This week’s reading: Matthew 7:13-23
Hi Friends,
One of the countless reasons why you and I should be “IN the Bible,” as they say, is so that we can use the precious gift of discernment. Discernment simply means knowing the difference between right and wrong, between good and evil. We humans think we can do this on our own, but since we are very limited, we simply cannot. We are limited in our thinking since we do not understand it all. We are limited in our resources because we do not have access to it all. And we are limited in our insight because we barely know our own heart, much less everyone else’s. We need God to be able to truly see and clearly hear, so we can really know ourselves and others. One of the ways the Bible teaches us this is to look for fruit. Our reading this week is Matthew chapter 7 verses 13 through 23, but listen to the simple wisdom here in these:
“By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.” Mt 7:16-17 NIV
Fruit. It is how we can tell what kind of tree the tall plant before us happens to be. Yes, we can recognize leaves, but if there is no fruit, then that tree is not doing what it was created to do, right? So we always look for the fruit. If I approach a tree that I am told is an apple tree, but I see bananas growing from it? I am going to think something is wrong here! It is the same with people. If I tell you I am a Christian but I am acting like the rest of the world, something is wrong here. I am not talking about judging others…we talked about that a couple of weeks ago, but I am trying to help us see that we must be very careful about who we are listening to when it comes to our Faith. If someone is proclaiming anything that is not consistent with God’s Word, then that is a “tree” you do not want to eat from. False prophets have been around since this world began. We humans think we can come up with our own interpretations of what God intended for life and we begin to spread lies and half-truths (which are lies BTW) and we can cause all sorts of harm. For example: when I was a baby Christian, I was told that, “If you have enough Faith, God will heal your daughter!” Because of this, I went through years thinking that what was happening to her was MY fault, that maybe I didn’t have “enough” Faith, whatever that is! Side note: Jesus says all you need is a mustard seed of Faith to do grand things, and in case you are not aware, a mustard seed is tiny! I certainly had all sorts of Faith bigger than that, yet my Baby Girl was not fully healed. Guilt on top of caring for a special needs, ill child is such a horrible burden to put on a grieving parent! The Truth is, the cancer spreading rapidly through Beckie was healed, but not all of her. She still had so many other conditions as a result of where the cancer was and events that took place because of it. It is both wrong and evil to tell anyone that they are at fault if they are not getting “their healing.” It was only as God matured me in His Love that He showed me, not everyone will be healed this side of Heaven. (see 2Co 4:16 and 2Co 12:7-9) He taught me to trust Him that it all had a good purpose. (see Ro 8:28) That He always had Beckie in the palm of His hand. That He would never leave her nor forsake her. Beckie is whole and complete, just not here on earth. Heaven is, after all, the destination for all believers and that is where we all will receive our full healing.
Only God knows. Is it wrong to believe and pray for healing? Absolutely not! I witnessed many miracles with Beckie. So many times the doctors thought she was fighting her last battle, and by God’s Grace, she would survive. This was so important to grow my Faith during those early years. But the real maturity came when, after Beckie went Home to be with our Lord, I still clung on to Him. I know He loves me. I know He has a good plan for my life here, before I am reunited with Him and her forevermore. And so I still praise Him and share Him as often as I possibly can. If healing comes in this world, hallelujah! If healing doesn’t come until the next world, hallelujah! See? Either way we can trust God. Either way God is still a Good, Good Father. Either way His Love never changes. As He told me after Beckie’s passing, “Child, the hard things that happen to you in this world do not define My Love for you. Only the Cross does that and it will never change!” My Friends, you and I were created for Paradise, not this fallen, broken, hurting world. Yes, let’s pray for physical healing, but let us be so much more concerned with spiritual healing! My point? Please, oh please be very careful who you are listening to.
Pretenders. Since we do not see into the heart of others, we cannot know 100% if they are Christians or not. There are some really great actors out there in the “Christian world.” Jesus not only warns us here to watch the acts of others to see if they are true followers, but also to check our own hearts too. Listen to this sobering verse: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Mt 7:21 NIV) I have said this many times but it is so worth repeating here: a Christian is NOT someone who believes in Christ! A Christian is someone who believes AND follows Christ. Notice what Jesus said in the verse, “only the one who does the will of my Father.” We must seek God’s Will, then seek His help in order to follow it. Just because you might attend church every week does not make you a Christian. I think the saddest, most heart breaking thing in the End of Times will be all those people who had religion, but no relationship. Oh they went to a building called church every week, but they, themselves, were not the church. They never lived a life reflecting that they belonged to Jesus. Their life was still theirs…except for maybe Sunday… for an hour…as they looked at their watch to see when the service would finally be done. Do you see this heart? It is not surrendered to Jesus as Savior or Lord. But people will think that their imaginary “holy to do list” will impress the King of kings Who surrendered His Life for them! So sad…and such deception!
“I never knew you.” Oh how devastating it would be to hear these words from our Lord! Instead, I live for these: “Well done, My good and faithful servant!” (Mt 25:21) Servant. This is another good word for a Christian. A servant desires to live a life that points others to God. A servant seeks to make life better for those around them. A servant is growing and learning that life is not about them, and is filled with joy about this truth! If we want to be a true follower of Jesus, then we must do what He did. Jesus did not come to BE served, but to serve all of us as our heavenly ransom. (Mt 20:28) All these verses I am talking about are from the Gospel of Matthew and we will get to these verses later this year I hope, but they are important to sample here because we are talking about knowing others, and ourselves, by the Fruit. If we are seeking to imitate Jesus, more and more, then our Fruit, the amount of love, peace, joy, patience and so on (see Gal 5:22-23) that we have will show up increasingly in our lives. Will we do this perfectly? Not this side of Heaven we won’t! This is why we do not judge others, but if we watch them long enough, if we, ourselves, claim to be born again for any length of time, then there must be some evidence of this being true. Mercy always, yes. But part of loving others, including ourselves, is being truthful. I would rather be misunderstood and called “judgmental” than ever be involved in anyone hearing those heart breaking words above from Jesus, “I never knew you!” My Friends, hear my prayer:
Oh Lord, help us! Give us courage to lovingly talk to one another if we do not see fruit consistent with being Yours. Oh Lord, help us be honest with ourselves if we are still struggling with the same problems we have been struggling with all our lives! Help us see if we are not fully with You, then move our hearts to surrender, for the first time or for the 101st time. Help our fruit be consistent with the fact that we belong to You. I want to be completely Yours! Thank You. Amen!
Grow in Christ. Only the Holy Spirit can produce the Fruit in our lives that will bear witness that we belong to God. We must seek ways daily, moment by moment even, to connect with Him and lean on His help so we can follow Jesus. This Christian life is not about you or me…thus it is called the CHRISTian life. We need Christ still, my Friends. Since we celebrate the Holy Week this week, what a beautiful time to make this commitment to imitate Jesus by surrendering our lives to Him Who died for us. I know each time the Lord wants me to mature to the next level, I must surrender deeper than ever before…and as I do, I never, ever regret it. It is not an easy process to kill off that MMI mentality, Pride has a tight grip on my heart…but the more I give it up to Jesus, the more peace and joy I experience. Do you want that too? Then won’t you join me?
Until we meet again, keep lifting your eyes to God, He’s closer than you think.
<>< Peace, Diane
