OCTOBER 2023

FRUIT BEARING….HOW IS THIS GOING…. .?

I have spent the last week at Global Awakening Voice of Apostles 2023 Conference, and it was an awesome time. There was amazing worship, the Guest Speakers were highly anointed and spoke out of the overflow of their hearts. But what I think overwhelmed me the most, was the manifold Presence of God which was so tangible. When the Lord’s Presence abounds, you can feel His love, power and wisdom.

The Beloved Disciple, John knew how mightily he was loved and adored by Jesus. He wasn’t always like this, because we see him earlier speak about bringing down fire upon a village that was not doing what they ought ( Luke 9 v 54).

But as he spent time with Jesus, we see that his heart posture changed, such that he bore great, abundant, mighty fruit for the Kingdom. You and I are able to benefit from this gospel and the book of Revelation, many have been saved and John was also the trusted one chosen by Jesus to take care of His Mother. John was the beloved one leaning on the bosom of Jesus at the last supper that Jesus had with His disciples. He saw Jesus on the Cross and was one of those who was the first to see the empty tomb. This implies that there was a major life- transforming change that occurred in him as he walked and spent time with Jesus. 

Reading through (John 15), you will find that Jesus describes the Vine Dresser as His Father and Himself as the True Vine. He says that you and I are the branches. We know that a branch has to be embedded in the Vine to receive nutrition and also to benefit fully from the True Vine so that we produce the type of fruit Father God desires that we produce. 

I will pause here briefly for us to envisage a fruit market. There are fruits of different types and stages, but God seems to be particular about the type, quantity, and quality of the fruit. So fruit production is really a measure of our ability to have been embedded or to inhabit or to dwell or to abide in the True Vine. 

He also tells us that God prunes us and cuts away things from us that cause us to no longer bear the type of fruit He desires us to bear. God Almighty did not go to all the trouble, including the death of His only beloved Son, for you and I to bear little or no fruit. 

This implies that God’s desire that we bear much rich fruit, that is abundant, excellent and increases will not happen unless we spend more time in His Presence. 

Jesus’s ability to dwell or inhabit us, can only happen as we spend time in His Presence, intimately connected and passionately loving on Him. This is in no way a religious activity, but it’s developing a loving relationship that involves listening to Him speak to you, reading His Word, praying to Him, worshipping Him from the depth of your being, trusting and yearning for His love, and giving Him your all. No matter how close we are, we can get closer still. 

Let us begin to address the things in our lives that stop us from spending time in the Presence. We have to be intentional and prioritise this for it to happen. As the branch, let us stay well connected and nourished by the True Vine. 

Let us yield ourselves completely to the Holy Spirit so that as we spend time in His Presence, He will cause us to produce the type of fruitfulness that will bring pleasure to the Vine Dresser. 

May the Lord prosper us as we abide in the Vine, in Jesus’s Name, Amen.