Matthew 7:19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

As I was driving down the road a couple of weeks ago, I saw a rather large piece of a tree trunk lying in the street. It was a nice size chunk possibly weighing 200 pounds or so. “Hmm”, I wonder what tree it came from as I was surveying the trees in the surrounding areas.

As I gazed at that tree piece, now lifeless bearing no roots or branches, I’m reminded of Jesus words in Matthew 7:19, “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” It made me take inventory of my own walk with the Lord and what He’s called me to do. Am I bearing fruit for God’s Kingdom? Am I seizing every opportunity to share the Good News with the lost? Have I become complacent in God’s purposes for my life? Do I take my calling from God seriously? When I ponder these questions, I prayed, “Lord, I do not want to take on the form of that tree piece lying on the side of the street with no purpose. I don’t want You to lay me aside, put me on the shelf, nor give my God given assignment to someone else due to my complacency. Lord, please do a new thing in me, stir it up in my heart Lord, help my unbelief, and give me an everlasting and a burning desire to do Your will only. Please also equip, empower, and strengthen me with Your Holy Spirit to bear good and lasting fruit for Your Kingdom.” Apart from You, I can do nothing. (John 15:5b)

Ladies, this is my prayer for you too. I exhort each of you to pray and seek God’s will for your life. Prayerfully ask Him, “What is your calling?”, “How can your life bring glory to His name?”, and “How can you bear good fruit for His kingdom?” I honestly believe that not even one of us wants to be like that lifeless tree trunk lying on the side of the road. God has a special calling for each of our lives. All we need to do is willingly submit to His authority and His overall plan for our lives. If we want to bear good fruit for His kingdom, we need to abide in Him.

John 15:4-5 says, “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.”

Jesus is the Vine and we are the branches. In order to be a fruitful branch, we must be deeply rooted and grounded in Jesus, in His Word, and in prayer. We need Him, His Spirit, His wisdom, His strength, His leading, and His guidance among other things to be a good fruit bearer. Ladies trust the Lord, rely on Him and His strength (not your own), and believe that He can use your life to bear good fruit for His kingdom. It doesn’t matter what you have done or where you come from, if you turn to the Lord and trust Him with your life, He will use it for His glory. He is sovereign and our faithful Redeemer.

Job 19:25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth.

Today is a new day and as His beautiful branches, God desires for each of us to use the gifts and talents He has entrusted to us, so that we may bear good and lasting fruit for His kingdom.

Psalm 1:1-3 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper.

Matthew 13:23 “But He who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

Psalm 52:8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.