Here in is my Father glorified, that I bear much fruit

                                                               Jn15:8

            The way we know that we are pleasing the Father is that when we are in the will of God, God can bless.  It is the Father who does the works, but unless we get in tune with Him, He is reluctant and unwilling to show his power and His love.  So the question remains, how do we get in tune with the Father?  The evidence that we are in tune with Him is that I bear much fruit.  When I am bearing much fruit, it is evident that I am walking in power.

            We come to the Father through the Son.  So it is important that we receive Jesus into our lives and ask him into our heart.  It is important that through the blood of Jesus we deal with sin and begin to mortify the deeds of the flesh.  So much of sin arises through the fleshly spirits like anger, fear, lust, hatred, envy, greed, and jealousy.  So it is important to confess scripture which deals with the flesh.  If we have not dealt with the flesh we have little power.

            Next Jesus tells us that if he goes away he will send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit to be with you.  In order to have power we must receive this gift and develop intimacy with him.  It is the role of the Holy Spirit to make Jesus real and present in our lives.  We must seek the baptism of the Spirit and when we do, we must develop our relationship with him.  Praying in the Spirit helps us and teaches us how to rejoice in the Lord, how to minister to God, and how to minister to people.  The gifts of the Spirit are for the common good and as we share in those gifts the power of God is manifest.

            Next we must be sanctified in the Truth, thy word is truth.  Without a good grasp of scripture, without being sanctified by the word, our power is limited.  So we must meditate on the word and give ourselves wholly to what it says and what it teaches for us to become effective in bearing much fruit.  All scripture is God-breathed and we must breathe in the word of God until we are firmly established in it.

            Next we must live by faith for without faith it is impossible to please God.  We must love as best we can and we must be obedient to the leading of the Spirit even when that leading is difficult.  We are not under law but under grace so we are obligated not to legal ordinances which were nailed to the cross, but to the Spirit of God.  We must fight the fight of faith and that is something very personal and subject to public misconception.

            Finally we must give God all the time He wants by forsaking the world, being in communion with nature and learning to be still.  Be still and know I am God. 

            We know we have power when we bear much fruit.  How much fruit is in your basket?

Amen