School is going great. I am enjoying every minute of time spent with my children...they are learning everything well and just showing me how smart I know they are! Our new classroom is working out so well...plenty of room to roam around and play and also get things accomplished. My mom's Bible study has also just began a new study. It's a Beth Moore series: A Woman's Heart: God's Dwelling Place. It is just wonderful. It is making me do my homework each night, which I actually look foward to doing and have to pace myself to not finished it too soon! I have to share something though...it is something I wrote and shared with my email friends. A thought was mentioned in my Wednesday night class at church...a thought about God changing the nature of a person when they become saved. Just wanted to post it here and see what anyone thought of it. Talk to you all soon!
Jesus said, "By their fruit you will recognize them." (Matthew 7:16 NIV)
I just wanted to share a thought that has been on my mind today, something I heard in class last night at church.
You don't have to coax and work to get a good cherry tree to produce good cherries. IT JUST DOES! Because that's what it IS: a good tree. A good tree by its own nature will produce good fruit naturally.
Likewise, don't be angry because a poison berry tree produces poisonous berries. No amount of pleading and coaxing can change the nature of a poison berry tree. It produces bad fruit because that what it IS: a bad tree. A bad tree, by its "natural" nature of being, will produce bad fruit every time.
It is like this with Christians. In the verse above and below refer to the nature of Christians. We can tell who truly has made a "nature change" by their fruit. When you accept Jesus, HE is the only one who can make a change in your nature IF YOU WILL OBEY AND ALLOW HIM TO DO SO.
THEN, the poison tree you used to be can be a NEW CREATION and produce good fruit with HIS help. If you have a loved one who is lost, don't be angry and frustrated with their behavior. A sinner, by his or her nature will produce bad fruit that's just what they do! You can't make another person's nature change....no one on this earth can. There is only ONE who can do that and until they allow it to happen, they are going to be the same tree they have always been. All you can do is fervently pray and watch your own fruit so as to not deceive the other trees.
But also ask yourself, as I have been doing. What fruit am I producing? Would someone know my nature by my fruit? The verse below speaks to us as believers. Just think about it.
"Not all people who sound religious are really godly. They may refer to Me as 'Lord,' but they still won't enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The decisive issue is whether they obey My Father in heaven." (Matthew 7:21 NLT)
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Sep. 23, 2007 - Untitled Comment
There are two great books by Jerry Bridges that talk a lot about this very idea. They are called Transforming Grace and The Gospel for Real Life. I'm itching to do the second one as a small group Bible study in my church--it's that good.