Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse  Day 216

August 3;   Matthew 7:20;   7/260(II);   ‘Known By Our Fruits’

Matthew 7:20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them. 

Only the Lord Jesus could say so much in so few words.  He had just taught that a good tree bears good fruit and a bad tree bears bad fruit.  As a Christian, with the love of God in my spirit, put there by the Holy Spirit.  With the fruit of the Spirit also in my spirit, I have in essence, the character of the Lord Jesus Christ inside me.  When I become a Christian, I am a good tree.  That word good means good in every possible way.  That means if I am a sincere Christian and desire to be more like Jesus all of the time, the good that I have inside of me, given me by the Lord, will be reflected in everything that I say and do.  Without sharing the gospel, others will be able to see something very different about me, literally the character and nature of Jesus.  They may not know initially that it is Jesus, but they will know something is wonderfully different about me and at some point, they will ask me what that difference is, opening the door to share Jesus. The Lord Jesus said that we would be known by our fruit.  We could be a Christian with all of the incredible attributes of the Lord inside of us and not bear good fruit.  A tree needs to be nourished, primarily by water.  If no water is given, the tree and its fruit suffers.  Water is a type not only of the Word, but of the Holy Spirit as well.  The Lord intends for us to be not only a good tree, with all of the blessings He has put inside of us to produce delicious fruit for others, but He wants us by a consistent Christian lifestyle to be that good tree that brings great blessings to those who come in contact with us.