ARE YOU BEARING FRUITS?

"Then He told this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came and sought fruit thereon and found none. ⁷ Then said he unto the dresser of the vineyard, ‘Behold these three years I come seeking for fruit on this fig tree and found none. Cut it down! Why cumbereth it the ground?’
⁸ “‘And he answering said unto Him, ‘Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it and dung it. ⁹ If it bear fruit, well: and If not, then after that, cut it down.’"...Luke 13:6-9

After our salvation, as children of God, we are not expected to be stagnated or idle. God expects us to do exploits for Him. Teach people about Him and bring souls to Him. According to Luke 13, If God comes to you to check if you're bearing fruits, what will he find?

The bible says "seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all other things shall be added unto you", the things of God are paramount over our desires. When we seek the things of God first, God's blessings will follow because we have chosen to obey, but when we seek after other things, we miss it. I am going to make an illustration with a horse and cart, A horse comes before a cart right? If a cart is placed before a horse, what happens is, the horse may not be able to travel effectively. The same thing is what most Christians do, they place the cart before the horse. They seek other things instead of the things of God, this makes their journey fruitless.

In Mark 11:13-14, when Jesus found no fruit on the fig tree, he cursed it, "no man eat fruit of thee hereafter forever". And the fig tree dried up from its roots in the morning (Mark 11:20). Most Christians lives are dried out because they are not involved in soul winning or witnessing for Christ. God expects us to bring forth fruit abundantly, when we stand before Him in the end, how many crowns will we have on our head? The number of crowns is determined by our labour on earth for Him, the souls we won. May He give us the grace and knowledge to preach to people about Him.

COMMITMENT TO GOD

"Go ye into the world and preach the gospel to every creature"... Mark 16:15-18

I would like to ask you a question; since you got saved till today, how many people have you brought to Christ? If you have not brought any, I would like to encourage you today.

The most important thing that you can do with your life is to serve God and to win souls to Him. The gospel of Christ is to be preached to every person you come across on the surface of the earth.

To increase your commitment with God ultimately involves the volume of time you spend with Him in fellowship. Fellowship is your personal desire for intimacy with Him. When you increase your intimacy with God, you increase your commitment. As you study the word more and fellowship with Him, you see the need to obey Him and to win souls to Him.
I want you to ask yourself, "am I doing enough for God?"

ROOTED AND BUILT UP IN HIM

"Rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith..." Colossians 2:6-9

 "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me, ye can do nothing" (John 15:5).
If we are not rooted in Him, we are absolutely helpless and powerless. He is the true vine, we are the branches. Every branch that beareth not fruit, He taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth, that it may bring forth more fruit. As branches, we are expected to be established in Him and to bring forth fruit or we will be cut off.

Three aspects of being rooted in Him will be discussed.

The first is "trusting completely in God". The bible says in the book of Proverbs, "trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Being rooted in Christ means being totally dependent on Him, totally trusting Him, putting Him first and making Him your number one.

The second is "taking constant nutrition from God" because, He is our source. "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God" (John 1:1). To succeed in life, we must feed constantly and be guided by the words.

The third is "keep seeking for deeper depths of the truth in Christ". Knowing God is knowing the truth. How much of God you know determines the level of truth you know. Inspite of how much the Apostle Paul knew God, he still prayed a prayer, "that I may know Him".

We must strive to serve him in spirit and in truth. Our jobs, businesses or academic pursuit should not stand in the way. How willing are we to be rooted in Him? To depend upon Him? To put Him first before everything? And to stay connected to Him so we aren't helpless?