What's Your Yield -- Fruit or Weeds?
Hard to believe but spring is just around the corner. Here in California where I live, the weather has been sunny and beautiful. Cold but nice. While enjoying the nice sunny weather, I also realize winter is still with us and it will bring more cloudy, rainy days before spring. I am noticing weeds popping up everywhere!
I think about my life as a Christian and the seasons we go through. What are the weeds growing in our life? When we plant seeds for beautiful flowers or vegetables in our garden, we are careful to watch over them with the right amount of water, and most definitely pull all the weeds that try to overtake the tiny plants.
This is how we should watch over our Christian life also. We get saved and are planted in the Family of God, but to grow into that mature useful Christian, we must watch over what is planted in our hearts. This is our choice! When we get into the Word of God, seeds will be planted in our heart. As we continue to read and apply what we learn, we are adding nourishment to our lives. The Word waters that seed in us so it will grow. Salvation is a free gift from our Lord. We must always realize He paid for our sins on the cross with His blood! After salvation we have to do something if we are going to produce fruit.
Matthew 13:22 Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.
This Word tells me very clearly that cares of this world and the trickery of riches are like weeds and thorns that will cause us to become unfruitful. Meaning we were fruitful at one time, but we BECOME unfruitful. This does not happen overnight as weeds in our garden do not kill overnight, but if not pulled out of the garden, no flower or vegetable will appear!
The Lord knows what we need. 1 Peter 5:7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
He knows we need provision and health. A “care” means a distraction, and the world is full of them. Pleasure seeking is also huge and that sure has to be dealt with! Let’s keep the thorns and weeds out of our lives.
We want to be fruit bearers advancing the Kingdom of God. Matthew 13:23 But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."
Recent Dear Judy Posts
I am somewhat of a new believer. I struggle with who I am and my past HUGE mistakes. How do I get beyond all of this?
Many people are confused by this question. But before I answer it, I want to make clear that there is a real heaven and a real hell! Everyone goes to one place or the other—their choice! So, no, everyone does not go to heaven, but everyone will go somewhere when they die.
Will people always speak in tongues after getting saved?
My life is a mess! I know I have done so many things wrong. I have hurt so many people. I call myself a Christian, so how do I make all this right?
Recent Food For Thought Articles
So many horrible things are happening in our world today—children and adults gunned down in the middle of prayer, lives being destroyed by wars, famines, floods, fires, absolute madness– and if we allow ourselves to focus totally on these things, fear can totally take over and then we will become victims instead of a v
We are eternal beings, and we shall live for eternity somewhere! If we think we are saved, we are not! We must KNOW without a shadow of a doubt that we are born from above and have both an earthly address and a heavenly address. This is done by accepting Jesus as our Savior and living for HIM!
I see so many believers focusing on world events and the despair in our world. That may well be a focus for the unbeliever but certainly not for a believer! If we read our manual for success (Bible) and obey what it is teaching us, then we will have all our focus on Jesus and the cross! Jesus did everything for us on t
The Lord speaks to us through His manual for success (Bible). But are we listening? We are living in very evil times, but we can also see revival among people if we watch Christian News. When people get saved in great numbers, we need to pray for them to truly get connected. A merely emotional experience is not becoming born again. Conversion is believing that the Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross, died, and rose again, and we ask Him to forgive our sin.