When Jesus comes looking for fruit on our tree,
Regardless of the season that it may be,
May He find our branches with something to offer --
Something delightful to Him and the Father.
Love is the first fruit the Lord wants to find.
Is this at the root of our acts toward mankind?
And do we obey Him because “it’s required”?
Or does love compel us to seek what’s desired?
Joy follows second as fruit for the Groom.
It’s a choice that we make in defiance of gloom.
When clouds overshadow to darken our days,
He still wants to find us exuding joy’s rays.
What about peace, the anchor in shaking,
When all is tumultuous, unstable, and quaking?
At all times we ought to have peace in our soul,
Especially when things get out of control
Then there is patience. When we are short-tempered,
We fail in this fruit and haven’t remembered
That frustration and anger do not bring about
The righteousness of God in any amount.
Kindness is something the poor and the weak,
With gazes imploring do hope for and seek.
There may be some sacrifice made on our part,
But really, God’s looking for a cheerful heart.
The sweet fruit of goodness is equally needed
It truly affects the way others are treated.
All that comes forth from our lives as our deeds
Reveals what we’ve laid up within as the seeds.
Now let not the Lord find us failing the test
Whenever He checks for the fruit faithfulness.
Will we keep all our promises, stand by our word?
Pressing ahead, though it’s hard to endure?
The Gardener expects just as much to discover
The fruit gentleness as He would any other.
Look through His eyes at the simple and slow.
Then will compassion from Him through us flow.
Last but not least, do we bear self-control?
We can’t leave it out, for it makes our tree whole.
Our wills must be fully submitted to Christ
For if they take charge, we will pay a great price.
-- Charity Lacroix, age 18, August, 2016
Related Scriptures:
“…so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects,
bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God…” (Col 1:10)
"But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." (Gal 5:22-23)
"Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf,
He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, 'May no one ever eat fruit from you again!' And His disciples were listening." (Mar 11:13-14)
"Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on
it except leaves only; and He said to it, 'No longer shall there ever be
any fruit from you.' And at once the fig tree withered." (Mat 21:19)
"Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life,
bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." (Rev 22:1-2)
"By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They will
bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing." (Eze 47:12)
"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 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." (Joh 15:1-2)
"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." (Joh 15:4-6)
Related articles:
Fruit in Every Season (article)
Gifts and Fruit of the Spirit: What's the Difference?
Bearing Fruit in Every Good Work
Multiplication
Attribution notice: Most
Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.
Author's note:
The
poems in this blog were written by my children, ages seven through
fourteen. The "
Why This Blog"
post explains how the Lord inspired these poems in answer to a prayer
during illness. Poems on this site may be copied and used for
non-commercial purposes,
as long as proper credit and backlink to this blog is given. No
commercial use allowed without express permission from author. I also
recommend visiting my children's blog,
A Brush with Life,
where you will also find beautiful art they have drawn for the
glory of God. You can access my complete blog directory at "
Writing for the Master." Now I'd like to ask a very important question
.
Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you
repent and believe in Jesus. Do you know what God's Word, the Bible
says?
“Jesus
came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time
is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in
the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15). He preached that we must repent and
believe.
Please see my explanation of this in my post called "
Do You Want to Know Jesus?"
_________________________________________________
Len Lacroix is the founder of
Doulos Missions International.
He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as
well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who
multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of
planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United
States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission.
www.dmiworld.org.
