September 1 - The Holy Spirit

John 14:15-31

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, (John 14:16 ESV)

Jesus' time with his disciples was drawing to an end. Soon he would no longer be with them in the common way we think of when we talk about companionship. Instead, Jesus said that the Helper was going to come. That actually by him leaving it would empower the disciples to serve God in even more incredible ways. The Helper Jesus was speaking of is the Holy Spirit.

Traditional (Orthodox) Christianity has always held the belief of a triune God, that means God expressed through three persons. It is all rather complicated sounding, but it is actually really simple. There is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

There are a ton of varied beliefs that revolve around the Holy Spirit. Some movements have very exuberant ideas about what is involved as we interact with the Holy Spirit, while some try not to acknowledge the Spirit at all. There are a few things that are quite clear about the Spirit.

All throughout scripture we see God performing powerful deeds. The Holy Spirit is always at work in these stories. Jesus performed miracles by being filled with the Spirit at his baptism. Many Old Testament heroes did mighty and amazing things under the power of the Spirit of God.

Salvation is a work of the Holy Spirit. After salvation the Holy Spirit continues to urge us toward personal growth in Christ. The Holy Spirit assists us in the ability to better fight temptation. Awareness of the Spirit makes us more sensitive to the way God sometimes chooses to communicate with His kids. The Holy Spirit empowers us to demonstrate fruitful Christian lives. The Holy Spirit sometimes works through us to do the miraculous.

Those are all incredible things. They make life with God outstanding. Indeed, I can not imagine trying to live this God-life without the instruction and influence of the Holy Spirit.

April 29 - Fruit Trees

Read: Matthew 7:15-20

Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. (Matthew 7:20 ESV)

All of my favorite fruits are quite frankly very easy to recognize. Strawberries are small, a deep shade of red, and distinctly shaped. Pineapples are characterized by their outer husk and pointy greenery. Watermelons are quickly noted for their green and often striped rind and round oblong shape. But the kind of vegetation a fruit comes from is not always so easy to identify unless you're an expert. The fruit itself is the key component.

The people who follow Jesus should be easily recognizable. We should readily, easily, and naturally demonstrate the kind of fruit that makes this a reality. Jesus said it himself. People are recognized for who they truly are by the kind of fruit their lives produce.

What kind of fruit are you demonstrating to an onlooking world? It's an important question. For way too long the American Christian community has been far too content simply answering the questions of life with grande theological responses. We spend too much time in our heads, or none at all. What our unchurched friends, family, and neighbors truly need to see is the evidence of Christian fruit.

February 5 - The Fruit

Read: Matthew 3:1-10

Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. (Matthew 3:8 ESV)

When I was a kid growing up on the family farm we raised watermelons by the thousands in the summers. We poured our lives into producing that fruit. It took work, but there were always a lot of fruit to show for it. Why? Because under the right conditions fruit doesn't have to even try to be produced. It just does what it was made to do.

John, and Jesus after him, preached a message of repentance and life-change through forgiveness of sins. The message went off like a bomb in the vicinity of his ministry. It connected with people. It drove people to seek, find, and be found by God. It produced repentance and life change. John charged those under his ministry to demonstrate that life change to others through the fruit their life produced.

Our lives are supposed to show fruit. They are supposed to demonstrate to others the miraculous nature of the change that has been (and is being) made in us. Sometimes we try really hard to work at showing everyone the kind of fruit we think we should be displaying, and there is something to be said about being intentional; but in reality things that bear fruit don't have to try to bear it.

God made the plan. God made the conditions. God made the changes in us. He did all of the work, and we are receiving the benefits of his holy effort. We shouldn't even have to try to display or bear fruit in keeping with repentance. Actually, if we are having to strive to put some kind of great laborious effort into demonstrating Christian fruit, we may need to go back and reexamine our relationship with Jesus. If we have submitted to him, and we are following his plan for our lives, with his help, fruit in keeping with repentance should be a clear result.