A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.
Luke 6:45 NLT
http://bible.com/116/luk.6.45.NLT
Do you have a heart touched by Christ and made new?
Do you have His love alive in your heart?
Are you bearing fruit?
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
Galatians 5:22-23 NLT
http://bible.com/116/gal.5.22-23.NLT
Do you see the promise?
“There is no law against these things.”
Do you have the gift that enables you to bear fruit in your life?
Are you alive?
Do you have Christ alive in your life today?
Or are you a dying fish trapped in the nets of struggle in your life, floundering about without the breath of life that you know that you so dearly need to survive?
Are you trapped in addiction to something in your life that you just can’t seem to lay down, that monkey on your back that leads you into wrong decisions and paths?
Are you tired of drinking of the pleasures of this world only to thirst for yet more and more, never satisfied, trapped by the insatiable hunger for those things that will lose their taste and leave you trapped in the consequences of a wasted life?
Are you ready to know Christ, and to see His mighty hand upon your life today?
He is waiting for you to come home, for the seed to take root in fertile soil and for your tree to burst forth and bear the fruit of a new life. Seek Him. Truly seek Him with your heart. Cry out to Him and He will hear your call. Knock and He will answer. Turn back from the world and return to your Father’s house. He will run to you and meet you on the path, dear friends – overjoyed to see your return.
And after you have eaten amongst the filth of the pigs and longed for what is theirs to eat – once you instead nourish upon the very bread of life and the living waters, once the very life giving blood of Christ has touched your heart, how could you turn back to the ways of this world, to the rot and filth?
How quickly the rebellious turn away to the darkness. But we are not children of darkness, friends. Even in our weakness, even in our struggles that humble us before God – it is His strength that overcomes. It is His love that bears the fruit in our words and actions.
But it is our decision, dear friends – our decision to either set our thoughts upon the higher things of faith and eternity, not to remain distracted by the physical evidence of this temporary world. We must have both the changed heart of a born again child of God, and the faith to put it into action and see His Kingdom come on earth through our very lives.
And what does His Kingdom look like? A world of lives filled with fruit.
Imagine a world where loving others overcame selfishness.
Imagine a world where the joy of knowing that God is in control even over those things that we might not fully comprehend comforts us in the times even when we must mourn.
Imagine a world of peace, where brother and brother might stand together and share instead of clamoring for more and oppressing one another.
Imagine a world of patience, where we would not expect perfection from one another but that we would understand the mistakes of others and not take personal offense, but help each other reconcile and come back into agreement.
Imagine a world of kindness, where we do for someone else because we see their need and we are able, not because we want to receive praise or reward or honor for our “benevolent acts” – simply helping because we can, and thankful for the opportunity to do so.
Imagine a world of goodness, where people work together as a society not just following written laws of DOs and DONTs, but where love itself is the law of its people.
Imagine a world of faithfulness, both to God and to one another, where betrayal and dissension and division is cast into the darkness and we are unified in purpose and vision together as a greater living body made up of partnering individuals.
Imagine a world of gentleness, where judgement and accusation are swept away and replaced with a nurturing and caring spirit for one another that lifts each other up in encouragement and accountability.
Imagine a world of self-control, where we walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh – where we fulfill the law of Christ by loving God and loving one another – where sin and evil has no dominion or control over our lives any longer.
You have just imagined the world of possibilities within your life, friend. You, who have Christ alive in you, you are called to be this world. You are called to be the very body of Christ, His Kingdom come on earth, as it is in heaven.
And when the world looks like Christ – when people walk in the Holy Spirit of Love – when they shine the light of this type of Godly love upon those around them – following God faithfully even during trials and persecution and c suffering – it is then that the world cannot deny that Jesus Christ is Lord of all.
Yes, it is then, that no one can deny the power of our risen Savior.
See past the religious practice. See past the weekly ceremonies that both sinners and saints participate in alike.
Let your eyes be opened to see the fruit that you are bearing, or the lack thereof.
Let your ears be opened to the very voice of the Good Shepherd calling you out onto service in His Kingdom.
Let your heart be renewed, so that your actions and words will reflect the Christ who lives in you, child of God.
Harold J. Ballinger 