"You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles are they? Even so, every good tree (children of God) bears good fruit (glorifies God); but the bad tree (unbelievers) bears bad fruit (to glorify themselves). A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits." (Matthew 7:16-20)
"Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit for God." (Romans 7:4) The third characteristic of a disciple: He/she bears spiritual fruit.
A disciple remains in Christ, is obedient and a disciple bears spiritual fruit. How are we doing so far? Are you picturing someone you know that fits this description? My sincere hope is that, as you point to another person, you will take note that you have 3 pointing back at you!! He wants that all Christians be His disciples. "God therefore and make disciples of ALL the nations…." (Matthew 28:19)
We are living in an age of extremes, and many Christians believe "the Lie", that everyone is doing it; whether lying, cheating, cussing, extreme drinking, gluttony, coveting, gossiping or any other ungodly behavior, so it must be okay. WRONG, because that is extreme denial of what the Bible tells us. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and always! His commands, His statutes and His desire for us have not changed. (Hebrews 13:8)
Satan has more tools in his arsenal: compromise, apathy, denial, doubt, excuses and blaming someone else. We are called to a higher standard; Jesus speaking - "If anyone loves Me, he will keep my word; and 'My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him." (John 14:23)
Remember the song we learned in Sunday school, "Be careful little ears what you hear. Be careful little feet where you go. Be careful little hands what you do?" That still applies to us today. What sort of music we listen to can influence the way we think and feel. Passing on a piece of gossip we have heard, instead of letting the person know we are not interested in another person's business, can hurt someone. Going to an X rated movie would not be a good witness to someone who is seeking to know the Lord; we could be a stumbling block to that person, as well as questioning our morality. Meddling in someone else's affairs would surely bring grief to them and to ourselves.
What is God's will for us? "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and foremost commandment. The second is like it. 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 22:37-40)
I can't stress this enough, if we aren't sure what God's position is - on any subject, all we need to do is look in the Good Book. If we are dealing with worry, Phil. 4:5; Luke 12:25-31. If you have a problem with the love of material things, Matt. 6:19-24; 1 Tim. 6:10; If you need to forgive someone, Matt. 6:14,15; Matt. 18:21,22; What about anger? Proverbs 14:17, 29; James 1:19,20. Check them out, there is no doubt you could add to that list.
The problem causing so many Christians to stumble in their walk of faith, as pointed out in the book "Jesus Christ the Disciplemaker," is: Hypocrisy (Matthew 16:12,23), Impurity (1 Corinthians 5), Rationalization (Matthew 16:5-12, 23), and Legalism (Galatians 5). This was partly covered when I listed Satan's arsenal above.
Since Satan has an arsenal of tricks to draw us away from God, we have our own arsenal, which includes four fundamentals, also stated in the book "Jesus Christ the Disciplemaker," and they are: The Word of God, Prayer, Fellowship and Witnessing. Bill Hull goes on to say, "Whatever Christians become later in life, regardless of the skills required, they will be only as strong as they are in the fundamentals. This never changes; there is no other way to become a consistent disciple."
Only when we place all areas of our lives in His hands can the abundant life be realized. We can only do that by dying to self and living to please God with our lives. It becomes a matter of the heart as we greet the dawn each day and state out loud, "Here I am Lord. Thy will be done in my life today, and I pray that I am usual to do your work." And yes, I say this or something similar each and every morning.
