Tending the Garden of Your Heart

I feel like I really need to apologize after that weak performance yesterday. My sister called and told me that it was unacceptable and from now on I needed to write Wednesdays blog on Tuesday night. She's tough.

Yesterday I heard a snip-it on the radio about what we produce. How much fruit are you seeing in your life and if none what do we do about it? the Bible is pretty clear on this and says that if we are connected to Jesus we have no option but to bear fruit. Check this verse out:

1 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. 3 "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 "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. 5 "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.
John 15:1-5 (NASB)

OK, so that answers the question about what we can do if we see no fruit in our lives. Basicly we need to be plugged in and totally connected to Jesus to do anything for the kingdom. That is an easy concept. But what are the fruits that we produce when we are connected? What can Jesus produce through us if we will let him? I'm glad you asked, because the bible addresses this in the book of Galatians.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Gal 5:22-24 (NASB)

How many of these fruits are you practicing daily? Lets compare for a minute the desires and deeds of the flesh. They are addressed in the verses before this one.

19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality , impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions , 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Gal 5:19-21 (NASB)

Are there more deeds of the flesh than fruits of the spirit in your life? God desires for us to be plugged in and stay that way, but I have to die daily to the deeds of the flesh and reconnect to Jesus every morning. Why you may ask? Because the devil never sleeps, he is always looking for our weakness and he hates God and wants us to stumble. That is why it is so important to be all that we can be, and abide daily in Christ Jesus.

I have an email that I would like to share with y'all this morning about just how our fruits are perceived, and kinda sums up what I'm trying to say. Thank you Aunt Cheryl for sharing this one.

A few years ago a group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Chicago. They had assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday night's dinner.
In their rush, with tickets and brief-cases, one of these salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display of baskets of apples. Apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they all managed to reach the plane in time for their nearly missed boarding.
All but one. He paused, took a deep breath, got in touch with his feelings, and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple stand had been overturned. He told his buddies to go on without him, waved goodbye, told one of them to call his wife when they arrived at their home destination and explain his taking a later flight. Then he returned to the terminal where the apples were all over the terminal floor.
He was glad he did. The 16 year old girl was totally blind! She was softly crying, tears running down her cheeks in frustration, and at the same time helplessly groping for her spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her, no one stopping, and no one to care for her plight.
The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them into the baskets, and helped set the display up once more. As he did this, he noticed that many of them had become battered and bruised; these he set aside in another basket.
When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, "Here, please take this $20 for the damage we did. Are you okay?" She nodded through her tears. He continued on with, "I hope we didn't spoil your day too badly." As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called out to him, "Mister...." He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes. She continued, "Are you Jesus?"
He stopped in mid-stride, and he wondered. Then slowly he made his way to catch the later flight with that question burning and bouncing about in his soul: "Are you Jesus?"
Do people mistake you for Jesus? That's our destiny, is it not? To be so much like Jesus that people cannot tell the difference as we live and interact with a world that is blind to His love, life and grace.
If we claim to know Him, we should live, walk and act as He would. Knowing Him is more than simply quoting Scripture and going to church. It's actually living the Word as life unfolds day to day.
You are the apple of His eye even though we, too, have been bruised by a fall.
He stopped what He was doing and picked you and me up on a hill called Calvary and paid in full for our damaged fruit.
Let's start living like we are worth the price He paid.
Start today!

Have a Blessed Day!!!