Lee McDowell Christian
Ministries LMCM
Nacogdoches,
Texas Gal. 2:20 KJV
Thoughts
on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 13
Michael’s book is
available through:
Abiding Life
Ministries International
Littleton, Colorado
(303) 972-0859 almi@abidinglife.com
Bearing fruit…what IS the fruit that Christians ARE
to bear? Michael, in Day 22, gives us a
beautiful picture of why so many Christians are confused about this important
teaching. Looking at this wrong leads
many to make inaccurate decisions about themselves, and about other folks. Sad.
Bearing
Fruit
Abide in Me, and I
in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the
vine, so neither {can} you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the
branches;
he who abides in Me, and I in
him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing . . . By this is My Father glorified, that
you bear much fruit, and {so} prove to be My disciples.
--John 15:4-5, 8
The believer can
choose between two pairs of eyeglasses through which to read the Bible. The first pair will transpose and
distort everything into a list of what the believer must do to be acceptable to
God. The second pair,
clear and accurate, reveals to the believer all that God has done.
During my devotional time in the early years of my Christian walk, I wore the
first pair of glasses exclusively. Passages on the topic of fruit-bearing
always discouraged me. After all, I needed to bear fruit, for if I did not, I
would be cut off. I needed to bear fruit to prove that I was a Christian, and
this fruit had to involve effort, frustration, and rejection.
What changed? I switched glasses and began to see things
as they really are in proper order. All the numbers we use--phone, social
security, bank account--have to be used in the order in which they were given.
Mix up any group of numbers and render them no longer useful for calling home,
collecting a check, or making a deposit. There is an order to be respected. When we look at the
list of things a believer is to do, we must make special effort to keep them in
God’s order, for in that way we will find fruit-making a very pleasurable
experience.
The beginning in
God’s order is abiding!
How do we abide? He has put us
in Him, He holds us in Him, and it is His life flowing though us. The emphasis is not on us but
on Him, for He has done it all. Only believe it, confess it, and
acknowledge it. Once our focus
is on Him, His life flows, we bear fruit--the end result of the proper
order--and the Father is glorified. It is His doing. If we will agree
with Jesus that we are abiding, fruit will come and He will be glorified. He gets the glory and is
the glory because He does the work.
Two of the most frustrating things pastors deal
with all the time is someone saying: (1) “I thought they got saved, but they
still are…” (referring to some sin, but of course it is a sin that the one
speaking is not doing), and (2) “They must not be a Christian…there’s just no
fruit in their life to prove that they are.” (referring to “some kind of fruit,”
never specifically identifying “what” fruit it is, or if they do specify, it is
something the “judger” is “bearing,” even though there is a bunch of “fruit”
the judger doesn’t “bear” in their life).
Either way, the end result of both of these erroneous assumptions is a misjudgment
of the one judged.
As Michael so simply shows, the “pair of glasses”
we wear determines whether we are looking through “man’s eyes,” or “God’s eyes.” Sticking with the foundational truths keep us
looking through “God’s eyes” instead of the “old eyes” we were first born
with. And only those Born Again have
that second pair of eyes. Important.
An intensive study of this magnificent privilege of
being a “branch” abiding in the “Vine,” with all the “work” to produce “fruit”
being done by the “Vine” (Christ) with the Father being glorified takes all the
responsibility off of the “branches.”
Well, amen!
Furthermore, a word search & study of “fruit” in
Scripture doesn’t result in finding any of the items the “judgers” list. How interesting! Get a concordance and go look at God’s list
of “fruit” in Scripture!
Yellow – VIP, Very
Important Point Red – GP,
Greatest Promises
Turquoise – UR,
Unfathomable Riches Pink – PV, Priceless Victory
Lee McDowell Christian
Ministries
P. O. Box 633244 Nacogdoches, Tx 75963 936-559-5696
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