Tag: Fruitfulness

When This is That: I Will Put My Spirit in You

On By TimIn Ezekiel 36, Holy Spirit, Israel1 Comment

Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds. Their way was before Me as the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity. Therefore I poured My fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land and for their idols with which they had polluted it. And I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries. According to their ways and according to their deeds, I judged them. (Ezekiel 36:16–19, MEV)

Here is Ezekiel providing God’s word to Israel during the Babylonian captivity. The Kingdom has already been divided between the 10 northern tribes, usually called Israel who were overtaken by the Assyrians. There were also the southern tribes Judah and Levi, collectively called Judah. Ezekiel is a prophet speaking God’s truth to—Israel.

The northern kingdom had already been dispersed in judgment at the time. It consisted of ten tribes, which some call the lost tribes. These people became integrated among the Gentile nations. At the time of Jesus’ first advent, the name ascribed to those people was Samaritans.

Judah was also scattered into Babylon. After 70 years of captivity, those people returned to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. They resettled the land. This was the Israel present during the physical lifetime of Jesus Christ.

In his speaking for God, Ezekiel uses some very strong language to demonstrate the detestable nature of the practices of the Israelis. Ones that brought the judgment of the Most High. He did not eradicate His people. Instead, He scattered them into the nations of the world. Where they have remained until modern times.

When they entered the nations, where they went, they profaned My holy name, because they said of them, “These are the people of the Lord and have gone forth out of His land.” But I had pity for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went.  (Ezekiel 36:20–21, MEV)

This is the trouble with sin. It always has a penchant for suppressing the knowledge of God. When God judged His people and dispersed them from the land, it caused more damage to be done to His name in the minds of the Gentiles.

This may lack some context, as it reflects a common conception in the Ancient Near East. It is basically the connection between a god, his nation, and the people of that nation. These all possessed the land. When the land’s inhabitants were removed from it, the prevailing wisdom was that the god of that land dispossessed his people. They were driven away because their god abandoned them.

God had a different plan. He never intended to abandon His people.

Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake which you have profaned among the nations where you went. I will vindicate the sanctity of My great name which was profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations shall know that I am the Lord, says the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified among you before their eyes.  (Ezekiel 36:22–23, MEV)

God’s plan from the beginning included the salvation of all the people of all nations. I know this text doesn’t say that, per se. Yet, the entirety of the Bible proclaims that the death of Jesus is for the whole world, and that anyone who wants eternal life needs only believe to receive it. This is why Abram and his descendants were chosen as a blessing to the whole world. This is not just the promise of the Messiah; it is to be their testimony to share this message with all people in all nations.

I will make of you a great nation;
I will bless you
and make your name great,
so that you will be a blessing.
I will bless them who bless you
and curse him who curses you,
and in you all families of the earth
will be blessed.” Genesis 12:2–3

The Most High is protecting His Name among the other nations. If He abandoned His people, He could not keep His promises to them. When the Bible declares the hope that the nations shall know that I am Lord, it is not that they would acknowledge Him as that. It’s that they all might believe!

That was the primary mission of the whole nation of Israel. They were not chosen as His people to be saved, but to make Him, and salvation, known to the world. This is the hope that all the people of the world might be saved. They failed miserably at that mission and compounded that failure by rejecting their King. That’s for another time.

For I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all countries and will bring you into your own land. (Ezekiel 36:24, MEV)

God promises to bring back the lost tribes into the land He gave to Abram, as a possession. God made the covenant with Himself. It has no conditions or contingencies attached to it, and it certainly does not expire. When both the 10 Israeli tribes are regathered with Judah and Levi into the Land, this would be the ultimate fulfillment of the promise made to Abram. It would also be the catalyst for restoring His Name among the nations of the world.

Though Judah and part of Levi returned to Jerusalem and settled the Land, this particular promise of regathering the lost northern tribes has never happened in history. With the birth of the modern nation of Israel, it seems as if those of us alive today are eyewitnesses to God making this happen. Jewish people are being drawn to return to Israel.

The contemporary cultural zeitgeist blames the nation of Israel for the world’s problems. Anti-Zionism is increasing. That factor doesn’t surprise me. Jesus said it would happen as the end of the age approaches.

Then I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean. From all your filthiness and from all your idols, I will cleanse you. Also, I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. You will dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers. And you will be My people, and I will be your God. (Ezekiel 36:25–28, MEV)

It cannot be overstated, and it must be understood. This promise is made to Israel. It was not made for the church or even Gentiles. Some in Christian circles have usurped this and other Scriptures to claim that the church is the new Israel. That is not true, but it is an understandable thing, what with the absence of Israel for almost 2,000 years. How would anything the Bible says about the future of Israel make sense?

May 14, 1948, became an impetus for changing minds and increasing Bible study, and that quickly. I mean, how can a nation be born in a day?

The promise God made to maintain His reputation was given to the nation of Israel. God was going to remove the sin. All of it. They would be given a new heart and spirit that wouldn’t be so indifferent. The Holy Spirit would live in them, causing them to walk in the right ways. They would finally dwell in the Land God gave them as an inheritance.

Now, I know this may seem controversial. But none of those things are promised to any Gentile in Ezekiel 36. Yet the modern-day New Testament believer is gifted all of that (except for living in the Land.) The church is not some continuation of Israel, nor did it supersede or replace Israel.

Then, how is it that Christians have these things?

In a single parable, Jesus explains the situation. It is found in Matthew 21. Before Jesus concluded His account, He confirmed the answer the crowd gave to His question to them. When the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?”

“Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing its fruits.  (Matthew 21:43, MEV)

Those present that day understood Jesus, and they tried to arrest Him. They were actually acting out the very words of the parable they had just heard. They proved Jesus to be right.

So the Kingdom of God was given to another. Paul tells us what that means…

For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brothers, my kinsmen by race, who are Israelites, to whom belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises, to whom belong the patriarchs, and from whom, according to the flesh, is Christ, who is over all, God forever blessed. Amen.  (Romans 9:3–5, MEV)

What it was to be an Israelite, that is, the adoption, glory, covenants, promises, and the service of God, is given to another nation. Collectively, that is the body of Christ, the body of believers today that began on Pentecost. What some refer to as the church, as in the universal church.

But before we get full of ourselves… The transfer would be temporary.

I say then, has God rejected His people? God forbid! For I also am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah? How he pleads with God against Israel, saying, “Lord, they have killed Your prophets and destroyed Your altars. I alone am left, and they seek my life”? But what is the divine reply to him? “I have kept for Myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So then at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. (Romans 11:1–5, MEV)

I encourage you to continue reading Romans 11. But for the purposes here, there is always a believing remnant.

As an aside, there are words in Christianese that are loaded with baggage. One is election. Most think election is for and to salvation. It’s not. It’s about service to God. Which is clear in this case.

The church body is a hybrid consisting of both Israelites and Gentiles. It benefits from all those promises and privileges given to Israel by being grafted into the Root. It is an agrarian reference. One that speaks of the privilege of service to bear fruit. Paul explains it.

But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among them and became a partaker with them of the root and richness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. If you boast, remember you do not sustain the root, but the root sustains you. You will say then, “The branches were broken off, so that I might be grafted in.” This is correct. They were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you.  (Romans 11:17–21, MEV)

When a horticulturist grafts a branch into a solid root, the goal is better fruit. Therefore, this passage is about bearing fruit, and connected with the earlier parable cited when Jesus spoke of the vineyard workers; today’s believers can bear the fruit God wants.

Again, as an aside, this passage is sometimes used to support a false teaching. That is, that salvation can be lost. That simply is not true. This is about working for the kingdom of God and bearing fruit. Yes, doing even that requires faith!

Most of those things Ezekiel wrote of are true for New Testament believers—Christians. When we believe, we are washed clean.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, and that He might present to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:25–27, MEV)

We are also given a new heart and spirit. Basically, we become a new creation where old things pass away and we are made new.

Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things have passed away. Look, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17, MEV)

Not really last, and certainly never least is the Spirit of God that indwells us believers.

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. Now if any man does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit that lives in you.  (Romans 8:9–11, MEV)

You see, this is that!

What I mean is all of those things Ezekiel promised to the Israelites are still for them. But New Testament Christians have some of them now. If we were to manifest these gifts the right way, and the Jewish people of today were somewhat familiar with their Tanakh, wonderful things could happen.

Perhaps they would recognize that the gifts promised to them are at work today in the body of Christ. Maybe that would be the impetus to provoke them to jealousy.

That’s not a bad thing. That’s how it is to be done.

I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid! But through their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. Now if their transgression means riches for the world, and their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness mean?  (Romans 11:11–12, MEV)

As I think about that. I have some of the promises and privileges given to Israel. These are mine today.

If you are Jewish… Wouldn’t you want them today?

Making Faith my Own

On By TimIn 2 Peter 01, Encouragement2 Comments

Begging for a bit of indulgence to deviate slightly in order to demonstrate a life lesson.

I met a young woman named Dinah this weekend. She was with an older friend and coworker named Byron. I had the opportunity to hear both of their testimonies before they were baptized.

Dinah spoke of a sort of coming of age in her own walk with Jesus. She had grown up in a Christian home with Christian parents. She went to church. She prayed. She read her Bible. She had even been baptized before.

But when she went to college, she realized something was missing. She was not going to church. She was not with her parents. Her faith was not her own, but it was her parents. She had gone to church, prayed and was even baptized because that was what was expected of her to do.

She endeavored to make her faith her own.

As questions were posed to her, the answers seemed to be good but there was a subtle vagueness to them. She never had a testimony of responding to an invitation, nor really saying a sinner’s prayer. She did have a testimony of asking God to be real to her and work in her.

When the attention turned to her friend Byron, things become crystal clear. By looks alone, this man seemed to be old enough to be Dinah’s father. He was a coworker.

Byron, knowing Dinah was a Christian asked her to pray for him as he was going through a dramatic and emotional upheaval of his life. She said I can pray for you and sensed he need more than prayer. She told him she would pray for him but said it would be better for him to come to come sit next to her in church.

Byron soon became a Christian. He knows the day he was saved, and two months later was standing in front us ready to be baptized.

As I was listening to all of this, I could not help but to think of Peter’s second epistle. In that writing Peter speaks of distinct groups of people by seemingly similar phrases. The first group are those saved, the ones who escape the corruption of the world and partake of the divine nature. Dinah’s testimony comes in Peter’s words.

His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who has called us by His own glory and excellence, by which He has given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, so that through these things you might become partakers of the divine nature and escape the corruption that is in the world through lust.

2 Peter 1:3–4 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

These are real Christians. They can be babes in the faith or seasoned saints. Nevertheless, these live as a partakers of the divine nature. The divine nature is permanent, and such speaks to the permanence of salvation as a part of the divine nature.

Look at how Peter’s further encouragement to these saints helps us to see the shining Light of Dinah’s testimony.

For this reason make every effort to add virtue to your faith; and to your virtue, knowledge; and to your knowledge, self-control; and to your self-control, patient endurance; and to your patient endurance, godliness; and to your godliness, brotherly kindness; and to your brotherly kindness, love. For if these things reside in you and abound, they ensure that you will neither be useless nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But the one who lacks these things is blind and shortsighted because he has forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.

2 Peter 1:5–9 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

Dinah did know all of the Christianeze. Yet she also knew something was missing. She also knew she had sinned and fallen short of the perfection God demands. She went to Jesus as He is the only way to escape the certainty of that corruption that comes from those defilements.

In her own youth, it seems she forgot to make her faith her own. She didn’t add virtue to her faith. She didn’t add knowledge to that virtue. There is a chain of things we must add to our faith, which brings us to godliness, brotherly kindness, and love for others.

Dinah had the protection of family and church. It was when she left she realized she missed the fellowship of the Spirit of God, though she never voiced it that way. The reality was clear.

It’s easy to relish in that when we go to church and have a Christian family. The presence of the Holy Spirit is always there. When we become separate from others who have the indwelling Spirit that comes by that faith… If we’ve not matured we sense the emptiness. Sometimes that emptiness comes from not really being a saint. I trust that isn’t the case with anyone reading this, but if it is… It’s quickly rectified by asking Jesus to save you right now. That’s the best way to start.

This neglect of our faith leads to a bit of shortsightedness. It will eventually place the memories of salvation into the far recesses of the mind, only to be forgotten.

Nevertheless, Dinah worked out her own faith. She cried out to Jesus to be real to her. Instead of being useless and unfruitful to God, she had the opportunity to ensure another man was led to Jesus. She was the willing tool God used to bring a radical change in Byron’s life.

Byron’s presence and testimony proved that Dinah was indeed saved and useful to God. She is bearing fruit in her walk with Jesus.

It was an awesome thing to see both of them baptized that morning. There is such a satisfying sweetness in the juxtaposition of a young lady leading an older man to Jesus.

There is that second group of folks Peter also describes.

Although they promise them freedom, they themselves are slaves of corruption, for by that which a man is overcome, to this he is enslaved. For if after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then turn back from the holy commandment that was delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, “The dog returns to his own vomit,” and “the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mud.”

2 Peter 2:19–22 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

Here Peter is talking specifically about the false teacher. He doesn’t have kind words. What is clear from Peter’s writing is that these false teachers have some knowledge of Jesus and the way of righteousness. But they reject it. They turn their back on the Holy command, you must be born again.

These are ones that have a familiarity with the Holy Spirit because they may have grown up in a Christian home or they have even attended church for some time. They’ve read their Bible, sang worship songs and may have even been baptized. In that sense, they escape the defilements… The sins and decadence of the world for a season. They enjoy the presence of the Holy Spirit not inside of them, but around them. When they leave those environs these become entangled again in the mess they left. The end is worse for them.

It’s not that they are doomed, but much more unlikely to come to their senses and be born again.

As I am reading this portion of text this morning and thinking of yesterday, I rejoice in Dinah’s repentance. Yes, there was real evidence, not so much as on a certain day she said a certain prayer or responded to a preacher’s pleading. She reached out to God for herself by herself because she knew something was missing and He is the only remedy. He answered her!

For those of you reading this far, if you are a Christian and have neglected your faith, start feeding it. Pray to God, ask for help, and read your Bible. That’s adding virtue. Continued reading and prayer adds knowledge. These things make your faith stronger and a continued exercise of that faith muscle makes a mature believer. One unmovable in faith who truly loves and serves others.

But what if you read this and have gone to church or had Christian parents, but cannot seem to escape the siren call of the decadence of the world that entangles you?

I have one answer. Come to your senses. Stop indulging your flesh, and hang out in that community where the Holy Spirit works. Repent… That means change your mind. Acknowledge that Jesus is right. Believe He is God, that He died to atone for all sins, the sins of the whole world. And confess that aloud to Him.

You can renounce your old way of life. You can take back control of your own life. You can ask Jesus to save you. You can escape the corruption of th world and that comes by lust. But you need Jesus inside of you first. That’s the hint command, you must be born again.

If there is one thing that I am sure of, Jesus can change your life.

If you’re not sure about anything here, and need help… You can send a message via the contact section. Find a Christian friend to listen.

Note: The testimonies are accurate though the names have been changed.

The Parable of the Sower

On By TimIn Apostasy, Luke 08Leave a comment

When a large crowd had gathered together and people were coming to Him from every city, He told this parable: “A sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on a rock. And as soon as it sprang up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. Yet some fell among thorns. And the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. And other seed fell on good ground and sprang up and yielded a hundred times the amount sown.”

Luke 8:4–8 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

I love the parables Jesus taught. The depths of meaning converted in a simple story, often are misunderstood. This is one example. Jesus explained the parable in detail… Even so, it is misunderstood.

Here is Jesus explaining the parable:

“Now the parable means this: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are those who hear. Then comes the devil, who takes away the word from their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.

Luke 8:11–12 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

I am going to stop here. This is the natural dividing line in the parable. In this part, salvation is mentioned. It is mentioned to be employed as a contrasting point. These folks hear, but the seed is never planted. Clearly, these are unsaved folk.

Now that the division is established, let’s move on.

Those on the rock are the ones who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root, for they believe for a while, then in the time of temptation fall away. That which fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But the seed on the good ground are those who, having heard the word, keep it in an honest and good heart and bear fruit with patience.

Luke 8:13–15 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

In the former explanation, the seed never was planted in the hearts of those who heard it. That is the person didn’t believe what he heard. Which means those are not saved. It follows that those who did hear received the seed (believed) and were saved.

These next groups are those who received the seed. These three groups are those who heard and believed. These are saved people. They receive the seed with joy.

The first group falls away. They apostatize. That English word comes from the underlying Greek word translated to fall away. The root of that word are where the English word apostatize has origins.

What does that mean?

Let’s see if we can glean some understanding of what apostasy means by examining the rest of the text of the parable.

The second group received the seed. It took root but was stunted by other cares. The end result of such is given, these bring no fruit to maturity. Jesus doesn’t say these lost or didn’t have salvation.

The next group received the seed, nurtured it, and through patience bore fruit.

To conclude, in this trio who received the seed and believed, we see various stages of fruit production from the seed planted. The first has no root and obviously bore no fruit. The second bore some fruit but it never matured. The last bore good fruit.

Apostasy doesn’t mean people lose salvation at all. It means they fell away from being fruitful and useful to God. They didn’t fall away from being saved.

I Will Not Leave You Fatherless

On By TimIn Fruitfulness, John 15Leave a comment

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that bears no fruit, He takes away. And every branch that bears fruit, He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean through the word which I have spoken to you. Remain in Me, as I also remain in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, neither can you, unless you remain in Me.

John 15:1–4 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

I am. The statement Jesus makes has a deep significance. He is proclaiming His bona fides, that is authentication to His identity.

In this, we also get another analogy that is agrarian in nature. It would be something easy for those hearing to understand. In it Jesus references Himself as the true vine. The one vine that bears fruit. That idea sets the tone here. It establishes context.

That context isn’t about salvation at all. As Jesus clearly stated that His disciples (His immediate audience) were already clean. (Even before this, that statement was made.) They were already saved by the Word He spoke to them.

Jesus encourages His followers to remain in Him. This isn’t about salvation, remember. The remaining in Him is to bear fruit. The Father wants you to bear fruit. There is only one way to do it, and that is by remaining in Jesus. That’s the work on our part. It’s not to keep being saved or to live right. Bearing fruit is to reproduce in kind… To make disciples. It is to be of use to the Father.

But what happens if you don’t bear fruit?

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who remains in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit. For without Me you can do nothing. If a man does not remain in Me, he is thrown out as a branch and withers. And they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

John 15:5–6 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

It’s a simple thing. Without Jesus, we can do nothing useful for the Kingdom. If we remain obstinate, not wanting to do the will of the Father, there are grave consequences. Just as unproductive branches are removed from the vine and destroyed, a saved Christian can be removed from the vine and destroyed.

That destruction isn’t about Hell or perdition. Even with the mention of being burned, this isn’t saying folks go to Hell.

If you remain in Me, and My words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it shall be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

John 15:7–8 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

It’s going to be a tough night for these men. Jesus is preparing them with an encouraging message to stay the course. It’s not to discourage them at all.

Remember that greater context that comes before those where Jesus speaks of the promised Holy Spirit.

“If you love Me, keep My commandments. I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Counselor, that He may be with you forever: the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, for it does not see Him, neither does it know Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you fatherless. I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see Me no more. But you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also.

John 14:15–19 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

It’s all part of the same message. It’s gonna get tough for these guys tonight. Jesus speaks to them at length.

Jesus is saying the Holy Spirit is promised. When the Counselor comes, He will be with them forever. Jesus says He won’t leave them fatherless. Those things are sure.

If you’re saved, get to bearing fruit. You can only do that in Jesus. And if you are in Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit in you. He won’t leave. Jesus promises to not leave you fatherless.

Considering that, why do you think Jesus the Son promises them a Father forever?

Is this You?

On By TimIn Eternal Security, Fruitfulness, Hebrews 06, SalvationLeave a comment

For land that drinks in the rain that often falls upon it and bears a crop useful to those for whom it is cultivated receives a blessing from God. But land that bears thorns and thistles is rejected and near to being cursed. Its destiny is to be burned.

Hebrews 6:7-8 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

This is a parable. The land that drinks in the rain is those who readily hear the Word of God and welcome it. Such may even serve in church, soup kitchens or volunteer for other worthy causes. You see, we can receive God’s Word and we can serve others. We can spend a lot of our time volunteering and helping others. The parable offers a caveat.

The crop is the service you do. In order for it to be blessed, it must be done with the proper motivation.

The rain and fruit must be useful for Whom it is cultivated. That is, it must be useful for God. In other words, think of it like this:

For the heart that receives the Word of God readily, and serves because their faith solely for salvation is in Jesus, and they do it for Him… Those receive the Holy Spirit and eternal life.

In other words, there is no other way to know the Father than through Jesus. You cannot know the Father by doing any of the Old Testament commandments. You cannot be doing it by going to confessional or adhering to the dictates of some organization like the Watchtower or Latter-Day Saints. The only way to know the Father is through Jesus.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.”

John 14:6-7 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

Those that don’t have the former, a heart cultivated by Jesus to receive the truth of His Word and bear fruit for Him… Are rejected and near being cursed. If that is you, as you read this, there is still hope for you.

Acknowledge that Jesus is God.

Believe (the Bible says in your heart) that He is God, that He lived on earth as recorded, He died to forgive your sins and He rose again and lives today.

Confess it aloud with your mouth!