Tag: bear fruit

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2 Thessalonians Devotionals

That I might bear fruit

In view of this, we always pray for you that our God will make you worthy of his calling, and by his power fulfill your every desire to do good and your work produced by faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified by you, and you by him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12)

Father, I pray that you would make me worthy of your calling.

I fall short so often. I desire to do good, to bear much fruit for you, but so often fail to do so.

Jesus, you are the vine. I am the branch.

By your power fulfill my every desire to do good.

Not so that I will receive praise from others.

But so that your name, and your Father will be glorified in me.

And that I may hear your words of praise, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Thank you for your grace, Father.

You, who have called and chosen me, are faithful (1 Thessalonians 5:24).

And I believe that what you started in me, you will complete. (Philippians 1:6)

In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Mark Devotionals

Chosen to be with him. Chosen to do battle.

Mark

He appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, to send them out to preach, and to have authority to drive out demons. (Mark 3:14-15)

What does it mean to live the Christian life? I think we find the answer in these two verses.

We are chosen to be with Jesus.

This doesn’t mean just spending time with God during your quiet time (important as that is) and then living the rest of the day for yourself.

It means being with Jesus every moment of every day. It means walking with him, constantly listening for his voice, and following his lead. (John 15:4-5)

But we aren’t just chosen to be with Jesus. He sends us out into the world to do spiritual battle. (Ephesians 6:11-12, 2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

Oh, we may not be driving out demons. But we are called to do battle against Satan and his kingdom. And we mainly do that by sharing the gospel with those around us.

For it is through the gospel that the gates of hell are torn down and people are set free from Satan’s kingdom.

That’s the Christian life: to be with Jesus and to touch others with his gospel.

And as we do so, I believe Jesus looks at us, smiles, and says,

Who are my mother and my brothers?…

Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:33-35)

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Jeremiah Devotionals

Verses to remember

Jeremiah

In a time when many people are living in fear and worry, Jeremiah 17:5-8 is a great passage to remember.

May I make a suggestion? Memorize this passage.

If you belong to a small group, have all your group members memorize it. Then on Sunday, contact each other by phone or video chat and check if you were able to memorize it.

Then encourage each other and pray with each other.

Even if you don’t belong to a small group, call a friend and encourage them, “Let’s memorize this passage together.”

If you think it’s a bit too long, just memorize verses 7-8

One more idea is to memorize it with your family.

Anyway, note the contrasts in these verses.

Cursed is the one who trusts in man. who draws strength from mere flesh (Jeremiah 17:5)

But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD (7)

For the person who trusts in man, his/her heart turns away from the LORD. (5)

The person who trusts in the Lord has his/her confidence is in Him. (7)

The person who trusts in man will be like a bush in the wastelands…They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. (6)

The person who trusts in the Lord will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. (8)

The person who trusts in man will not see prosperity when it comes. (6)

The person who trusts in the Lord does not fear when heat comes; His/her leaves are always green, has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. (8)

Quite a contrast don’t you think?

So let us put our trust in Him!

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John John 15

Lifted up and pruned

John

One of the biggest differences between Christianity and every other religion is that our righteousness does not depend on our own efforts. Rather, it comes from God’s work in us, changing us from the inside out.

God first introduces that concept in the Old Testament, where he said through Jeremiah,

“The time is coming…when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah…”

“This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD.

“I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (Jeremiah 31:31, 33)

And again, in Ezekiel, where God said,

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. (Ezekiel 36:26–27)

Now in this passage in John, Jesus shows us further the work of God, as he says,

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.

He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. (John 15:1–2)

Here we see the work of the Father, first cutting off branches that bear no fruit while pruning others so that they will be more fruitful.

What does it mean that God cuts off branches that bear no fruit?

I don’t believe from other scriptures that it means that we can lose our salvation. There are two other possibilities.

One is that he’s talking about people like Judas who came to learn of Jesus. But after years of learning from him, he bore no fruit. He never came to true faith. And so he was cut off.

Many people today go to church, they learn many things from the Bible but never come to true faith. And so eventually, they’re cut off.

There is another possibility, however. The words “cut off” can be translated “lifted up.”

It’s possible that Jesus is saying that the Father lifts those branches that are not bearing fruit up into the sunlight to better nourish the plants so that they can start to bear fruit.

In the same way, God lifts us from out of our sin and failures and works in our hearts to bring about change so that we can start to bear fruit.

And as we start to bear fruit, he prunes us, cutting out the things from our lives that would hinder our fruitfulness.

I think God’s work in Peter’s life illustrates all this.

At a time when Peter was depressed and discouraged for having failed Jesus so badly, Jesus lifted him up and encouraged him.

He didn’t wait for Peter to change himself. He went to Peter and started to work in his heart, pulling him out of his depression, and then challenging him to move on. (John 21)

And though Peter started to bear fruit, Jesus didn’t stop there. Rather, he pruned away Peter’s prejudices and caused him to become more fruitful as he started to reach out to the Gentiles he had once despised. (Acts 10–11)

But it was a continual process, and when Peter fell again, Jesus lifted him up and pruned him further. (Galatians 2:11–14)

How about you? Are you discouraged about where you are as a Christian?

Remember that God doesn’t condemn you. Nor does he give up on you. Rather, he will continue working in you until you become all he desires you to be.

So don’t shy away from him. Draw near. Remain in him. And you will bear fruit.