Tuesday, November 12, 2019

"..become fruit-bearing branches" Colossians 1:10 (TPT)


“Walk in the ways of true righteousness”, a casual reading of this verse would give you the impression that this is something that we are capable of doing by just walking it out, but of ourselves, we cannot.  True righteousness is a grace imparted by Christ Jesus and is by His life alone working in us to produce true righteousness. 

I remember a short chorus I used to sing many years ago which went something like this:

I’m standing in the righteousness of Jesus Christ;
Born of His blood, clean in His sight;
There’s nothing I can do to make things right
Jesus did it all for me.

Jesus and His perfect life is the only righteousness that the Father will accept, so when we invite Jesus to live within us, the Father sees the life of Jesus being made alive within us and He is pleased.  Righteousness defined is “Purity of heart and rectitude of life; conformity of heart and life to the divine law. righteousness as used in Scripture and theology, in which it is chiefly used, is nearly equivalent to holiness, comprehending principles and affections of heart, and conformity of life to the divine law. It includes all we call justice, honesty, and virtue, with holy affections; in short, it is true religion. Webster’s 1828 Dictionary

“There is no one else who has the power to save us, for there is only one name to whom God has given authority by which we must experience salvation: the name of Jesus.” 
Acts 4:12 (TPT)

In Aramaic this passage can be rendered “We must experience the Life-Giver” or “We must receive the covenant of life.”

When it is summed up, we can only stand in the righteousness of Jesus Christ who makes us acceptable unto our heavenly Father, there is nothing more that we can add to being made righteous other than to receive Him and allow Him to become our justification.

This is the only way we can please God in everything that we do and in every thought we have.

“Living within you is the Christ who floods you with the expectation of glory! This mystery of Christ, embedded within us, becomes a heavenly treasure chest of hope filled with the riches of glory for his people, and God wants everyone to know it!” Colossians 1:27 (TPT)

This is also how we bear the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, like any branch of a vine or a tree that is fruit-bearing it needs to be pruned back from time to time so it may grow stronger and produce more fruit.

“He (the Father) cares for the branches connected to me by lifting and propping up the fruitless branches and pruning every fruitful branch to yield a greater harvest. The words I have spoken over you have already cleansed you.” John 15:2-3 (TPT)

Jesus wants us to be fruitful in the spirit producing love, joy, peace, patience, and so much more.

“Then you’ll become fruit-bearing branches, yielding to his life” This is what we have come to know as the fullness of Christ residing in us when we yield to His life within us.  That is the beauty of the Christian life when we realize that we are truly becoming like the one who is the object of our affection.  Jesus becomes our deepest desire and love His love for us is changing us into his very image, so where there is love, let me sow love.

This is truly a maturing process, not something that just we become overnight, there is so much God has to work within our lives, and so much which needs transformation.   I find it amazing that in 45+ years of being a believer that this is still His desire for me, to be daily changed and conformed into His image through His presence abiding in me.   This is what truly gives me comfort in knowing that He never changes and His love for me is new each and every morning.

Serving the Lord never becomes stale or old, it is fresh and as new as the day dawning because He is love personified and His love only grows and becomes more firmly rooted in our lives each day.
I do find it exciting to wake up each morning with an assurance that He will be there waiting for me desiring my contact with Him with eagerness and with expectation.  Even when I am not feeling at my finest, He is still there with His arms outstretched to meet me.  That is the part about loving the Lord that I appreciate the most.

Knowing Him in His fullness, is something that comes through time.  Much like a bride and a bridegroom are excited to their wedding and their coupling, what sustains them over the years is their relationship with each other and the depth of their love that only grows through trust and commitment.  That is why our relationship to Jesus is compared to a marriage, this is knowing His true righteousness which is on display for us to bear witness to and we become that same righteousness because we are connected to Him through this marriage. 

I am reminded of  the words of this song below that was written back in 1975 during the Jesus People movement by Bob Cull called So Much Love:

So much love
You've always given me
So much love
(You've) Given it so freely
So much love

It seems like all I've (ever) done is let you down
I don't understand how you could love me
I don't see what makes you keep on givin'
Your love so faithfully
I don't know why you would want to hang around
All the times I've turned my back and walked away
I only know that seein' you love me, Lord, makes me want to stay

I love you
For all you've given me
So much love
I just can't help myself
I love you

Beside you
That's where I want to always be
That's where I want to always be
So much in love
(I'm) Following faithfully
Beside you

I love you
For all you've given me
So much love
(God) I just can't help myself
I love you                      
Be Blessed;
Stephen Barnett

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