These are some thoughts and questions gathered after I listened to The Eternal Current podcast with Aaron and Shauna Niequist called Good Fruit.

I’ve been thinking about, Jesus’ words in John 15…”remain in life-union with me…your life will be fruitless unless you live your life intimately joined to me…as you live in union with me as your source, fruitfulness will stream from within you — but when you separate from me you are powerless…But if you live in life-union with me and if my words live powerfully within you — then you can ask whatever you desire and it will  be done….When your lives bear abundant fruit, you demonstrate that you are my mature disciples who glorify my Father!…you must continually let my love nourish your hearts!…My purpose in telling you these things is so that the joy that I experience will fill your hearts with overflowing gladness!” (portions of John 15:1-11 TPT)

Some translations use the word abide, instead of life-union.

We should be asking ourselves…

What does abiding look like for me? 

How am I abiding in Christ? 

What practices do I do to stay connected to the vine? 

How do I stay nourished so that I bear good fruit? 

We are a branch. Connected to the Vine. The Vine is the source of power. We grow because we are connected to the Grower. Good fruit comes from a well-tended soul, a deeply connected soul, root in Christ. 

We should also ask ourselves…

How do I stay rooted in Christ? 

What practices/tools am I currently using to seek and discover Him? To maintain godly perspective? 

How do I keep myself “in-shape” spiritually? 

We are all in process of becoming. We are being transformed. Day by day. Moment by moment. We each have our own vulnerabilities towards unhealthy practices, towards destructive tendencies, towards believing lies, or shame, or insecurities, or doubts, or fears. We are human. We must be gracious with ourselves.

Our job is to be aware of our brokenness, of our weaknesses, and work on moving towards healing daily, with the Spirit’s help.

Reminding ourselves that, the old messages in our heads don’t tell the story of who I am today!

And. That gentleness will heal us up in ways that force, or shame never will. It is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance. (Romans 2:4)

In view of God’s kindness towards us, notice the fruit that is growing in your life right now and ask God how you might participate in this growing process. 

Growing fruit is the Spirit’s job. Our job is to simply stay connected to the vine.

At the end of the podcast, we were asked to reflect on the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, 

then consider… 

What fruit is being created in my life? 

What do I need to thank God for doing? 

What fruit do I need to ask Him to cultivate?  

I wonder…. John 15:11 says, “My purpose in telling you these things is so that the joy that I experience will fill your hearts with overflowing gladness!”

Do you experience joy on a regular basis? 

Is your heart overflowing with gladness?

I’ll answer a few of my own questions for you.

I am open, honest, loud, and passionate. I love studying God’s Word. I love discovering Truth through godly teachers. I like discussing what God is doing, because I feel like when we share, we give Him glory and can help/encourage others in their situations. I know I need to practice talking less and listening more. I experience God working and moving all the time, and I want other people to also. I practice awareness, silence, prayer, meditation, journal-ing, walking in nature, reading Truth, and listening to godly teachers, to help me stay connected to Jesus as my Source of strength. I recite scriptures, mantras, and sing worship songs in my head, to help me maintain godly perspective. God has done and is doing a trans-formative work in my life. I am blessed to experience His Joy and Peace and Love in real and tangible ways daily. Over the past several years, I have learned so much about giving and receiving love and been able to experience love more fully. I am constantly learning to Trust Him more and rest in His Love more fully. He has helped me, and is helping me, to learn to sit with my tough emotions, to acknowledge them, and walk through them. I am continuing to discover the power of the Holy Spirit in me helping me own my choices and be responsible for my emotions and write my story well. I want to have deep and meaningful conversations about God, about living more fully for Him, about what He is doing, for encouragement in my personal walk and to hopefully help people in theirs. 

You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them. Matthew 7:16-20 NKJV

Keep seeking and discovering! Keep going! You’ve got this and God’s got you!