But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God says:
In the parable My Son told of the unfruitful fig tree, the owner was looking for fruit and when he found none, he said to cut the tree down because it was just cluttering up the ground. And that was also the reason My Son spoke harshly to the unfruitful fig tree he did encounter and it withered up from the roots. Fruit. I am glorified when My children bear much fruit, as indeed, any parent is. You do not want unfruitful, idle children of wasted lives and empty years.
And unfruitful lives are disobedient and rebellious lives. Remember the parable of the talents? If you are willing and obey you will be fruitful and eat the best of the land, but if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword. Isaiah 1:19-20.
From the start I blessed mankind to be fruitful. And I am the same yesterday, today and forever. So today we continue My series called “Fruitful” with Life Lesson No. 2: Love. Love is the exercise of good will toward another and it is always fruitful.
Jesus asked you a question, “When the Son of Man comes will He find any faith on the earth?” He told you in the end times there would be a lot of fear and very little faith. Faith produces fruit. Fear does not. But perfect love casts out fear, and that is why faith works by love. And what is the perfect love that will free you from all fear? Love then consists in this, not that you have loved Me but that I have loved you and given My Son as propitiation of your sins. He shared in your flesh and blood, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. Hebrews 2:14-15.
When by faith you receive Jesus as your Lord, you receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And what do I do? I pour My love into your heart and My Spirit quickens your mortal body. If you yield to My Spirit in you, He will give you the grace to bear fruit. My kind of fruit for He and I are one and He then makes you one in us. When you abide in My Son and His Words abide in you, and that is abiding in Me and My Words abiding in you, for He and I are One, you bear much fruit. For He is the vine and you are the branches and I am the vinedresser. And, again, in the parable My Son told the vinedresser was looking for fruit.
And I tell you that you will know people by their fruit. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. Matthew 7:16-20. And what do I mean by a person’s fruit? The fruit of his lips and the fruit of his life (works).
Attached, abiding in, and continuing in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and how do others know you are My disciples? Jesus told you that all would know you as My disciples by your love for one another. And that is where we are going to start, for the fruit that the Holy Spirit within you will cause you to produce is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Galatians 5:22-23. It all starts with love and the rest arise on that foundation. You will notice I refer to it as fruit in the singular. All these qualities flow into you at the same time by My grace, but everything hangs on love. In the end these three remain, faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love. Unless you know and believe in the love I have for you, you cannot believe in My goodness, My forgiveness, My provision, and My determination to heal you and give you a beautiful, abundant life. Fear has to do with punishment, but My Son took your punishment, so you should come with confident love before Me to receive mercy and find grace to take just when you need it.
Love. What is it? I am love and in seeing Jesus you see Me, and He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil. He loved you and gave His life for you and released you from your sins by His own blood and made you a kingdom and priests unto Me. He came to undo the works of the devil in your lives, which are poverty, sickness and eternal death. In Him you see My good will towards men.
The devil is not fruitful, quite the opposite, he is a destroyer. And if you serve him, he will cause you to be the same. He is a spirit of lawlessness and is even now working in the sons of disobedience. His fruit is lies and deception. He is unclean and operates in the realm of the flesh because he knows if you fight him in the realm of the Spirit he will lose. So he will limit your focus to this life only and blind your minds to the glory of the gospel and spiritual realities, especially that of your righteousness in Jesus. And the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. These are very different than the fruit of the Spirit. And from these you will see easily who is of the devil and who is of Me. By their fruit.
A life without love is unfruitful and really has no meaning. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3. Primarily because it is a life without Me, and without Me you can do nothing fruitful. I define love and its operations for you in many places in Scripture and many parables. You can look at My Son’s parables of the lost sheep, the prodigal son, the good Samaritan, and others and get an idea of love. But when it comes down to love in action this is the way it operates: Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.
I tell you to earnestly desire spiritual gifts but above all to pursue love. Jesus did the mighty works He did by love—by heartfelt compassion for those who came to Him. My plans for you are for your wholeness and prosperity in every area of your life, not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. This is an expression of My love for you. And you too, if you imitate Me as My dear children, should never be wishing evil for another but only their salvation.
When you call upon Me, and I will answer you. I will be with you in trouble; I will rescue you and honor you. With a long life I will satisfy you and I will show you My salvation (Yeshuah). Psalm 91:15-16. And that is love. Ready to answer, ready to bear another’s burden with them, ready to rescue and ready to honor. Jesus came to serve not to be served. Do you have that attitude? That is the attitude of love.
I think in love, walk in love, and talk in love. All is in the Light in Me. Love is pure. Love is stronger than death and a consuming fire. It will burn away as dross all that is not pure love in you if you will open your heart to the fire of My love. Love will wash away all that is not fruitful.
And how do you produce the fruit of love? Be filled with the Holy Spirit and love will flow. You cannot be filled with the Spirit of love and harbor anything else. If you have bitterness or hatred in your heart, or if you have depression and no joy, then your fruit is showing that you have not filled yourself full enough with the Spirit otherwise there would be no room for that.
Next time you find yourself walking out of love and producing the works of the flesh instead you just need to switch gears and walk in the Spirit by turning your tongue and mind to songs of joyful worship and praise. And start quoting My magnificent promises of good things in your life. Try it. You will suddenly be in a whole different realm. My realm. And the fruit will begin to appear in your life—in your heart, on your lips, and your steps will follow. Take a praise break to break the chains of the enemy. Never let yourself give in to evil, no matter how tiny and insignificant it seems, for once the unclean spirit gets in, he will defile you. The wise woman builds the house, but the foolish one tears it down with her own hands. Fruit. If you are tearing your life or others lives apart, take heed lest you devour one another.
Love. It is the most important fruit of all. I look for it. And so do you. Everyone is seeking to love and be loved. But accept no cheap substitutes. Love lays down its life, it is not selfish. Love is the answer to everything. Love never fails. Love never sins but it covers sin. Love is stronger than death. And love is in you if you have received Jesus as Lord. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. Love is king and conquers every evil work.
Love people and yourself into wholeness. Owe no debt to anyone but to love them. You owe that to all. It heals. Love is grateful. If you are grateful for people you will treat them kindly. You will have love for them. Love gives and love receives with gratitude. Be grateful for the gift but even more grateful when I give you an abundance for every good work so that you too can imitate Me as My dear children and give gifts to men. I give seed to the sower and bread to the eater.
I love you and that is how I make you whole so that you can bear fruit. And love gives you joy. And joy will be our next lesson.