Matthew 7:16-20 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a corrupt tree bears evil fruit. A good tree cannot bear evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
I saw a funny meme about fruit today that made me think of this passage.
Most people reading this passage tend to focus on the fruit that is produced. Sure, that’s important. But if you dig deeper, you’ll see that the Lord is looking at the tree itself. The fruit? It just shows what kind of tree is growing.
The fruit merely demonstrates the quality of the tree. We have all encountered this: there are trees whose fruit is healthy and delicious, and there are trees whose fruit is scarcely edible or even useless.
Remember, it’s not the fruit that defines the tree — it’s the tree that defines the fruit. A tree that produces good fruit is firmly rooted in soil that provides adequate water and nourishment. Likewise, those of us whose lives are rooted in and dedicated to Yeshua (Jesus) produce good fruit. Others who try to produce good works for “religious” reasons or to prove or approve of themselves may produce fruit, but it will be much inferior.
When our focus is on Yeshua, and our lives are centered in Him, the fruit we produce will not be from self-effort, and its quality will be excellent…because it is simply the produce of a good tree, properly rooted and fully nourished.
So, stop trying to produce good works in your strength. Just tap into the source of your life, Yeshua, allowing the sap of His Spirit to flow through you – and then watch what GREAT FRUIT He is continually able to produce through you!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]In this passage, Elijah had become so weary running from Jezebel that he sat under a Juniper tree and just asked the Lord to take his life. But the Lord knew exactly what Elijah needed and He sent forth a messenger to revive and nourish him. I love it.
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The Hebrew language contains numerous words that have the same root yet vast differences in meaning. On deeper examination however, these words can be related in illuminating ways. For example, the three Hebrew letters --"Lamed", "Chet", and "Mem"-- which spell, "lechem", or "bread" in English, are also the root letters for "fight" (lehilachem) and "war" (milchama). For centuries Rabbis have discussed and debated the connection between these three words.