christian Life, ,

Colossians 1:6 NLT
[6] “This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.”

What makes all the difference between the world’s religions and the gospel of Jesus? Every religion in the world is a variation of one object of worship. The evil one is bent on usurping the place God occupies in the universe as Creator and sovereign. His passion is to be worshiped as God.

Since it is impossible to unseat God, Satan masquerades as Lord by deceiving people through false religious systems. Paul gives a resume in Romans 1 of the rebellion against God that sets up idols in His place.

There is only one true God who can change the lives of people so
that they begin to think and act like Him. This change is so radical that pagans like the people in the Colossian church once were, began to produce fruit in their lives that identified their root in God’s kingdom.

Jesus warned that fruit is the evidence of the nature of the tree. If the fruit of lives that are still planted in the devil’s kingdom of wickedness is still evident, no matter what such people may claim, they are still in darkness.

Paul assures these Colossian believers that the fruit of their new lives is evident in the way they speak and behave. The change began the moment they believed in Jesus. They had joined the new species.

2 Corinthians 5:16-17 NLT
[16] ..”At one time, we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! [17] This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”

The instant they believed in Jesus, they were transferred from darkness to light, and a new life began.

Ephesians 5:8-9 NLT
[8] “For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! [9] For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.”

This transformation is the only way to identify the work of God in the human heart. People can hang plastic fruit on their lives for a while but, eventually this pretense will be exposed when adversity hits.

Though Paul himself did not bring this church to birth, he cared about them as much as he cared for his own spiritual offspring.

Colossians 1:7-8 NLT
[7] “You learned about the Good News from Epaphras, our beloved co-worker. He is Christ’s faithful servant, and he is helping us on your behalf. [8] He has told us about the love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you.”

So, Paul takes them under his wing by assuring and encouraging these believers to continue and by including them in his prayers for all the churches.

THE KEY TO A GODLY LIFE

Bible Study, ,

THE KEY TO A GODLY LIFE 

“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way; bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father who qualified you to share in the inheritance of His holy people in the kingdom of light.” Colossians 1:9-12.

What a prayer! In order to understand what Paul was asking for, we need to take his prayer apart and examine it piece by piece. Once we have done that, we will see that he made only one request which he qualified with outcomes and explanations.

What was his request? That God would give the Colossian believers wisdom and understanding through the Holy Spirit to know His will. Knowledge of God’s will would, of course, imply that they would also do His will. But it is much more than that. His will does not only imply doing but being. Understanding the will of God brings us into the freedom of experiencing His fatherly love and having the confidence to approach Him as His dearly loved children instead of living in the fear of punishment like slaves.

In Romans 12:1, 2, Paul gives us the key to knowing and understanding the will of God. Present your bodies to Him as a living sacrifice – in other words, give Him charge of your life – and fill your mind with the truth so that your life will be transformed – two simple instructions, but life changing if we carry them out. God is delighted when this process begins to happen because we are on track for the end result – sons and daughters who resemble Jesus.

When we understand what God has done for us and what He wants for us and from us, there will be changes in us that will indicate what is happening inside. Paul highlights three important results of active participation in what God has both said about us and is doing in us.

  1. We will bear fruit in every good work. What are the good works that Paul often talked about?

With his Hebrew upbringing and knowledge of the Torah – God’s instructions on how to live the best life recorded in the Books of Moses – Paul would have understood that God’s people have a duty to take care of four groups of people: their spiritual authority first – to whom they gave the firstfuits of their crops and animals; the temple and those who worked there; their family’s future, and the widow, the orphan, the poor and the alien who lived among them. They were to give prescribed percentages of their increase to each group which was called tsidaqah or acts of righteousness.

Some argue that we are no longer bound by Old Testament laws. True, if we think that we can buy our way to God through them, but not true if we think that the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament are two different Gods. The principles of God’s teaching in the Torah have never changed. What God instructed in the Torah represents His wisdom because He knows what brings the most peace to our hearts – doing the right thing in every circumstance.

  1. We will grow in the knowledge of God. How important is that? It’s more that knowing about God. It’s about knowing His heart – what brings Him joy when we act like Him. He wants us to be one with Him in who we are and what we do. The more we understand the love, mercy and generosity of God towards all people, the more we will really know Him. When we are growing in knowing Him, we will grow in trusting Him even when we cannot see the way ahead.
  1. We will be joyfully thankful to Him about everything because He has qualified us to be a part of His kingdom which is coming on earth and is already here in part. No more darkness – sin, evil, wickedness, and everything that goes with it. We will see life from His perspective and recognise that every circumstance, good or bad, is moving us towards maturity. That in itself is enough to fill our hearts with gratitude and joy.

What a prayer! Not a grocery list of needs and wants, but a declaration of intent; a desire that these new believers would fully participate in what God has done and what He is yet to do to complete what He began at creation.

SCRIPTURE TAKEN FROM THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

THE GOSPEL OF GOD’S GRACE

Bible Study, ,

THE GOSPEL OF GOD’S GRACE

“In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world – just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. You learned it from Epaphrus, our dear fellow servant who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.” Colossians 1:6b-8.

How did the gospel of God’s grace get to be what it is today in so many places across the world? What happened that the gospel became “God wants you rich” or “God wants you to walk in divine health” or even “receive Jesus as your personal Saviour so that you can go to heaven when you die”?

Please don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that there should not be rich Christians or,healthy believers or that we don’t go to be with Jesus when we die. But is this what our faith is all about? What is the heart of the good news that Jesus came from heaven to bring and to demonstrate? He called it “the good news of the kingdom of God”, and it’s nothing new.

God’s people had forgotten who was in charge. They gave themselves to idols and reaped the fruit of it – messed-up lives and conflict all around them. Isaiah had to remind them of the truth:

“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.'” Isaiah 52:7.

The good news is that God is still in charge – even though it may not seem like it. People everywhere are trying to find out who rules this planet, or who rules their country or their city or their family. What a relief, when we discover that God is still here, that He has not abdicated or gone somewhere else, and that His plans are still on track! The ones who believe that He is working everything out according to His will are learning to relax and allow Him to steer the ship.

Although Jesus came to die for our sins, He did much more than that while He walked among men. He came to reveal the Father, to take us to the Father and to reconcile the whole disjointed universe to Himself so that He can restore everything to its former glory and purpose. God did not abandon His plan in despair when Adam derailed it. It was already on His agenda to provide a solution from before the beginning of creation.

Paul described the good news as “the gospel of God’s grace”. Before He ever revealed Himself to humans, He was unknown and unknowable. He is so “other” than His created universe that it would take supernatural revelation for humans to recognise Him in the world around us and in our spirits. On top of that, because we have inherited Adam’s nature, our minds are in rebellion against Him and darkened in our understanding.

God sent Jesus to be a mirror image of Himself so that we could actually see Him in a person of flesh and blood. For what purpose? To know and experience a part of His nature that is unknowable outside of our imperfect humanity – His grace. How can we know God’s grace unless we need it? How could Paul experience grace unless he felt his weakness? In his desperate prayer to be free from his persecutors, God assured him:

“…My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9.

It was good news that God was in charge. It was a relief to know that He was still ruling His world. He was still giving people the power to live among ungodly people in ways that reflect Him when they choose to turn away from trying to run their own lives. This good news was spreading like wildfire across the world and Paul was elated. It had reached the people in Colossae and they had embraced it. It was changing their lives and their community.

The good news is not 9nly about heaven by and by. It’s also about heaven coming to earth here and now because God’s in charge. It’s about loving instead of hating; it’s about forgiving instead of getting even; it’s about sharing instead of grabbing; it’s about doing life together as God’s children in God’s family; it’s about cleaning up our messy lives, burying our differences and living in peace and safety with one another because we can.

It’s about showing the world what life can look like when we let God rule us. It’s about bringing heaven to earth now in preparation for the day when Jesus returns to take charge here forever. He will restore everything, throw out and destroy everything and everyone that disrupts including the devil and his minions, forever.

No, He will not abandon the earth. He will make everything new just as He said He would and we can be part of it if we get involved now.

SCRIPTURE TAKEN FROM THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

The Key To A Godly Life

Bible Study, , , ,

THE KEY TO A GODLY LIFE 

“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way; bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father who qualified you to share in the inheritance of His holy people in the kingdom of light.” Colossians 1:9-12.

What a prayer! In order to understand what Paul was asking for, we need to take his prayer apart and examine it piece by piece. Once we have done that, we will see that he made only one request which he qualified with outcomes and explanations.

What was his request? That God would give the Colossian believers wisdom and understanding through the Holy Spirit to know His will. Knowledge of God’s will would, of course, imply that they would also do His will. But it is much more than that. His will does not only imply doing but being. Understanding the will of God brings us into the freedom of experiencing His fatherly love and having the confidence to approach Him as His dearly loved children instead of living in the fear of punishment like slaves.

In Romans 12:1, 2, Paul gives us the key to knowing and understanding the will of God. Present your bodies to Him as a living sacrifice – in other words, give Him charge of your life – and fill your mind with the truth so that your life will be transformed – two simple instructions, but life changing if we carry them out. God is delighted when this process begins to happen because we are on track for the end result – sons and daughters who resemble Jesus.

When we understand what God has done for us and what He wants for us and from us, there will be changes in us that will indicate what is happening inside. Paul highlights three important results of active participation in what God has both said about us and is doing in us.

1. We will bear fruit in every good work.

What are the good works that Paul often talked about?

With his Hebrew upbringing and knowledge of the Torah – God’s instructions on how to live the best life recorded in the Books of Moses – Paul would have understood that God’s people have a duty to take care of four groups of people: their spiritual authority first – to whom they gave the firstfuits of their crops and animals; the temple and those who worked there; their family’s future, and the widow, the orphan, the poor and the alien who lived among them. They were to give prescribed percentages of their increase to each group which was called tsidaqah or acts of righteousness.

Some argue that we are no longer bound by Old Testament laws. True, if we think that we can buy our way to God through them, but not true if we think that the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament are two different Gods. The principles of God’s teaching in the Torah have never changed. What God instructed in the Torah represents His wisdom because He knows what brings the most peace to our hearts – doing the right thing in every circumstance.

2. We will grow in the knowledge of God.

How important is that? It’s more that knowing about God. It’s about knowing His heart – what brings Him joy when we act like Him. He wants us to be one with Him in who we are and what we do. The more we understand the love, mercy and generosity of God towards all people, the more we will really know Him. When we growing in knowing Him, we will grow in trusting Him even when we cannot see the way ahead.

3. We will be joyfully thankful to Him about everything because He has qualified us to be a part of His kingdom which is coming on earth and is already here in part. No more darkness – sin, evil, wickedness, and everything that goes with it. We will see life from His perspective and recognise that every circumstance, good or bad, is moving us towards maturity. That in itself is enough to fill our hearts with gratitude and joy.

What a prayer! Not a grocery list of needs and wants, but a declaration of intent; a desire that these new believers would fully participate in what God has done and what He is yet to do to complete what He began at creation.

SCRIPTURE TAKEN FROM THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

The Gospel Of God’s Grace

Bible Study, , ,

THE GOSPEL OF GOD’S GRACE

“In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world – just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. You learned it from Epaphrus, our dear fellow servant who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.” Colossians 1:6b-8.

How did the gospel of God’s grace get to be what it is today in so many places across the world? What happened that the gospel became “God wants you rich” or “God wants you to walk in divine health” or even “receive Jesus as your personal Saviour so that you can go to heaven when you die”?

Please don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that there should not be rich Christians or healthy believers or that we don’t go to be with Jesus when we die. But is this what our faith is all about? What is the heart of the good news that Jesus came from heaven to bring and to demonstrate? He called it “the good news of the kingdom of God”, and it’s nothing new.

God’s people had forgotten who was in charge. They gave themselves to idols and reaped the fruit of it – messed-up lives and conflict all around them. Isaiah had to remind them of the truth:

“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.'” Isaiah 52:7.

The good news is that God is still in charge – even though it may not seem like it. People everywhere are trying to find out who rules this planet, or who rules their country or their city or their family. What a relief, when we discover that God is still here, that He has not abdicated or gone somewhere else, and that His plans are still on track! The ones who believe that He is working everything out according to His will are learning to relax and allow Him to steer the ship.

Although Jesus came to die for our sins, He did much more than that while He walked among men. He came to reveal the Father, to take us to the Father and to reconcile the whole disjointed universe to Himself so that He can restore everything to its former glory and purpose. God did not abandon His plan in despair when Adam derailed it. It was already on His agenda to provide a solution from before the beginning of creation.

Paul described the good news as “the gospel of God’s grace”. Before He ever revealed Himself to humans, He was unknown and unknowable. He is so “other” than His created universe that it would take supernatural revelation for humans to recognise Him in the world around us and in our spirits. On top of that, because we have inherited Adam’s nature, our minds are in rebellion against Him and darkened in our understanding.

God sent Jesus to be a mirror image of Himself so that we could actually see Him in a person of flesh and blood. For what purpose? To know and experience a part of His nature that is unknowable outside of our imperfect humanity – His grace. How can we know God’s grace unless we need it? How could Paul experience grace unless he felt his weakness? In his desperate prayer to be free from his persecutors, God assured him:

“…My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9.

It was good news that God was in charge. It was a relief to know that He was still ruling His world. He was still giving people the power to live among ungodly people in ways that reflected Him when they chose to turn away from trying to run their own lives. This good news was spreading like wildfire across the world and Paul was elated. It had reached the people in Colossae and they had embraced it. It was changing their lives and their community.

The good news is not about heaven by and by. It’s about heaven coming to earth here and now because God’s in charge. It’s about loving instead of hating; it’s about  forgiving instead of getting even; it’s about sharing instead of grabbing; it’s about doing life together as God’s children in God’s family; it’s about cleaning up our messy lives, burying our differences and living in peace and safety with one another because we can.

It’s about showing the world what life can look like when we let God rule us. It’s about bringing heaven to earth now in preparation for the day when Jesus returns to take charge here forever. He will restore everything, throw out and destroy everything and everyone that disrupts including the devil and his minions, forever.

No, He will not abandon the earth. He will make everything new just as He said He would and we can be part of it if we get involved now.

SCRIPTURE TAKEN FROM THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.