Some of you might have seen my recent rant on facebook this evening....for those of you who didnt.... here it is.... "is a desire godly or impure? love or lust? are you walking in the will of God, led by the Spirit or are you moving in the fruit of the flesh? A Tree is known by its fruit...so if manipulation, lying, deceitfulness, gossip, greed, theft, division etc are its fruit... the root is not of God, its pure flesh and lust.... too often we cloak our ideas in biblical debates from scriptures we want to use to justify but the truth is we are doing it for our own gain and out of our own fleshly desires, and the fruit will always reveal the truth...what does it profit a man if he gains the world but looses his soul?? how many are building their own kingdoms and calling it the kingdom of God... its time to take stock of our lives, our motives but more importantly our fruit and call the tree for what it is...Spirit or Flesh.... Love or Lust.... Godly or impure... #foodforthought"
this is something that has been on my heart for a long time....but from two different angles....and is something i am personally questioning myself on at the moment. . . looking at the fruit of different things i have been involved in, as a missionary....weighing up what has been for personal gain [not financial - missionaries dont get that - but possible status or emotional fulfilment etc] and what has genuinely been of God.... i have been challenged by locals as to the need to mention i am a missionary... is it a status thing, does it assert me as a leader or is it simply describing what i do? and this is just one of the many things that has caused me to question my motives and my heart in different tasks... i have also seen many a task fall to pieces and had to wonder if its because it was me moving in good ideas, even those that might seem biblical, or if they were things i was truly called to in God and i am just suffering persecution.... i am sure many of us will ask ourselves these questions from time to time....
i think a lot of it comes down to fruit.... what fruit is it producing in our lives.... Galatians 5 is one of the most quoted scriptures on this topic....
Galatians 5 : 6 - 26
For in Christ Jesusneither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. 7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? 8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9"A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough." 10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be. 11 Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. 12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves! 13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 15 If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
Life by the Spirit
16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. 19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
its a good tool to use to weigh up our fruit and where we stand and what the root of the tree is . . . but another big influence is our hearts...our motives....God says that our hearts are sinful beyond all else... and he also says that He along knows our hearts... [paraphrased from different scriptures]... many times we do things we supposedly good intentions but we do it in our own strength [which truthfully is flesh] and we tie God's hands and eventually produce bad fruit.... i have seen this so often [for eg] in my work i the orphanage. . . .i will be overwhelmed with compassion for a child who is disabled and rejected and i will knock on any door possible to try fix this problem. [i am a rescuer by nature and find it hard to not step in.... i NEED to help and rescue and solve and make it right]... i will approach foreign organisations for aid, try get the kid adopted, try adopt the kid myself, try establish the foster care system in my city just so i can take the kid into a home etc etc.... but more often than not, once i have exhausted myself and my contacts and got no results... i get to a place of realising there is nothing more.... and without fail at that point God steps in and does what He is best at and what is best for the child....
so much of what i have done [not all], has come from what i didnt know was in me.... a desire to fix, and often i move in my own strength and exhaust myself.... and i later look at the fruit, wonder why its spoiled, worm infested and falling off the tree....but thank God he has shown me [in this specific example] that i was moving in my own strength [flesh].... and not giving to Him and moving in faith and in the Spirit.....
i see too many christians in division in this city...it is what Elbasan is sadly known for.... to many Christians gossiping....to many church splits....to many scandals etc etc....bad bad fruit everywhere and i think a lot of it is cause we are not honest with our motives....and we push and clammer over each other to build our own names, our own kingdoms or to attain our own personal satisfaction or emotional fill and we do it in the name of God...
not all our work is that.... but there are definitely parts where our sin nature rules.... and too often its only once the fruit actually is produced, passed the deceptive bloom stage, where the flowers look all pretty and we can convince ourselves we are doing right or good.... but when the fruit comes in.... and its in that time, in that place that we need to make a choice....repent before God, cut the tree down, uproot it and start afresh.... or we continue to exhaust ourselves striving in the flesh to make our rotten fruit appear good....
i know its a heavy word.... but its something we should all, occasionally, take stock of...whether you are a minister, a missionary or an everyday christian we need to know that we will give an account to God for all our actions, .... our deeds will be tried by fire...
1 Corinthians 3 : 12 - 15
12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.
its been a difficult pill too swallow for me in some areas....seeing my flesh running rampant... but also good to see the fruit that only God can produce in the areas He called me to and i leaned on Him and moved by faith in love.... i continously pray for discernment in my own life... i have allowed myself to become burnt out and dispondant because i have moved so much in my own strength... in doing so i have sometimes allowed sin and bad character to show itself through me and it hasnt been pretty... but i am eternally grateful that i can always come to Him in repentance, and know that He forgives me and that by His love, Spirit and Grace i can learnt to say no to ungodliness and sin and keep in step with His Spirit....
Lord help me stay in a place where i am totally dependant on you.... leaning on you...and not moving in my own flesh, creating fruit that will rot and decay or falling into sin through the deceptiveness of my motives.....give me an ear to hear what Your Spirit is saying for me as i seek you for the next season in my life..... Amen.
