Isa 11:1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
Jesus though He is the Lord of the entire universe chose to be born by the Father’s will as a little vulnerable baby as part of the family tree of Jesse, the father of King David. At the time, he was born circa 4 AD in that line, the family tree of Jesse had been reduced to be a mere near lifeless stump. There was no more any king in the line of descent –only Joseph, a carpenter by profession remained. But, onto this stump, Jesus was grafted in most uncongenial circumstances. But, over the next two millennia that tender twig became a tree of eternal life for all of humanity. The insignificant and the unimportant had become the source of significance and blessing for those who choose to believe.
Ironically, the Christmas tree though it is symbolic of joy and gaiety and festivities, is a rootless and hence, a fruitless tree. The implication is that if we are rooted in Christ, we become fruitful. Being rooted in Christ means that we must be rooted in the Word of God. We must also be rooted in continual prayer and worship. Then, we will bear a variety of internal fruits of character and external fruits of good deeds and accomplishments. When we are so rooted in Christ, we will experience all-round success and victory.
Jesse had bad genes lurking in his family background. His grandmother was Rahab, the prostitute. But, God turned bad genes around to make a non-Jew Rahab an ancestor of the God-child Jesus Himself. Faith in the God of the Jews enabled Rahab to prove the promise of “ rehab” or transformation by faith. The principle of fate or “ as you sow, so you reap” is transcended by faithful rooting or grafting onto God, His Word and His presence. We are empowered to bear a different kind of fruit for every month of the year and our “ leaves” or our words and thoughts will be used for the healing of nations.
Prateep V Philip
Showing posts with label fruitfulness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fruitfulness. Show all posts
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
The Process of Fruiting
Uni-verse 270/10,000 For better through verse Luke 8 v 8
Luk 8:8 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear
In order to be able to bear good fruit in our lives, we need to first hear the gospel at first and then, the Word thereafter. Hearing it, we must receive it with faith that it is true. Having received it, we must understand it by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Having understood it, we must keep it or retain it in our hearts and minds. Having kept it, we must claim it and obey it. Then, we are enabled by God’s grace to bear fruit a hundred-fold by faith and patience.
Conditioning by the world’s thought systems and human traditions makes our hearts hardened over time. Traditions rob the Word of God of its inherent power. We loose our ability or sensitivity to hear, receive, believe, understand and apply. It is easier to doubt, question, reject and to be deceived. It requires a lot of ploughing to find a furrow to plant a seed. Hence, a person needs to hear the Word in a variety of ways and very often in order to break the hard ground.
The seed is powerful and effective. Even a fragment of a verse is sufficient to convict or redeem a person in the right frame of mind. I have met people who were convicted by a biblical phrase like “ a half-baked loaf” or “ kicking against the thorns.” Both sensitivity at the time of receiving the Word and diligence in the period of growing spiritually precede hundred-fold fruitfulness. We are called like Isaac to plant the seed in every realm- the physical, the financial, the emotional, the spiritual, the social, the professional and receive back a hundred-fold. The result is contingent upon our response. Genesis, the ‘book of beginnings’ reports that Isaac sowed in that land and received in the same year a hundred-fold: and the Lord blessed him. It does not say that the Lord blessed him and therefore, he received a hundred-fold. But, he received a hundred-fold and the Lord blessed him. Likewise, may we be fruitful and be so blessed.
A blessing for fruitfulness:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbGtB5geSLI
Prateep V Philip
Luk 8:8 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear
In order to be able to bear good fruit in our lives, we need to first hear the gospel at first and then, the Word thereafter. Hearing it, we must receive it with faith that it is true. Having received it, we must understand it by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Having understood it, we must keep it or retain it in our hearts and minds. Having kept it, we must claim it and obey it. Then, we are enabled by God’s grace to bear fruit a hundred-fold by faith and patience.
Conditioning by the world’s thought systems and human traditions makes our hearts hardened over time. Traditions rob the Word of God of its inherent power. We loose our ability or sensitivity to hear, receive, believe, understand and apply. It is easier to doubt, question, reject and to be deceived. It requires a lot of ploughing to find a furrow to plant a seed. Hence, a person needs to hear the Word in a variety of ways and very often in order to break the hard ground.
The seed is powerful and effective. Even a fragment of a verse is sufficient to convict or redeem a person in the right frame of mind. I have met people who were convicted by a biblical phrase like “ a half-baked loaf” or “ kicking against the thorns.” Both sensitivity at the time of receiving the Word and diligence in the period of growing spiritually precede hundred-fold fruitfulness. We are called like Isaac to plant the seed in every realm- the physical, the financial, the emotional, the spiritual, the social, the professional and receive back a hundred-fold. The result is contingent upon our response. Genesis, the ‘book of beginnings’ reports that Isaac sowed in that land and received in the same year a hundred-fold: and the Lord blessed him. It does not say that the Lord blessed him and therefore, he received a hundred-fold. But, he received a hundred-fold and the Lord blessed him. Likewise, may we be fruitful and be so blessed.
A blessing for fruitfulness:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbGtB5geSLI
Prateep V Philip
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