How to Bear Good Fruit
Adapted from Hearing from God Each Morning
When you bear (produce) much fruit, My Father is honored and glorified, and you show and prove yourselves to be true followers of Mine.
In today's verse, Jesus said that God is glorified when we bear fruit. He also spoke of fruit in Matthew 12:33 when He said that trees are known by the fruit they bear, and in Matthew 7:15–16 He applied this same principle to people. These verses show us that as believers we need to be concerned about the kind of fruit we are bearing. We want to bear the good fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23), but how do we do that?
We know that God is a consuming fire, and that Jesus was sent to baptize us with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Unless we allow the fire of God to burn in our lives, we will never exhibit the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
Bearing good fruit seems exciting until we realize that fruit-bearing requires pruning. Jesus said: Any branch in Me that does not bear fruit [that stops bearing] He cuts away (trims off, takes away); and He cleanses and repeatedly prunes every branch that continues to bear fruit, to make it bear more and richer and more excellent fruit (John 15:2 AMPC). Just as fire describes the work the Holy Spirit does in our lives, so does pruning. Fire is necessary for purification and death of the flesh; pruning is necessary for growth. Dead things and things that are going in the wrong direction must be cut off so we can grow as trees of righteousness and bear rich fruit for God (Isaiah 61:3 KJV).
Prayer of the Day: Lord, prune what hinders me, and let Your fire purify my heart so I may grow in righteousness and bear lasting fruit that glorifies You, amen.
