THE FRUITFUL LIFE

The Christian life is a gift of God, an expression of God's grace in Christ, the result of an undeserved and unmerited offering of love toward us.  Every step of the journey toward Christ is preceded by, made possible by, and sustained by the perfecting grace of God.

However, becoming the person that God desires us to become is also the fruit of a persistent and deeply personal quest, an active desire to love God, to allow God's love to lead us.  The fruitful life is cultivated by placing ourselves in the most advantageous places to see, receive, learn, and understand the love that has been offered in Christ. 

-- Robert Schnase in Five Practices of Fruitful Living


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SHARING OUR STORY OF CHRIST

Consider Zacchaeus.  Luke 19.2 says that Zacchaeus was a wealthy tax collector living for money.  He was a self-proclaimed money monger, but after he had dinner with Jesus Christ, everything changed.  On the other side of that meal, Zacchaeus declared that he would pay back every dollar, every cent, that he had stolen and extorted from people, and that he would give half of his net worth to the poor.  Do you have a hunch regarding the tale he told in future conversations when someone said, "So, Zacchaeus, what's up with your God thing?"

I can just hear Zacchaeus now:  "I'll tell you what happened -- it was unbelievable!  I fell into a pattern where my whole life was wrapped up in money.  The grip of greed was so strong that I couldn't break free.  It distorted every relationship I had.  But then I met Jesus.  And you know what?  Jesus set me free from the tyranny of greed.  He taught me how to care -- really care -- about people, particularly the poor.  That's what Jesus did for me -- He unhooked me from unhealthy habits and got me pointed in a new direction."

You know the questions I'm going to ask.  How many times do you think Zacchaeus told that particular before-and-after story?  Yes, hundreds of times.  And in my estimation, sharing our stories of Christ's impact in our lives doesn't have to be any more complicated that this.

-- Bill Hybels in Just Walk Across the Room


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OUR INTIMATE CONFIDANT

Intimacy connotes familiarity and closeness.  It involves our deepest nature, and it is marked by a warm friendship developed through long association.  In order for us to become intimate with another, we must find in him or her a true confidant -- one in whom we can safely confide our secrets.

What are the characteristics of such a true friend?  Most of us look for someone we respect as wise and just; one we can trust implicitly; one we feel safe and secure with; one who will respond to us, help us in the right way, and be available whenever we want to share.  True confidants are rare, and fortunate are those who have one.

There is One who meets these criteria perfectly: the Keeper of souls who never sleeps, who calls us into fellowship -- "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know" (Jeremiah 33:3).  The marvelous affirmation of the psalmists is that the Creator of the vast universe is also our intimate Confidant. 

-- Cynthia Heald in Intimacy with God


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GOD'S HANDIWORK

Only God knows your full potential, and He is guiding you toward that best version of yourself all the time.  He has many tools and is never in a hurry.  That can be frustrating for us, but even in our frustration, God is at work to produce patience in us.  He never gets discouraged by how long it takes, and He delights every time you grow.  Only God can see the “best version of you,” and He is more concerned with you reaching your full potential than you are.

"For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:10)

You are not your handiwork; your life is not your project.  Your life is God’s project.  God thought you up, and He knows what you were intended to be.  He has many good works for you to do, but they are not the kind of “to do” lists we give spouses or employees.  They are sign-posts to your true self.

Your “spiritual life” is not limited to certain devotional activities that you engage in.  It is receiving power from the Spirit of God to become the person God had in mind when He created you -- His handiwork.

-- John Ortberg in The Me I Want to Be


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WORSHIPPING AT THE WRONG ALTAR

Martyrs teach us many things, and chief among them is the immense worth of our faith and at the same time the worthlessness of much that pretends to have value…

We are cajoled into bowing down every day before the altar of television, in the corridors of the shopping mall, in the intricacies of our minds, in the thousand little decisions we make hourly.  And it is our noble privilege to join the ranks of the martyrs and resolutely declare, "We will not serve your gods and we will not worship the statue you have set up" -- no matter what the cost.

-- James C. Howell in Servants, Misfits, and Martyrs


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