“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Matthew 12:33-37
Jesus is trying to help clear up our confusion about what we allow into our hearts and hold onto, its outcoming clearly indicates where our heart is. For example, we can look at the lives of historic or present-day heroes of the faith, and admire their eloquence or courage and impact they have made on society. But when we examine their lives closely, we see how faithfully they worked to “make the tree good.” Fruit in the lives of God’s faithful followers is beautiful to look at, but fertilizing and pruning which comes through diligent and steadfast commitment to the Word of God, is often hard, invisible to everyone but God, and often times even painful. Yet, it is because of such commitment through longsuffering that one is successful at bearing this fruit of righteousness. And here Jesus has laid out for us a complete good-tree plan that we should follow day by day. If we do, we will be surprised one day to see beautiful fruit coming from our lives which will be a blessing to others, and glorifying to the Lord in God’s season. Let’s take a closer look.
“If you want good fruit, you must make the tree good”—Jesus tells us: Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned” (John 15:4-6) The word “abide” means to remain or stay around. Remaining is evidence that salvation has already taken place, and that the fruit of salvation is in the continuing service to Christ, and in His teaching. For true believers obey the Lord’s commands, submitting to His Word and are devoted to doing His will. Thus their prayer life is fruitful.
For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks—The Bible has alot to say about our speech. And there is a very clear word of warning in the Book of James: And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.(James 3:6-10) Like a fire, the tongue’s sinful words can spread very quickly widespread destruction; and with its accompanying smoke, those words can permeate and ruin everything around it. And only God’s sanctifying work of grace in the heart of a believer, can change this.
Beloved friend, Every idle word will be judged by God one day, but we need not have to be afraid of this. If we continue to follow Jesus Christ, and receive His Words of grace into our lives, It will change us. We will live with praise and thanksgiving on our lips, rejoicing in our Savior, Lord and King! We will be all about the kingdom living, and being effective in our witnessing to others, as our declarations match that of our actions as we continue in our faith and trust in Him in this journey through life and face the challenges that lay ahead. We will find Christ’s kingdom living to be paradoxical, where to live we must die (Mark 8:35); where to gain we must give (Matthew 19:21); and to rule we must serve (Luke 22:26). All the while, the Lord is giving us opportunities to serve Him through His Holy Spirit’s power, which is enabling us to bear good fruit in our life.
May the Lord bless your walk with Him today!
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Brother this so blessed Tina and I this morning as we had coffee. There were several things that really spoke to us so thank you for your diligence to study and blog what The Lord shows you.
John
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