HOW GOD DEVELOPS SPIRITUAL FRUIT

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HOW GOD DEVELOPS SPIRITUAL FRUIT

“Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples.” (John 15.8)

Training

A few years ago my husband and I acquired a puppy. We bought her a dog house. An outdoor dog, we tried unsuccessfully to get her to go into her new dog house. She was like an obstinate child, intelligent but defiant.

A year later we acquired another puppy of a different breed. We wanted our first dog to have a companion. Our year old canine friend began showing her new companion around the yard. She instructed him particularly on the dog house, demonstrating how it should be used. She went into the dog house, came back out, then repeated the process. Our labor had not been in vain! She had not misunderstood our intention for her to use the dog house after all.

Teaching

God is precious with us as His children. He adopted us into His family, taking from us the guilt of our sin against Him. Regardless of our physical age when we accepted Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, at that point we are spiritual babies. God the Holy Spirit took up residence in our heart when we accepted God’s gift of salvation. Now He begins to teach us. God wants us to understand our conversion experience wasn’t the end of the story. As wonderful as redemption is, God begins to lead us on a journey of discovery.

The Holy Spirit is our personal Teacher, guiding us from spiritual infancy to spiritual maturity. Our spiritual growth occurs as we (1) read our Bible, God’s Word to us; (2) pray, talking with God about what concerns us; and (3) obey the directions in commands we read in Scripture. Jesus said in John 15:14, “Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. God entrusts us with the King’s business as we follow His directions, obeying His commands.

Teach the lesson to others

We knew our older dog had absorbed the dog house lesson we had taught her because she taught the same lesson to another dog. Let us be teachable as the Holy Spirit instructs us. Then when we are ready we will be useful instruments in God’s hands to help someone else on their journey of faith.

Shirley Logsdon

Additional reading:

Who I’m Meant to be

https://www.treadingwatertiljesuscomes.com/2019/08/20/who-im-meant-to-be/

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About Shirley Logsdon

I am the only child of Christian parents who wanted me to know God personally as they did. One night during church we watched a movie depicting a family in their home accepting Jesus as their personal Savior. I was nine and realized then my desire to make Jesus my personal Savior. With the full support of my parents, I met with the pastor and prayed to receive Christ. A few years later, several of us around the same age began classes for our confirmation to become church members. The privilege of taking communion was a special time for me. . During my teenage years I was outwardly complacent, but was inwardly rebellious. I developed the nasty habit of disrupting harmony in the household by nitpicking at anything and everything. A preacher came to hold revival services at my dad’s church and nailed me silently with looks. This helped me tremendously. I turned a corner and began to respect and obey my parents in attitude and actions. I survived these years through prayer (mine, my parents and friends). The love and tenacity of my parents and God’s grace got me through these years of upheaval. I readily identify with David the Psalmist when he said in Psalm 25:7, “Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to Thy mercy remember Thou me for Thy goodness’ sake, O LORD.” Because my parents provided a stable home life for me, when I went to college my Christian values remained intact. After completing my education in 1979, I started working. For a while, I worked at temp agencies, then I did odd jobs. I settled down in a secretarial position in 1986 working for a firm specializing in retirement plan administration. In 2007, I started working for a law firm, eventually becoming a knowledge management assistant in their law library, helping to alert attorneys to new business opportunities. I am a productive citizen of my country in large part because my parents prayed for me and made clear by word and example what they expected of me. I am extremely grateful to God for them. John 15:5 is my life verse: “I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing.” I am confronted with this realization every day I live, and it helps keep me on the straight and narrow path. I met my future husband at church. After a few years of our two families getting acquainted, he and I started courting. We married at the church where we met, in the presence of many relatives and friends. We have been married for 29 years. My hobbies are reading, cooking, and canning or freezing what my beloved husband grows in the garden. Also, I thoroughly enjoy writing. While my writing has included poems, most of my writing has been letters to family and friends. I like to share my faith when I write and am fond of adding a Bible verse or two to help focus on the source of our life. Since I am now retired after working 38 years, I can concentrate on keeping up with birthdays. Something else I enjoy is studying the Bible, often with others. Blogging is a new form of writing for me. I am getting my feet wet and I’m beginning to enjoy the experience.

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