The Goal Is The Fruit

This past summer, I grew a couple of tomato and pepper plants in pots because I love BLT sandwiches and fresh toppings for my mini pizzas. Plus, I really just like to be outside in nature…well…at least until it gets too hot. At that point, you will only catch me out in the early morning.

When the plants matured to the point of having flowers and producing small fruit, I felt the Holy Spirit ask me to look at the fruit on the vine more carefully. It was then that I noticed ‘the flower came before the fruit.’ Simple…but I felt there was a spiritual implication to understand. So…I asked the Holy Spirit to explain. I didn’t get the answer until this week.

I had gotten up early, when He began to show me the mental picture of the flower/tomato on the vine again. Then I heard the Holy Spirit say,

“That is where you are right now…

The bearing of the fruit.”

Let me explain.

I received Jesus as my Savior at a young age. From there, I struggled with what it meant for Jesus to be Lord over my life. Even though I was growing in the knowledge of God, I still felt so defeated all the time. I tried for years to do the right thing to earn God’s favor and respect but all the while feeling like I was a failure.

Finally, I began to understand what the grace of God really meant. In time, I also began to accept Christ’s leadership as well. The more I studied, meditated on the scriptures and witnessed His presence, the more I relaxed in His arms. Now, our relationship has taken on a whole new look. Slowly but surely, I began handing over every aspect of my life to Him…. trusting Jesus to direct my paths.

The tomato plant, root system, leaves, and finally the budding flower all represent different aspects of my growth in Christ. The developing flower symbolizes the eventual lordship of Christ over all areas of my life, each pedal, an area surrendered. The final fading of the flower represents my total surrender to develop Christlikeness in my life to the greatest measure.

The Holy Spirit’s lesson is that I now have the wisdom of maturity to allow the fruits of the spirit to ripen fully. My present goal is not only to continue allowing Jesus to be Lord over my life. I also want to go even farther to acquire His mind and personality. Then others can taste and see that God is good. (Ps. 34:8) They will be able to get a glimpse my ripening fruit as I display His love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, meekness, long suffering, faithfulness, and self-control. (Gal. 5:23) Spiritual fruit only gets sweeter as it ripens.

The scripture that keeps popping up as I type is this:

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Galatians 2:20

Where are you in your walk with Christ? Are you a new member of the family or have you been a fellow believer for a while. Wherever we are, there is always something new to learn to grasp for that will bring more confidence and freedom to your life. I challenge you to keep seeking Christ so your fruit can come to full maturity.

The Key

The ministry of prayer often teaches me as much as it helps the person I am praying for. This was the case as I prayed for a lady who I knew was coming into see me.

When I pray, God often gives me a picture of something, which can help the person, I am praying for. When I closed my eyes for this particular lady, I began to see an enlarged knob and keyhole on a huge wood door. The keyhole was large enough so that I could see there was a beautiful country on the other side of the door. I felt a peace as well as an excitement while I looked around to see as much as I could see. Then, I could see the lady I was praying for looking through the keyhole and admiring the land as well. Then the vision in my mind’s eye ended.

I was not sure what it all meant so I asked the Holy Spirit to give me some understanding of what I was to say. Moments later, I spoke out these words without even thinking about it.

The key is in the character.

I let the phrase roll over in my mind a few times before the revelation of what the Holy Spirit was saying came forth.

God often shows us a part of where He is planning on taking us by giving us dreams, visions, words of knowledge or prophecy or through other avenues in our daily lives.We get excited and sometimes consumed with the future plan. However, God will not open the door to the “promised land” until we gain the character skills to stay firmly planted when we get there.

So many times when the wait is long, we want to whine and plead our way into where we knew God wanted to place us. But God will not let us “jimmy the lock” open prematurely. Why? He loves us too much. He knows, if He allows us into the land too early, He would be setting us up for failure. Although every pathway has its challenges, God doesn’t intentionally send someone into a new situation knowing they do not have the character skills to accomplish what He is asking them to accomplish. We may try to send ourselves in disobedience but God will not send us unprepared.

So, if the key is the character, then where do we find the traits needed to advance to the next level? We can start with the fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. Love-joy-peace-patience-kindness-goodness-faithfulness-gentleness-self_control. As we grow in Christ our understanding of each of these grows. As we put our understanding of each of these fruits into practice, then the Holy Spirit will reveal more and more to us. The more we develop our fruits/character the more usable we become and the more we can glorify the One we serve.

Are you ready to enter your promised land or are you still going around in stubborn circles? There are no shortcuts with God. Only the real thing will do. Ask Him what you are lacking and get ready to insert your key of character. God is more then ready to help you with opening your door.