Fruit
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October 9, 2006 |
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 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, "Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
With today's verse, you can check how much you have born spiritual and material fruit in your Christian lives. If you just obey these commands that tell us to rejoice always, pray without ceasing and give thanks in everything, then it is not difficult to go into spirit.
You will automatically receive the answers to your problems and blessings. So I urge you to check yourself concerning how you have been sowing and reaping in terms of these commandments.
First of all, God tells us to rejoice always.
Worldly people rejoice when they have something good to be happy about. But if they face difficult situations, their joy disappears and they have darkness and shadows that come over their faces and hearts. But the joy that God talks about is not the joy you have only when you have something to be joyful about, but the joy that springs out from your heart even in times of difficulties and hardships.
How can you have that joy? You can have it only if you are filled with the joy of salvation. You escaped the eternal punishment of hell and God has given you unimaginable honor in the kingdom of heaven and you came to call the Almighty God your Father. If you remember these amazing blessings, how can joy disappear from your heart!
Even if you don't have enough food to eat tomorrow, though you have problems in your family, and even if you are faced with great persecutions and trials, these realities do not really matter. If your love for God doesn't change and your hope for heavenly kingdom is not swayed, your joy will never disappear.
The apostle Paul faced so much persecution and so many hardships while preaching in the name of the Lord, but nobody could take away his joy. In his letter to the believers who were outside while he was in jail, he advised in Philippians 4:4 to "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!"
Among our church members there are many who are bearing this kind of fruit of joy beautifully. There were some members who were going through such hard times, but I never saw the appearance of their faces become darkened.
In May of 1993 there was a married couple, the wife received grace in the 1993 Revival Meeting of our church and she has been faithful to God up until this very day. She wanted to work for God more, so she quit her job from which she was giving 400 dollars in tithe every month. Then, God blessed her husband's business.
In the meantime, her husband expanded his business by purchasing too much and couldn't handle it financially. He went bankrupt. But still they were gracious. Although they were going through a hard time of trial, they still tried to follow goodness and truth.
He had a business partner, and he sold all the products in the shop to give his partner money to start a new business again. He took more than 100,000 dollars in debt solely upon himself. But he never had resentment or discomfort.
He blamed himself for all the difficulties, and repented before God that he didn't act fully by the truth. He got another job and became a salaried worker, but it was difficult for them to pay even the interest on their debt. But they never lost joy on their faces. How could they do it? They came to have true faith and hope of heaven after they came to this church and their daughter was healed of an incurable disease.
She had congenital heart disease, and doctors said she would live only up to the age of 18. But she was healed of it completely and is living a healthy life today. This grace of God they received didn't leave their hearts, so their joy didn't disappear even during the time of trials. Also, whether they were in abundance or in need, they tried to help others who were in need.
During the '99 broadcasting incident, they moved into a smaller house and gave increasingly to God to become strength to the church and the shepherd. They did many things to pay back the grace of God. How could God not bless them! As I said, after the husband's business went bankrupt, he got another job but the salary he received was only about 2,500 dollars.
But as he was acknowledged and blessed more, his income increased so much that he could pay back the debt he had, and recently, he came to give more than 2,000 dollars in tithe. They not only received material blessings, but they also grew up greatly in spirit. Their relatives were evangelized and had experience with divine healing. They have many gracious testimonies.
I hope you will be filled with the grace of God and the hope for heaven. I also hope that joy will continuously overflow from you in any given moment. Only then can your difficulties will quickly turn into blessings and you grow in spirit quickly.
Secondly, you have to look back and see whether you give thanks in any kind of circumstances.
The reason why you can only give thanks in all kinds of situations is that you believe in the almighty God. The almighty God knows all your situations and circumstances and listens to your prayers. If you are a person who relies on God until the end, even in trials, God will guide you delicately so that you will come out as beautiful fruit through that trial. If you truly trust in this God, you can always give thanks not only when you face difficulties for the Lord's name's sake, but also when you are under trials because of your mistakes or shortcomings.
It's because even though you cannot act in the truth completely because of your shortcomings, you are convinced that God still loves you and He knows all your situations and gives you the strength to overcome everything. If you go forward with thanks until the end, finally everything will turn out to be good and be changed into blessings.
But for any reason, if you still have sorrow and resentment and are complaining and grumbling, you have to realize that it is something very foolish and you are far away from faith. If you only have confessions of faith and thanks on your lips, God will surely enable you to bear fruits of blessings even in very difficult situations.
One of our members who was working in a restaurant came to have a lot of debt. In 1999, his debt mounted up to more than 100,000 dollars. He had to suffer from his debtors, and he couldn't live with his family. But even in this kind of difficult situation, his faith grew learning the word of God and going through various experiences with God's grace. Finally, he began to rely on God completely and prayed to solve his problems.
First, he repented of not living by the word and disobeying the word preached from the altar. He tried hard to live by the Word and did his best in performing his duty, and he was joyful and thankful. The church became aware of his situation and he was able to receive help through the Charitable Relief Committee of the church.
After one year, he was still in a difficult situation, but he stopped receiving the help from the church to let other people who were in greater need receive the charitable help. He prayed more fervently and asked for God's grace. What do you think happened to him? Beginning in June 2005, God began to work for him and he got a new job. He was new in that business, so he lacked many things, and he couldn't gain immediate returns either. But still, he only gave thanks and rejoiced and showed his faith with his best efforts. He prepared heart-felt offerings and received my prayer every week, and he received the prayer for the starting of the day every morning and also when he worked, he always carried the handkerchief on which I had prayed.
To act within the truth completely, he didn't resort to an expedient. Sometimes, he worked hard and faithfully, sleeping only a couple of hours a day to accomplish his duties both at his job and in the church. Then, his results began to increase dramatically. Within just 10 months from the time he started his work, he came to offer 2,700 dollars in tithes. He even became number one salesperson among thousands of salespersons in Korea, and he was promoted to a branch office director.
With his own method, he couldn't pay off his debt that had only been increasing for years. But when he relied on God and sowed the seed of faith with thanks before God, he could receive the answer to his problem very quickly.
What would you have done? Even though you ask God for one month, two months, or for a year or two, and still time just goes on without getting the solutions for your difficulties, would you be able to continuously trust God and give thanks to Him? Wouldn't you have complained or become resentful with various fleshly thoughts such as, "Why doesn't God answer me and why does He just leave me so I am unable to give glory to Him?"
But if your joy and thanks disappear only because of difficulties in the reality of your situations, how can your faith be acknowledged before God? How can he let you bear fruit? If you truly have faith, you will be able to give thanks even more for the power of God who can strengthen and perfect the weak. If you have faith, the more difficult the reality, the more you can give thanks to God for you believe that God is going to give you blessings. I hope you will only have confessions of thanks in any kind of situation. Then, God will look at the fruit of thanks born in your heart and let you bear fruit of blessings in your life, according to your faith.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
2 Corinthians 9:10 says, "Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness." God is the one who gives you the seed to sow and gives you abundant harvest.
While you are running for the goal of whole spirit, some of you have born fruits of revival and evangelism, and some others have born fruits of material blessings. Some have gone into higher levels in prayer while still others have accomplished more goodness in heart and have been advancing toward sanctification. Whatever kind of fruit you bear, God rejoices over the fruit of spirit and the aroma of your heart that is given with your changed heart.
I hope you will determine once again with God's grace that let you realize it and change completely. Therefore, I pray in the name of the Lord that, through complete joy and thanks and the power of continual prayer, you will be able to bear great and abundant fruits spiritually and materially!
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