Dear Northside
We are a few weeks into Lent. Are you doing something to prepare your heart, mind and soul for Easter?
Our Church AGM is next Sunday. It is always a wonderful and useful exercise looking back over the last year. At each AGM we produce a booklet of Annual Ministry Reports from all our ministries. ‘Booklet’ may be an understatement as it is 42 pages long. It is encouraging and challenging and highlights a lot of things God is doing in us and through us, as Jesus builds His church here at Northside. If you would like to access our “booklet” please click on this LINK.
But we do not just look backwards. Looking backwards helps us see God’s faithfulness and so as we start looking forward, we can do so with hope. And so, as we look forward this year, we see our theme of “Walking in the Spirit: Activated for growth.”
As I consider this theme, I note that it is linked to Spiritual Fruit. Spiritual Fruit or the lack of it, tells us if we are walking in the Spirit or not. I am reading a book on this. Below are 3 reasons why we should bear fruit. I hope it speaks to you as much as it did to me.
TO GLORIFY GOD
John 15:8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
Bearing fruit glorifies God. Bearing fruit causes the glory of God to be seen by others. To bring glory to God is one of our main functions as believers. And, of course, the desire to bring glory to God infuses every heart that truly knows and loves the Lord. If you know Him, your deepest desire is going to be to make Him known in such a way that people are drawn to Him. If you love Him, your big dream will be to see other people come to know how glorious, how amazing, how wonderful, and how perfect He is. The grateful heart whose eyes have been opened to His glory desires nothing more than to bring that glory to light in every way possible. If the urge to make the greatness and goodness of God known to others is not in you, then maybe you should question where you are in the faith. Indifference is an unhealthy response to our call to make the Lord known. To declare God with your voice, and yet show by your life no evidence of the fruit that comes from being with Him – this does the opposite of bringing glory to God.
TO PROVE BY DEMONSTRATION THAT WE ARE DISCIPLES OF THE LORD
John 15:8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
Bearing fruit is the one clear way to demonstrate that you are the Lord’s true disciple. Without such fruit being developed in you, in fact, the exact opposite is being demonstrated for the world to see. A true disciple’s life is a life that nourishes others with the fruit of the Spirit. A tree does not eat its own fruit. The fruit of our lives is not for us. It is by nature for others and is meant to nourish and serve others.
John 13:35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.
The Lord Himself told us that the love we have for one another will be evidence to the people of the world that we are indeed His true disciples. Without this fruit of the Spirit, we will look just like anybody else living on the earth. Nothing will make us stand out. Nothing about our lives will indicate that we sincerely belong to Jesus Christ. So, to bear fruit then is necessary for us to prove that we are genuine, true, real-life disciples of our great Lord.
WE ARE APPOINTED TO BEAR FRUIT
John 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
Bearing fruit is what we are supposed to do as Christians. Bearing fruit is the destiny of everyone who is chosen to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. We have been called to bear fruit, and if we are the real deal, we certainly will. Bearing fruit is so natural to the true disciple that he cannot not bear fruit. If you are somewhat anxious over the lack of fruit in your life, then here is what you do: make yourself available to all the means of grace, all the ways that grace gets into you and does what it does. Read your Bible, pray, be present at every opportunity to hear the preaching and teaching of the word, and get involved in active fellowship and ministry – and you will begin to see changes take place in the fruitfulness of your life. These things are known as the normal means of grace.