Fwd: Harvest Daily Devotion for 1/27/2010: "Known by Their Fruit"

-Ervin A. 

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Greg Laurie" <GregLaurie@harvestdirect.org>
Date: January 27, 2010 1:00:00 AM PST
To: Ervin Aquino <Aquinoervin@aol.com>
Subject: Harvest Daily Devotion for 1/27/2010: "Known by Their Fruit"

Wednesday, January 27, 2010 Known by Their Fruit "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you." — John 15:16 How do people know that you are a Christian? They can't see your heart. They can't see your faith—but they can see the results of it. Jesus said, "By their fruits you will know them" (Matthew 7:20). The only way someone can determine whether you are a follower of Jesus is not merely by your profession of Him, but by the evidence they see in your life. And that evidence should be spiritual fruit. Fruit doesn't grow overnight. And sometimes the best judge of the growth in your life might be someone else. You can be very introspective and say, "Have I become more like Jesus in the last 24 hours?" But that would be like trying to watch your kids grow. The growth is subtle, yet someone who hasn't seen your children for several months will notice it. In the same way, you don't necessarily see spiritual growth in your own life. But someone else might say, "You have really changed. I see you are becoming more like Jesus." Spiritual fruit is important, because Jesus said, "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain" (John 15:16). He is saying, "I want there to be fruit in your life." But what is this fruit? Galatians 5:22–23 gives us the answer: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law." We bear fruit by walking in communion with Jesus, by staying close to Him. And spiritual fruit is a result of that relationship. What we really need today is to bear spiritual fruit in our lives so that others can say, "Now there is a follower of Jesus Christ." Have Pastor Greg's devotions blessed you? Write and tell him! Greg@harvest.org Want to read more from Greg Laurie? Be sure to check out his weekly columns at World Net Daily. Click here to read his latest article. Copyright ©2010 by Harvest Ministries. All Rights Reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000 Today's Radio Program: "Sin is at the Door - II" Read the Word: Today--2 Chronicles 25 How to Know God Devotion Archives Live Services Pastor Greg's Blog Greg's Personal Site You are receiving this daily mailing because you signed-up to do so on Harvest.org. If you no longer want to receive this mailing, or if you wish to subscribe/unsubscribe from other Harvest Ministries mailings, please visit our e-mail subscription management page. Harvest Ministries with Greg Laurie P.O. Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514-4000 Phone: 1-800-821-3300