Tag: Fruit

Rooted in Christ

Lori fancies herself as somewhat of a green thumb. She has some plants in the backyard and throughout the house that she cares for to add some life to our home and property. She also plants tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers each spring. No matter the plant, she does not just get them and go on, she nurtures them with good soil, and food, and water and makes sure they have what they need to take root, and grow, and thrive. The LORD does the same with us once we have received Him.

“6Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” – Colossians 2:6-7 (ESV)

You see the LORD provided us with the place to put our roots, in Jesus. We have received Him into our lives, and all too often, we stop there. We look great now in Christ and are beautiful. We are have life and bring joy to others with our appearance. Yet, over time we will find ourselves withering a bit. We are in need of more, or are we.

It is not that we are in need of more, we just need to reach back into the good soil, and food, and water, and nutrients that the LORD has given to us, Jesus. We need to root ourselves in Jesus and His word. This is where we will grow and thrive. We will want for nothing else when we are fully dependent on Jesus. We are like the Christmas cactus, or the tomatoes, or the cucumbers, or the peppers, or the Texas Sage, we will show out with the fruit of the LORD at just the right moment when we are rooted in Jesus.

Lori painstakingly re-pots and nurtures the plants around our home to ensure they have what they need to thrive. The LORD does the same for us. He provided Jesus for us to root in and allow Him to feed us what we need to thrive. We are to be rooted in Christ and we will thrive for all to see.

Where are you rooting yourself? Are you one that has received and just expect all to work out? What if you rooted in Jesus knowing that He has all you need to thrive for all to see?

All Will Receive the Spirit

“32And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.” – Joel 3:32 (ESV)

So, “everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved”. It is not everyone period. Salvation is for those who recognize themselves as sinners and repent and ask to be saved from the consequence of that sin, which is death as a result of the wrath of God. Just wanted to get that out there before referencing the receipt of the Spirit. All is those who have placed their faith in the LORD that He is who He says He is and does what He says He will do.

Now that we have the who all is, lets see what we receive.

“28And it shall come to pass afterward,

that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;

your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

your old men shall dream dreams,

and your young men shall see visions.

29Even on the male and female servants

in those days I will pour out my Spirit.”

— Joel 3:28-29 (ESV)

We receive the ability to prophesy, dream, and see visions. We will not only have received salvation, but we receive the Spirit to guide us and help us to declare to others that which the LORD has laid upon us. The Spirit is the helper that is sent by God at the request of Jesus to be there with us always as we take the gospel to the world.

“18And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,” — Ephesians 5:18-19 (ESV)

And how do we prophecy, dream, and see visions, but through psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, singing, and melody “with you heart”. We are “filled with the Spirit” and therefore all should come from within and from the whole of us, not superficially from the outside.

“22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” – Galatians 5:22-23 (ESV)

And just what is the fruit of the Spirit that we are to give out from our heart but “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control”. These we have received as the Spirit has been poured out on us and now we are to give to others as has been given to us. We have received and now is out time to give. All of us who have been saved have received the Spirit and all shall pay it forward so more have the chance to receive.

What is your thoughts on the receipt of the Spirit? Do all receive and have a responsibility with what is received? What if you recognized that the Spirit is poured out on those who accept Jesus as Savior and then have the responsibility to give as they have received?