John 15:1-8, “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. 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. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”
The best outcomes “tend” to start with the best intentions. However, success in life is far more than the profession of honorable goals. It requires us to work beyond the plan on paper, and to make efforts to see that the goals we set are met with real effort to see achievement. What I am saying is not directed toward someone else, this is directed at you. Most beloved, no less than GOD himself has directed that YOUR life bear fruit!
Let us talk a little about “MUCH.” God doesn’t design anything to achieve mediocrity. His designs are Holy and Perfect and Purposeful. The Faithful are designed to experience prolific results in a dark world. Jesus wept for the failures of people who refused to take advantage of His presence in their lives. (John 11:35) The body of Christ has never suffered from a lack of talent. When our Father is able to make up any need we have, why do we sometimes fall short of His design for us? We should be celebrating the great bounty God has for us. Instead, some dwell on everything they wish they had. This has less to do with a real need, and more to do with a self-imposed indignity of victimhood.
Satan has worked hard to convince us that only a few lives in any generation are of any real significance. You alone are significant in the eyes of God. You are no less important than anyone else that has ever lived! Sometimes we all need a spiritual “chewing-out” or “dressing-down!” While I have no one in particular in mind for this, as surely as I write there is someone who Satan has convinced that they are too weak, untalented, and unable to carry out God’s mission in this world. Has God somehow failed us?
Why don’t we believe in Him? Why are the cries of the “spiritually dead” louder than the praise of the “forgiven faithful?” Where are you in this spiritual battle?
We need to clear out the spiritual obstacles which exclude our real growth and success. Some think the sins of their history prohibit them bearing the great fruit of spiritually mature people. First, if a person’s past prevented them from spiritual service, someone else would be writing this to you! Second, if we refuse to accept the saving Gospel of Jesus, we will fulfill our own self-destructive prophecies. STOP playing with your salvation and save yourself from this corrupt generation! God doesn’t hold us back! What is most restrictive to us in this life is our own unwise alliance with Satan and his deadly rationale for anything God has made to be holy. It is not God that withholds our fruit filled success. The thing which declares the Glory of God most loudly in this world is a powerfully redeemed life which proclaims His Glory and Majestic Message until death.
Maybe you are faithfully making God’s proclamation to the world. If so, then Godspeed to you. Christians, if you are somehow failing to live up to the plans God has for you in this world, then REPENT! In either case the outcome will be absolutely accurate on judgement day. Please, be sure of your salvation and your work for Him in this world.