Fruit Bearers

Jesus says that we are created to be fruit for the kingdom. What kind of fruit? Fruit is about replication. Plants do not produce fruit for our benefit.  A plant produces fruit to replicate itself, to produce more plants.

As humans we have learnt how to help a plant produce more fruit and Jesus uses the example of the grapevine, something that the disciples would relate to, to explain how they can be fruit bearers; people who replicate themselves for the kingdom.

John 15:1, 4-5, 9, 11, 16-17 MSG
"I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn't bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken. [4] "Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can't bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can't bear fruit unless you are joined with me. [5] "I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can't produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is---when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples. [9] "I've loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you'll remain intimately at home in my love. That's what I've done---kept my Father's commands and made myself at home in his love. [11] "I've told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I'm no longer calling you servants because servants don't understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I've named you friends because I've let you in on everything I've heard from the Father. [16] "You didn't choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won't spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you.

Some thoughts on being a fruit bearer.

1. Stay connected to the vine.
To bear fruit a branch must be connected. It must have a life force and a life flow. There must be an exchange of some sort. If we want to bear fruit we need to stay connected to Jesus.

Plants have xylem and phloem cells that take food and water in. The plant uses the food and water to grow and water is transpired out of the plant. Fruit is the result of a healthy exchange. When the exchange is interrupted the plant suffers. My lemon tree and orange tree in the pots are prone examples of plants suffering because there is not a healthy exchange.

What does it take to stay connected to the vine? This is an individual thing and a corporate thing. There must be both individual care and attention to your own spiritual life and support and encouragement from the body. We live in an individual culture but church is about the whole community, not an individual. It is life, lived in community. A branch is part of the whole and as it stays connected to the vine, connected to the whole, it flourishes.

What practical actions are you taking (or would you like to take) to stay connected?

Here are some simple ideas
-Read something from the Word every day
-This can be short excerpts
-It's more important to build the discipline rather than be haphazard
-If you miss a day - begin again the next day
-Pray every day

Prayers don't need to be long and involved. A short sentence from the heart is better than babbling on forever.

Matt 6:7,8
“When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. [8] Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!

-Be connected to a small group
-We don't do this alone. The Christian life is meant to be loved in community

Who are you doing life with?

2. The Aim is Kingdom fruit

Fruit - what kind of fruit are we bearing in our lives? Is it good strong fruit or restricted, weak and sickly fruit bearly hanging in there? Kingdom fruit is healthy and growing,  it is fruit that is useful and whole. Fruit that comes from connected branches does not succumb to the attacks.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 NLT
"But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. [8] They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.

When a tree is not connected in good soil, doesn't receive enough water and food, then not only is it more vulnerable to attack, but it's more likely to succumb to attack. It does not produce any fruit because its to busy trying to save itself.

Again, my fruit trees in pots are prime examples. They are prone to attack because they are not planned deeply and connected to the life force. Our mandarin tree on the other hand is brilliant, planted in good soil and able to stay connected to what it needs, producing much fruit. The type of fruit we produce Downs on the quality of the connection.

Matthew 7:15-20 NLT
"Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. [16] You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? [17] A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. [18] A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit. [19] So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. [20] Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.

When they don't get enough connection plants droop and they succumb. Interestingly it is mostly the branches that haven't grown strong through connection that succumb to attack. And those that lose connection die. They can't produce fruit in that state or if they do it's not very good fruit and is rather puny.

Jesus says that these types of branches are thrown into the fire. I believe that none of us want to be those branches. Let's become women so connected to the vine that even when attack comes, we don't succumb and instead, continue to produce fruit, good fruit, connected to the vine.

Are we stuck in survival mode, focusing on self and our needs or are we fruit focused?

What are we doing to ensure we focus on fruit for the kingdom?

3. Pruning isn't easy.
Jesus says that branches that don't produce will be cut off but he also says that branches that do produce will also be cut back, pruned hard, to produce more fruit.

When fruit is produced we feel like we are flourishing. When pruning happens it can feel like we are no longer flourishing but pruning is essential to the continuation of good fruit and increased fruit. Think Roses, grape vines etc.

Pruned vines look hard and nobbily, but at the right time they bud, flourish and grow. Sometimes it easy to think that pruning is not of God. But Jesus says he will prune us, and at the right time, we will produce more fruit. I'm sure Gideon felt like God was pruning him when he told him he had too many people in his army. Gideon had called the people of Israel to fight the enemy and God wants to ensure that Gideon understood that though he s fighting the victory was from God.

Judges 7:1-8 NLT
So Jerub-baal (that is, Gideon) and his army got up early and went as far as the spring of Harod. The armies of Midian were camped north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. [2] The LORD said to Gideon, "You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength. [3] Therefore, tell the people, 'Whoever is timid or afraid may leave this mountain and go home.'" So 22,000 of them went home, leaving only 10,000 who were willing to fight. [4] But the LORD told Gideon, "There are still too many! Bring them down to the spring, and I will test them to determine who will go with you and who will not." [5] When Gideon took his warriors down to the water, the LORD told him, "Divide the men into two groups. In one group put all those who cup water in their hands and lap it up with their tongues like dogs. In the other group put all those who kneel down and drink with their mouths in the stream." [6] Only 300 of the men drank from their hands. All the others got down on their knees and drank with their mouths in the stream. [7] The LORD told Gideon, "With these 300 men I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midianites. Send all the others home." [8] So Gideon collected the provisions and rams' horns of the other warriors and sent them home. But he kept the 300 men with him. The Midianite camp was in the valley just below Gideon.

Gideon could easily have felt pruned. But in obedience to God, he moves forward with a smaller army and God won a great victory through them. It's actually his doing, and pruning is a sign that not only has good fruit been produced, but that God desires to see more fruit for the kingdom. Pruning always leads to a healthier crop and a better crop. Pruning brings victory.

What areas of your life has God pruned?

Let God do his work and see great victory in your life.