Pursue love, yet earnestly desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. 1 Corinthians 14:1.
But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. 1 Timothy 6:11.
Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. Psalm 34:14; 1 Peter 3:11.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God says:
So many of you want to know how to live a fruitful life—a long satisfying life filled with good days that leave a lasting legacy of goodness for the generations to come. The answer is simple, and yet it takes a lifetime of diligence to enter deeper into the mystery of it: Attach to the vine.
Jesus told you this, “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. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself but must remain in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:1-5.
But what is that Vine? It is Jesus, My Word made flesh. And the Word is God. And I am My Word. And I am love. And I am light. So when you attach to the Vine you are in the flow of love as if sap from the Vine. But how do you have this love with you constantly to bear the fruit of love in good works, miracles, signs, and wonders? Freeing the oppressed and healing all those in need of healing?
Works done without love are not fruitful, they mean nothing. Have you never read: “If I speak with the tongues of mankind and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give away all my possessions to charity, and if I surrender my body so that I may glory, but do not have love, it does me no good.” 1 Corinthians 13:1-3. Of all you do, of all you think, of all you say only love remains. Love remains when tried in the fire of the judgment of your life for your rewards. Love remains. Faith, hope, and love, these three remain, but the greatest of these is love.
So what is the answer? Since nothing means anything without it, the answer is clear. First and foremost pursue love. “Pursue love, yet earnestly desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.” 1 Corinthians 14:1. Desire earnestly for spiritual gifts for the benefit of all, but pursue love and the gifts will follow.
Desire spiritual gifts and pursue love and you will be fruitful by association. Who you associate with is where you are attached.
Be careful then, where and with whom you attach. If you are with the ungodly you will begin to live like them. But you should not, “for the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the ungodly, having pursued a course of indecent behavior, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties, and wanton idolatries.” 1 Peter 4:3. These are not fruitful works, these are dissipation and debauchery. “And do not get drunk with wine, in which there is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourself and one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your hearts to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to our God and Father; and subject yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ.” Ephesians 5:18-21.
A life lived and work done without love is a life of hate and darkness, that is all it can be. You may not think you hate in an evil way, but if you have bitterness, offense, and/or anger towards anyone and speak of what you find fault in about them to others, you have hate. Especially if it is someone you have to live with such as a parent, sibling, child, or spouse. If you have a hard heart that allows no compassion towards another and desires evil or death to befall them, you have hate. And the one who hates his brother is a murderer. Look at people as someone to invest your time into by getting My Word into them, like the unfruitful fig tree that the owner of the vineyard wanted chopped down since it was only cluttering up the ground, but the gardener pleaded for a chance to first give it special care and invest time in its renewal so as to make it fruitful. You will be surprised and thrilled at the change that will take place if you consistently require scripture reading together out loud in your home. If you do it before you will serve a meal, the others will listen and participate since they know otherwise they do not get fed. First feed them the Word. At first, they may resent it, but gradually you will begin to see them change. People cannot act in keeping with My Word unless they hear it, they just have no clue how to behave in a way that will give them the happiness they desire. Without My Word they are like sheep with no shepherd and they wander until the wolf devours them. Rescue them.
Look for My kind of love and there remain, as the branch remains in the vine. And what is My kind of love? I tell you, “Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant. It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered, it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. You notice My kind of love is not based on emotional feelings or sensuality. It is not born of the flesh but of the Spirit. My love is the perfect love that casts out fear and impurity. My love is pure and makes you pure. And now that the perfect has come in Jesus and the indwelling of My Spirit, the partial is done away with. 1 Corinthians 13:10. It is time for you to seriously pursue to remain in love.
Pursue love and earnestly desire the gifts of the Spirit. My Words are Spirit and life. And in My Word, I tell you to pursue certain things. These you should prioritize for you know that My Words are life to those who find them and health to all their flesh. I tell you to “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.” 1 Timothy 6:11. I tell you to “flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” 2 Timothy 2:22. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. Psalm 34:14; 1 Peter 3:11. So then, pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another. Romans 14:19. One who pursues righteousness and loyalty finds life, righteousness, and honor. Proverbs 21:21.
The Jewish people sought their own righteousness by working for it on their own efforts and they never were able to achieve righteousness. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though they could by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. Romans 9:32. I tell you to seek My Kingdom and My righteousness first. Not your own. Mine. There is no unrighteousness in Me and in Christ I give you My righteousness as your own. But you must pursue it. And you pursue what you value. “Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness, who seek the LORD,” and I will tell you to look for it by faith in My Word. It is the gift of righteousness that you must receive and then walk out in the world on the solid rock foundation of My Word. Isaiah 51:1.
One who is steadfast in righteousness attains life, but one who pursues evil attains his own death. Proverbs 11:19. “The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but He loves the one who pursues righteousness.” Proverbs 15:9. “Adversity pursues sinners, but the righteous will be rewarded with prosperity.” Proverbs 13:21.
So what is the final word here? “Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” Hebrews 13:20-21. If you let Me, I will equip you with all you need to live a life of love. Pursue love. I am love. So if you pursue Me by walking in My Word you will find you have become fruitful.
I love you. Attach. Associate. Participate in all I am about to do in, with, and for you. Pursue the pure mind of Christ, it is in you and you can have it too. Watch your words and ways. As your praise, so shall your strength be. Never forget the voice of thanksgiving, it brings wonders.