5 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.
32 Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. - Matthew 13:32.
32 But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it. - Mark 4:32.
19 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it. - Luke 13:19.
You know why the seed is such a strong message in scripture. In the seed is the very character and nature of God. It is the same as the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is the character and personality of Christ. When we teach the the fruit of the Spirit it has to come from the fruit being His fruit, His character and personality, and shared with the believer or bared by them not produced by them. That is different from what I understood at one time.
I thought God was working on me so hard to get me to produce some good fruit. I was to be good all the time and give all the time and be happy all the time and never miss church and to share Jesus all the time. Now if you look at it from a 'doing something for God' stand point then you can make a good argument, but that is not what the scripture says. The scripture says it is fruit and that fruit is in me and is not produced by me at all but hangs on me like any fruit would hang on a tree. But it was not me doing the producing of the life of the fruit. I was not the seed, I was not the tree, I was not the fruit, but I was a great and glorious branch (image and likeness of God with a unique creation) on this tree and the fruit would hang off of me by the fruit producer Christ in you the hope of glory! As the branches on a tree connected in every way to the seed to the root system to the trunk to the husbandman (caretaker). Unique in always connected.
What does the husbandman do? He plants the seed he nutures the seed for growth and waters and the seed germinates and a tinder shoot comes up and he protects it from the harsh environment and the tree grows and puts on a large trunk and big branches and he prunes it and eventually fruit begins to hang off of those branches and that fruit can be enjoyed by everyone that comes in contact with it. The whole tree has life, seed, root, branches, fruit, anyone that takes the fruit, it has life in it, everything about it produces life.
What is that? If scripture is direct on anything it is believers seeing Christ in each other. The grieving of the Spirit is not seeing Christ in each other. You know why Christians divorce rate is as high as the world or maybe higher? We don't see Christ in each other. First we don't know he is there so we act out and can't get along. We have to search the scriptures for Him, the scriptures reveal Him and how you are to present Him to each other for starters and then you can go to the world with something. It's like a dog with a bone, you try to take the bone away, the dog will take your hand off. You throw them a steak and they gladly give up the meatless bone for a steak.
If you have ever had a desire to do something for God, get understanding. Treat a neighbor like they might mean something in the realm of creation, not like the used up creation most neighbors are. Listen saints it's normal for people to lie, cheat, and steal, be blown out on drugs get over it and do something to stop it for their sake. If we love God we will care, it is a personality trait of Who you are. When we want to make a difference you need to be ready. Prepare yourself with a sound mind to reach a lost and dieing world, they are not going anywhere and they need you to get yourself prepared to understand the plight of humanity. Bless you.
32 Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. - Matthew 13:32.
32 But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it. - Mark 4:32.
19 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it. - Luke 13:19.
You know why the seed is such a strong message in scripture. In the seed is the very character and nature of God. It is the same as the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is the character and personality of Christ. When we teach the the fruit of the Spirit it has to come from the fruit being His fruit, His character and personality, and shared with the believer or bared by them not produced by them. That is different from what I understood at one time.
I thought God was working on me so hard to get me to produce some good fruit. I was to be good all the time and give all the time and be happy all the time and never miss church and to share Jesus all the time. Now if you look at it from a 'doing something for God' stand point then you can make a good argument, but that is not what the scripture says. The scripture says it is fruit and that fruit is in me and is not produced by me at all but hangs on me like any fruit would hang on a tree. But it was not me doing the producing of the life of the fruit. I was not the seed, I was not the tree, I was not the fruit, but I was a great and glorious branch (image and likeness of God with a unique creation) on this tree and the fruit would hang off of me by the fruit producer Christ in you the hope of glory! As the branches on a tree connected in every way to the seed to the root system to the trunk to the husbandman (caretaker). Unique in always connected.
What does the husbandman do? He plants the seed he nutures the seed for growth and waters and the seed germinates and a tinder shoot comes up and he protects it from the harsh environment and the tree grows and puts on a large trunk and big branches and he prunes it and eventually fruit begins to hang off of those branches and that fruit can be enjoyed by everyone that comes in contact with it. The whole tree has life, seed, root, branches, fruit, anyone that takes the fruit, it has life in it, everything about it produces life.
What is that? If scripture is direct on anything it is believers seeing Christ in each other. The grieving of the Spirit is not seeing Christ in each other. You know why Christians divorce rate is as high as the world or maybe higher? We don't see Christ in each other. First we don't know he is there so we act out and can't get along. We have to search the scriptures for Him, the scriptures reveal Him and how you are to present Him to each other for starters and then you can go to the world with something. It's like a dog with a bone, you try to take the bone away, the dog will take your hand off. You throw them a steak and they gladly give up the meatless bone for a steak.
If you have ever had a desire to do something for God, get understanding. Treat a neighbor like they might mean something in the realm of creation, not like the used up creation most neighbors are. Listen saints it's normal for people to lie, cheat, and steal, be blown out on drugs get over it and do something to stop it for their sake. If we love God we will care, it is a personality trait of Who you are. When we want to make a difference you need to be ready. Prepare yourself with a sound mind to reach a lost and dieing world, they are not going anywhere and they need you to get yourself prepared to understand the plight of humanity. Bless you.
