From Within


It seems so simple.  A tree is identified by its fruit.  Apple trees produce apples, orange trees produce oranges.  We know them by what hangs on their branches, drops to the ground or is plucked off, and feeds others.  Jesus very simply puts that we become what we produce.  Are we producing bitter and nasty fruit, joyful and peaceful fruit?  We will be known by that.  That extends so much farther than the walls of the church.  It is very easy to play church and be something for a couple hours a week.  It gets harder when we are pressed, pushed, get stuck on the freeway and someone cuts us off.  What is in us!   Jesus says that if we produce things from the TREASURY (something stored, gathered, held) of a good heart we will produce good things.  So we must do things to fill that treasury in order to have surplus to draw from.

For me that is being in contact with God.  Prayer, word, worship… etc.  There is nothing in me that really wants to be nice to people when I am grumpy.  It is God’s strength that I rely on.

And now I am off to purchase duct tape, hats, blindfolds, and a prize for a game at our Middle School service tonight.