We
all live 24 hours each day,
but the quality of the lives we live is different for all of us.
Quality of life is determined by many things - but one of the most important of
them is;
Is
having both a defined purpose and experiencing
success in fulfilling
that purpose.
If you have not yet discovered your unique purpose in life,
you can still find great fulfillment by:Doing Col 1:10
And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the
Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in
every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
The
first task God gave to man was found in Gen 1:28
And God blessed them. And
God said to them, Be fruitful, and multiply and fill the
earth, and subdue it.
This was clarifiedGen 2:15
And the LORD God took the man
and put him into the garden of Eden to work it
and keep it.
Adam and Eve's JOB was simply Garden tending or Horticulture (can you say Horticulture?)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Horticulture the Latin
words hortus (gardenplant)
and cultura (culture)
together form
horticulture,
·Classically defined as the culture or
growing of garden plants.
As you
are fruitful and productive in the tasks God has put before
You!
·But how do You grow in fruitfulness?
·To understand this we must see that
God is also into
Horticulture and
we are his garden.
So much of the
teaching of Jesus is understood in the context of "Horticulture."
Mt.13:24 And Jesus said, The
kingdom of heaven is like unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
Lu.13:6 And Jesus said, A
certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and looked
for fruit on it, and did not find any.
Lu.20:9 And Jesus said, A
certain man planted a vineyard, and put it under the care of husbandmen, (horticulturalist) and went into a far country for a long time.
Today let's look at how we grow and become fruitful in Gods garden.
Were going to examine some of the methods He uses… to help us
beard fruit.
·First we need to know that it
is not our effort that causes us to grow or bear fruit.
Luke 12: 25 Who of you by worrying
can add a can add one cubit to his height (a single hour to his life)?
·God started the process by
planting the seed of His word in our hearts.
Mark 4:3-20 Jesus said:
"Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; as he was sowing, some
seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up.
14 "The sower sows the word."
20
"And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and
they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a
hundredfold."
It is clear that God
intends for you to grow and bear much fruit
·Make sure your heart stays
soft and tilled and you accept the Word
of God gives to you.If you do, You
will bear fruit!!
Matt 13:31-32And Jesus said: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and
planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds,
yet when it grows, it becomes
largest of garden plants like a tree,
so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches."
·It is
God's intention for you to grow strong(He
wants itmore
than you)
Ps.1:3Those
that Love Gods law shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of
water, that brings forth his fruit in his season; his
leaf also will not wither;
and what ever he does will prosper.
I try to take a morning walk with barb and what I saw baffles me.
·They paved over some small
plants & they sprouted through the pavement!
T They actually pushed up the payment in there quest for the sun.
·They still were connected to their roots and no matter the obstacle they grew.
Rom 8:38-39 For I am
convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor
any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Grafting)It does not matter where you came from.
·
It matters who you are connected to! (play
this graft video)
I do not care what wild
tree, you were cut from...
·
If you are grafted into Jesus you can grow and bear much fruit.
Romans 11:16-24 if
the root is holy,
the branches are too.
But
if some of the branches were broken off,
and you, being a wild olive,
were grafted in among them and became
partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, do not be
arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is
not you who supports the root, but the root supports you.
You
will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in."
Quite right, they were broken off for
their unbelief, but you stand by
your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; for if God did not spare the
natural branches, He will not spare you, either.
Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity,
but to you, God's kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you
also will be cut off.
And
they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in,
for God is able to graft them in again.
For
if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were
grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will
these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?
Ok you are now part of the true vine. You were grafted in
Lets talk about increasing your yield of fruit.
Can
you say "Pruning"?
(Play
the clip)
John 15:1-11 Jesus said:
"I am the true vine, and My
Father is the husbandman.
"Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every
branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. "You
are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the
branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither
can you unless you abide in Me.
"I am the vine, you are the branches;
he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you
can do nothing.
"If anyone does not abide in Me, he
is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them
into the fire and they are burned.
"If you abide in Me, and My words
abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
"My
Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My
disciples.
"Just as the Father has loved Me, I
have also loved you; abide in My love.
"If
you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My
Father's commandments and abide in His love. "These things I have spoken to
you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
No one likes to be pruned!
But trimming off a few branches is better than the option... getting rid of the
whole tree.
Lu.13:7 Then said he unto the
dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on
this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?
Let's get closer to home
Mt.5:30 And if thy right hand offend thee,
cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of
thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into
hell.
Mt.18:8 Wherefore if thy hand
or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better
for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or
two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.
Pruning produces plenty!
No pruning produces nothing.
Discipline produces a harvest of righteousness and peace.
Heb. 12:11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but
painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for
those who have been trained by it.
"If
you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it
will be done for you.
"My
Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My
disciples.
"Just as the Father has loved Me, I
have also loved you; abide in My love.
"If
you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My
Father's commandments and abide in His love. "These things I have spoken to
you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
How does a plant grow?
Is it by great effort
straining upward toward the light?
Or is it simply the result of
the nourishment provided by its roots which lifts it to where it can receive the
benefit of the light.
How does the plant produce its fruit?
Is it by expending and
sacrificing all of its resources to do so?
Or is it just acting as
conduit of the supply of nourishment from below,a fellow
beneficiary
of the resources of the root.
Is it by your great effort,
straining to be more than you have been before?
Or is it simply the result
spending time with Jesus receiving the spiritual nourishment that he provides
which lifts us to where it can receive all the benefit of His life.
How do you produce fruit which will remain?
Is it by expending and
sacrificing your limited resources to do so?
Or is it by simply offering
yourself as a conduit of the unlimited supply of God
And in so doing become a
fellow
beneficiary
of the resources of Heaven.
