FRUITBEARING

Article one -- SUPER STRENGTH FROM ABOVE

Article two -- FRUIT BEARING

NOTE: The theme of this website is missionary work, but we include the articles below because we realize our need to be overcomers to be true missionaries for our Lord. Soul winning is a vital part of becoming like Christ, but we must also include much prayer and Bible study. Unless we are truly submitted, day by day, our missionary work will amount to little or nothing. May God bless you as you seek to serve Him!

SUPER STRENGTH FROM ABOVE

Many people tend to use their physical strength and mental capacities, gifts from God, to glorify self. After almost six thousand years, the majority still try to run their own lives, even though they accomplish very little.

When the Lord controls our lives, we can accomplish so much more. We need to pray, "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O, Lord, my strength and my redeemer." (Psalm 19:14).

God "giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increaseth strength...But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk, and not faint" (Isaiah 40:29, 30). God's promises will be fulfilled in us and for us, if we seek to do His will.

"All who consecrate soul, body, and spirit to God will be constantly receiving a new endowment of physical and mental power. The inexhaustible supplies of heaven are at their command. Christ gives them the breath of His own spirit, the life of His own life. The Holy Spirit puts forth its highest energies to work in heart and mind. The grace of God enlarges and multiplies their faculties, and every perfection of the divine nature comes to their assistance in the work of saving souls. Through cooperation with Christ they are complete in Him, and in their human weakness they are enabled to do the deed of Omnipotence" (Desire of Ages, Pg. 827).

But some have hidden fears. To those who face life with fear, God says, "Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed; for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness" (Isaiah 41:10).

With God's promises to sustain us, how can any doubt God's willingness to supply all needed strength in every temptation and trial? The fullness, richness, and splendor of His character is offered to us. As we assimilate the promises in His word by daily feeding on them. we will become like Jesus in character.

"But Christ has given us no assurance that to attain perfection of character is an easy matter. A noble, all-around character is not inherited. It does not come to us by accident. A noble character is earned by individual effort through the merits and grace of Christ. God gives the talents, the powers of the mind, we form the character. It is formed by hard, stern battles with self. Conflict after conflict must be waged against heriditary tendencies. We shall have to criticize ourselves closely, and allow not one unfavorable trait to remain uncorrected" (Christ's Object Lessons, pg.331).

The battle in this life is real, and God can't empower anyone who refuses to strive for victories each day. Yet, this warfare can only be fought by having faith in Christ's strength. Just as the victories Christ won while on earth were gained by His faith in the Father's strength, so this gift of faith must be exercised by our choices and determination to serve the Lord. In this process our will comes into harmony with His.

When our wills are in harmony with Christ and we allow the Holy Spirit to abide in us, we can be joyful in the midst of suffering. When we finally reach heaven, we will consider our time of suffering as only a moment compared to eternity. If we realize this now, God can give us peace of mind, for the Son of God suffered here on earth to make our salvation possible. Heaven is worth it all.

We can never accomplish in our own strength all that God may accomplish in and through us. Our human tendency is to rely on our own powers at least most of the time. For example, we try to use our own words when we reason with someone or we foolishly rely on our weak willpower to control our appetites and passions. Some do seem to possess a strong natural willpower to resist temptation and have the ability to accomplish a great deal without the aid of strength that comes from above. Yet, these very people are eventually ovecome by the delusions of pride and forget that all talents and abilities come from their Maker. We've nothing worthwhile which doesn't rightfully belong to Him--through creation and redemption.

Thus, no matter how weak or strong we believe we are, we need God's divine power. We can do nothing of real worth without Him. We must become "partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Peter 1:4).

"The carnal heart must be crucified, for its tendency is to moral corruption, and the end thereof is death. Nothing but the life-giving influences of the gospel can help the soul. Pray that the mighty energies of the Holy Spirit, with all their quickening, recuperative, and transforming power, may fall like an electric shock on the palsy-stricken soul, causing every nerve to thrill with new life, restoring the whole man from his dead, earthly, sensual state to spiritual soundness. You will thus become partakers of the divine nature" (Testimonies, Vol.5, pg. 267).

God gives us divine power to make us overcomers. In these end times, the Lord desires to have a people who serve Him as did Enoch--who walk so closely they will walk right into heaven without seeing death when Christ returns.

Let's not limit the Lord by dwelling on our weaknesses. Of course, we are unable, in our own strength, to fulfill the broad requirements of a law that reaches into our thoughts and motives. Yet, God offers divine power to reach deeply within us and uproot everything foreign to His loving character. We are to look "unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 24). Fill your mind with His words each day, and God will do the "impossible" for you. He will give you Super Divine Strength.#####

FRUIT BEARING

If we are to bear fruit to the glory of our Maker, we will need to have a vital connection with Him, just as the branch has a connection with the vine (see John 15).

The trees draw their life-giving nourishment in food and water deep in the soil. We receive our spiritual nourishment from an abiding sense of the Lord's presence in our personal lives.

For a constant supply of this needed food and water, and in order to grow in grace, we need the word of God. The Spirit of Christ speaks to us most clearly through the messages of His written word.

A personal prayer life is essential. The commuication must be two-way, or we will fail to obtain all we need to make the necessary character development. We were created in His likeness in the beginning, and our Saviour longs to restore us completely--spiritually, mentally, and physically.

Though physical restoration cannot take place until the second coming of Jesus, we can and must allow Him to change our characters now. We may be transformed by His mighty power working in us. The life and sacrifice of Jesus has made this possible.

His condescension, as the Son of God, to become the Son of man, made the plan of redemption possible. He lived as a man, depending on His Father in heaven for power to live a perfect life. The sinless One bore our sins, and died the cruelest of deaths with the weight of all men's sins on his shoulders. He took a risk, so we might have the chance to be redeemed from the slavery of sin. Forgiveness, yes--but He offered more than forgiveness. He made it possible for us to be saved from our sins, to be set free from our bad habits, our selfish natures.

If we let our Saviour take our burdens, all of them, He will rid us of the selfish tendencies of our nature. First, the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin in our lives. He empowers us to repent, confess, and forsake these personal sins, if we allow Him to do so. Sometimes the process is long, and the struggle is tremendous. If we persevere, we will win each battle. Yet, without Christ we can do nothing.

Our Creator and Redeemer has more love for us than a mother has for her child. He will not forsake us, if we respond to the still, small voice. And even if we rebel against Him, He will do all He can to bring us back into His loving embrace. If we are lost at last, it will be our own fault. Yet, be assured, the Lord works with us as long as there is a shred of hope we will turn to Him.

As we respond to His calling, we can see Him in nature by studying the beautiful things He created. We can view Him in the gospels, and in the entire Scriptures. If we look carefully, we can see His love in the ten commandments He wrote on tables of stone. The Lord is near us and works in us, if we are awake to His voice. We become aware of His presence through the ministry of the angels to us--the same angels that dwell near His heavenly throne.

Our faith grows stronger, our joy increases, our love expands, and our peace is sweeter, as we keep our eyes on the lovely Jesus and seek to imitate Him in everything we do and say and think.

Heaven will be our home-- building, planting, learning, growing. Unselfish ambitions will be realized. Joyous enterprises may be undertaken. Dearest friendships will be known. And as eternity rolls onward we increase in our appreciation of the wonderful love of God.