We’re going to be setting aside the first Sunday of each month to worship, and to pray.
And at the last Sunday of each Quarter we will be having those panel discussions we all seemed to enjoy.
Thank You, Lord!
This is the Year of Bearing Much Fruit.
We started dipping out toes into the pool with John 15:1-8: 1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
So getting more specific about it, this isn’t merely a year of fruitfulness, but this is our Year of Bearing Much Fruit.
Take note that this is not the Year of Doing More Work. We’re bearing fruit, friends, and true fruit can’t be forced. Fruit that isn’t ripe isn’t edible, or it isn’t palatable. Fruit forced to ripen doesn’t taste the same.
In fact, gone are the days when all you would hear about with regards to marketing food are just about quality (taste) and quantity (size, value for money)… Now, in order for companies to charge even more, they have to say it’s natural also throw in that their chickens are free range. That their beef is grass fed.
Folks also like to say that their apples are non-GMO and pesticide free, that their oranges are from Sagada (China), and also, that their grapes are vine-ripened. That their tomatoes are vine-ripened. Yes, tomatoes are botanically classified as fruits.
And with that said, we aren’t ‘doing’ fruit; That is, we aren’t making much fruit, but we’re BEARING fruit – We’re the branches, and Christ is the vine.
Themes from all over the world
Texas
Andrew Farley delivered a passionate, uncompromising message emphasizing the radical, clear-cut divide between the old covenant (law) and the new covenant (grace).
He expressed that as members in the body of Christ, our priority should never be about OUR law-keeping and OUR performance… But it is our resting in God’s grace, and moving according to the Spirit that projects our intimacy with God, our freedom from sin’s mastery.
It is when we meditate on the right, new Word that we are fruitful.
It is when we rest in Christ’s obedience and Christ’s performance where we experience true fruitfulness.
Singapore
Joseph Prince opened the new year by assuring believers that God’s eyes are lovingly and protectively upon them “from the beginning of the year to the end,” not to find fault but to bless, guide, provide, and heal.
He taught that Jesus has already redeemed us tripartitely (spirit, soul, body): we are born again righteous in our spirit, will receive glorified bodies at the rapture, and can experience healing and renewal now – especially in the mind (forgetfulness, depression, lack of wisdom are curses from the fall that Christ redeemed us from).
He urged hearers to reject negative self-talk, confess “I have the mind of Christ,” prioritize hearing and understanding God’s Word (which brings life and health to all their flesh), seek divine wisdom (tsunami), and expect abundant life, favor, protection, and provision amid world troubles.
We’re to reject the words of the world and meditate on the Word of Christ – and as we do, we shall, again, be as trees planted by the streams of water.
Jerusalem
He highlighted how Yeshua performed healings and deliverances with almost no effort or emotion (often just a word), yet poured out deep anguish, tears, and focused energy when He prayed (e.g., raising Lazarus, weeping over Jerusalem, praying in Gethsemane).
There was that one meme or image shared where it mentioned ‘If words are powerful imagine what prayers can do’
The message urged the congregation to match Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) intensity in prayer—making it the “engine room” of ministry—because while miracles flow easily through faith, lasting breakthrough, transformation, and kingdom advancement come through wholehearted, emotional, persevering intercession.
My take on this is that prayer is a privilege in that it is step above mere meditation.
In fact, in
San Diego
Miles MacPherson launched a three-week series on prayer and fasting, presenting the tabernacle as a picture of how to approach God’s presence with the right heart posture.
He gave a simple, memorable prayer structure—Thank You (praise & thanksgiving), Sorry (confession & repentance), Please (intercession for others, then petition for self)—mirroring the tabernacle journey from the altar of sacrifice (thanksgiving), to the laver (cleansing/confession), to the holy place (praying for others), and ultimately into God’s presence.
He encouraged focused, consistent daily prayer (even 5–10 minutes), combined with fasting, as the pathway to personal transformation, miracles, and healing (both physical and emotional).
Fruit Salad
After reading all this we’re learning that to abide in Christ is to reject the words of the world, and to constantly take in the Word of God, which points to Christ’s performance and Christ’s obedience. As we meditate I believe it comes naturally for us to pray.
It is from this perspective of abiding where we are able to bear much fruit – Yes, the fruits of the Holy Spirit, and as these pastors share, this includes personal transformation, miracles, healing, lasting breakthroughs, kingdom advancement, freedom from the system of sin, and so much more.
So much more? Like what?
Let’s remember the story of Rebekah and Isaac. Wonderful story – we aren’t in February yet but it’s real romantic. Abraham sent his servant off to basically look for a wife for his son, and ended up in a Mesopotamian city named Nahor.
It’s in Nahor where the servant prayed – “O LORD God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 14 Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.” Genesis 24:12-14
That lady happened to be Rebekah. And when the servant gave her gifts, made an offer and talked to Rebekah and her family for arrangements, he returned to Abraham, Rebekah with her.
62 Now Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he dwelt in the South. 63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming. 64 Then Rebekah lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from her camel; 65 for she had said to the servant, “Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?”
The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took a veil and covered herself.Genesis 24:62-65
I bring this all up to repeat what that Singaporean leader shared, what I took to heart:
Ladies, if you want a man, hang out by the well.
Men, if you want a lady, meditate in the field in the evening.
But What About…
Fruit? But what about about Cain’s sacrifice? What about ‘pruning’? What about ‘faith without works is dead’?
- The Lamb was a suitable sacrifice, an aroma pleasant to the Lord – a foreshadowing of Christ, the Passover Lamb whose blood the angel of death recognized, and the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
- This only tells me that when we worship and when we lead worship, we place Christ and His finished work at the altar, and not our performance and efforts. You don’t give fruit back to the One who produces it through you.
- Pastor Oscar specified as I do now – The word for ‘take away’ is ‘airō‘ which means to lift, or to raise up.
- Also the word for ‘pruning’ is ‘kathairō‘ and it doesn’t mean to cut outright, but with the intention to clean, AND with the intention that we bear even MORE of the Vine’s fruit.
- Finally, what does Jesus say after this? You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. John 15:3
- Context is king! Pastor Oscar quoted Tozer is saying that Truth does not lie in ‘it is written’ but flies on two wings: ‘it is written,’ and ‘again, it is written’. Here, I’m also saying that we would do very well to go beyond quoting one verse, but the verses BEFORE and AFTER.
- Paul speaks of Abraham believing, and it was counted to him for righteousness… but, contrary to the demons, who believe but merely tremble, he obeyed the Lord by offering his son Isaac! This tells me that faith NATURALLY produces works, but we’re pretty demonic in just reacting by trembling, and nothing else.
- ALSO. I am aware. Yes, it clearly mentions ‘works’, not fruit. That’s because Christ HIMSELF, and not faith in Christ, produces the fruit. Christ, the Author and Finisher of our faith, says in His word, that if we would really want to do the works of God, ‘you (first) believe in Him whom He sent.”John 6:29
- You abide, and you work. And as you work, you bear fruit.
Conclusion
Something that came to me in this season:
Every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, but not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom of Heaven.
I present a new struggle for all of us to recognize and participate in – that is, our daily dying to the mindset that has us in the focus. For when we’re in the spotlight, the words of Christ would absolutely bring us to fear. Even if we recognize Christ as Lord, if the focus is still on us, we’re afraid we’d hear Christ tell us, ‘I never knew you.’
The moment we focus on Christ and His word, the moment we take our eyes off of our own performance and behold His finished work is the moment we’re free from fear of Christ telling us ‘I never knew you‘ in the future, because we know He told us and IS telling us that He is the Good Shepherd, ‘I know my own and my own know me‘
We take the focus off of our selves and we realize that the One who said ‘before Abraham was, I am‘ is the same One who tells us ‘Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you.‘
We look to Christ, and as we look to the stars in the heavens we say, who are we, that God is so mindful of me? Indeed, we are truly humbled because by Christ we appreciate that the God who knows the number of hairs on our head at any given moment is ALWAYS thinking of us.
So I tell us all on the onset – Let’s stop hearing what the world has to say, and let’s continue to hear the Word of God: For when we believe, we meditate, and when we meditate, we work, and when we work, we bear much of Christ’s fruit.
This IS the Year of Bearing Much Fruit. Amen! Amen!
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