Living a Fruitful Christian Life

A principle of fruitfulness is abiding and stability.

You don't see a fruitful tree hopping from garden to garden and farm to farm.

It's rooted. In fact, the Bible says those that are planted in the house of the Lord will flourish in the courts of God.

That means you're not all over the place.

You've got to find the place and let your boots grow roots.

Welcome to the City Light Church Podcast.

Thanks for joining us today as we look into God's Word and discover the hope and truth that He has for us.

If you want to connect with City Light Church, feel free to visit us at citylightnyc.com.

That's citylightnyc.com.

Pastor Boyan Jansik and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our hearts and minds.

As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God.

That you are surrounded by His grace and that He has a real hope and a future for you.

I want to minister to you today on biblical principles of fruitfulness.

How many of you know God has called you to be fruitful?

When He's called you and commanded you to be fruitful, that means He's also by design going to equip you and grace you with everything you need to be fruitful.

And I've noticed everybody wants to be fruitful.

There's nobody who's going to say, I don't want to be fruitful. I just want to be a dead tree branch.

Because fruitfulness is a sign of life.

And when your life is bearing fruit, there's a satisfaction and a contentment that's within your soul.

And on an even deeper level than that, when you're fruitful, ultimately you're fulfilling the purposes that God has for humanity. Amen.

So before we start, let me just quickly define fruit.

Because when a Christian, especially in a new covenant church, mentions fruitfulness,

typically what we immediately think of is Galatians chapter 5, the fruit of the Spirit, goodness, peace, joy.

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

I didn't go to Christian school, so I can't name them in order, but my wife can.

Name them all nine right in order.

Let's use the Bible to define the Bible.

Genesis 1, 27-28, I want to show you what falls into the category of the fruit that God wants you to bear.

Number one, children.

So God created man in his own image.

In the image of God, He created him male and female. He created them.

God blessed them and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply.

By the way, Satan hates this.

The Bible says that God is after godly seed, and the enemy is always trying to intercept that.

This also is the first commandment that you see right there in Genesis chapter 1.

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air,

and over every living thing that moves on the earth.

So number one, fruit is children.

Number two, first Corinthians 16-15, fruit when someone has a fruitful life, there's also salvation in their life.

The Bible calls people who've just come to the Lord fruit.

So how many of you know we're not supposed to live as closet Christians and keep our faith just for ourselves,

but we're supposed to share our faith?

You know what we all have in common? Somebody told us.

Right?

And so we're told to tell others, share the gospel, and when somebody says yes, that's fruit.

I urge you, brethren, Paul is writing, you know the household of Stephanus, that it is the first fruits of akea.

So Paul calls this man Stephanus and his household, they were the first ones to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

The first ones to get saved, he calls them first fruits, and that they have devoted themselves to the ministry of the saints.

So when we're fruitful, there's children, there's salvation, John 15, 7-8.

You know, for years I read John 15, and when Jesus says I want you to be fruitful that the Father's glorified,

I just thought that meant like good stuff, like I want good stuff coming from you, fruitful.

What is fruitful? He actually defines it right there.

If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask, you will pray, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

By this, my Father is glorified, the tension, it's real, next verse, that you bear much fruit.

Now go back to that other verse. Jesus, do you see the connection there? These aren't two separate thoughts.

Jesus is saying, when you pray and your prayers are actually answered, that's you bearing fruit.

And my Father is glorified. I mean, can you believe that God the Father is glorified when Christians pray, and they actually get answers to their prayers?

Which should be the norm. Too often it isn't, even back in the book of Acts, when they were praying for Peter to be released, and Peter gets released,

an ox on the door of the house where they're praying for him, and they go, no, I can't be you.

A lot of Christians are that way. They can't be you. We're just doing the prayer thing, because that's what's nice to do.

Now tell me God answered the prayer, and you're here. No, it must be his angel. So that's prayer fruit. God is glorified when you actually are praying and receiving answers to your prayers. Amen.

So we have children, souls, answers to prayer, and the Holy Spirit will teach you how to have a fruitful prayer life.

When I first got saved, I had no clue what I was doing, and I would often pray, Lord, teach me how to pray.

And prayer shouldn't be agonizing or frustrating, that you don't see any results. I wasn't seeing results, so I asked the Lord to just align me and correct me.

Teach me from the scriptures about prayer, so that we can actually get the job done, amen, and receive answers to our prayer.

Number four, fruit of the Spirit could also be from Galatians 5. The nature and the character of God, the love, the joy, goodness, kindness, patience have come out of you.

And then of course fruit in the Bible can just mean fruit.

A harvest of crops. Because back then if they said your chase account or your Citibank account, it wouldn't have made sense.

In other words fruit is also material possessions and your money, your finances. Amen. And God wants you to be fruitful in all of these.

So I just wanted to define fruit before I go into principles of fruitfulness, how we can align with what God wants for us to be fruitful and actually be fruitful.

You ready? Amen. Let's begin. Psalm 127.

Number one, fruitfulness is of the Spirit. It's something that the Spirit does in you.

My pastor, very aggressive guy in the best possible way, like a bull for the Lord.

And then many great things for God. But you know what I heard him say hundreds of times. If you have to force it, it's not God.

Amen. If you have to force it, it's not God. God wants you to be fruitful without striving, without sweating, without getting all anxious and making it a product of the flesh.

Real biblical fruitfulness is of the Spirit. Except the Lord builds the house. We're talking about the house of your life.

Pastors love this because they immediately think he's talking about the church, but it's for the house of your life, including his church.

Except the Lord builds the house. They labor in vain who build it. Except the Lord keeps the city, the watchman wakes but in vain.

Verse two, it is vain for you to rise up early to take rest late, to eat the bread of anxious toil. This is a New York city verse if there ever was one.

He's saying it's vain. You know how many people are trying to make it in their own strength and they may be getting success, but they're miserable.

That's why, by the way, the Bible says, God will prosper you and He'll give you riches and He'll add no sorrow to it.

What's the point if you're just full of ambition and full of strife and making yourself and everybody else around you miserable? Amen.

There is a fruit, look, the greatest example of this is Abraham. And now he got a promise from God that it was going to be the father of many nations, but nothing was happening for a while.

So his wife said, well, why don't you try to have a baby and conceive with that servant woman, Haggar.

And he did. And that produced an Ishmael, which the Bible identifies as a child of the flesh, something you do in your own strength to realize the promises of God.

Isaac, his name is laughter. That means with the Lord there's a ha ha when he births something. There's an ease. It's my microphone on this morning.

This is like the anti-New York City message. People come here, they sharpen their elbows. And I've heard things in the church. If it's to be, it's up to me.

In the Old Testament, the priests were told to wear linen ephod. You know why? The linen is a very breathable material, because in the presence of God there's no sweat. Hallelujah.

I love you. So I'm going to tell you this with a love of the Lord. Half of you look very miserable right now.

I know this is exactly the opposite of what the world is getting into you. You just have to scroll down a few times. That's why I'm off all social media. I'll occasionally post just to let people know I'm alive. I'll be on X.

But, but like Instagram, Facebook, three scrolls. And then there's that sweaty guy right up in my face. Are you looking to make more money? Try my new guaranteed system of $49.95 a month.

And you do this. If you got a force that it's not God, it is vain for you to rise up early.

You know, people I know they're miserable producing a lot, but they're miserable doing it in the flesh.

Instead of believing God and trusting for their Isaac, which comes with laughter, there's an ease.

One of the best compliments, this is the only compliment I'd ever want actually is the pastor just recently said.

He said, you know, when I came to city light, it was very apparent that it wasn't a work of man, but that it was something that was birthed in the spirit.

He's sensitive to these things so you can just, you can smell it in the spiritual air.

And you might also, if you went to a church where it was all just man scheming, man concocting, man strategizing, you do this, don't we do that? And the people do that.

You come in there and it smells like death.

All right, let me get back.

Let me eat the bread of anxious toil. Look at that. For he gives blessings to his beloved in sleep, in sleep.

Back when I was having these incredible experiences with the Lord and his Holy Spirit, he would often come to me at night and while I'd be in my bed.

The only way to describe was this like effervescent, champagne-y feeling out of my belly, like the Lord was just touching me and I felt like stuff was going into me.

Good stuff from heaven, just being deposited in my spirit.

Not when I was praying, I'm sure the prayer and the worship set me up for that, but when I was doing nothing.

You know, Aaron's rod that butted, that was fruitful, it was when Aaron put it in the glory, he just lay there and it produced fruit and butted.

I might have to ask the worship team to come back on.

I don't know if I left the point out that I mentioned in the first service, but totally different reaction.

Did I hurt somebody's feelings by saying this?

I understand, look, there is a part for us to play. I'm not preaching laziness.

I'm not talking about the Christian who just says akuna matata and whatever will be will be.

And I'll just kick back and watch the Lord do his thing. No, our job is to partner with him, to believe him.

But I'm talking about you only do what he tells you to do and if he's not telling you to do anything then don't do it.

Don't get old caught up in trying to make it happen because at the end it'll be like sand in your mouth.

Amen. You'll be miserable and everybody around you will be miserable and let the Lord birth that Isaac. Amen.

Hallelujah. It'll be one of the greatest freedoms that you'll ever encounter.

Half of what you're all are chasing, you're chasing. Anyway, just so that other people don't care about you will be impressed by you.

That's an okay. Point number two.

All right, principles, principles of biblical fruitfulness. Let's go to Psalm chapter one.

Now God's word is a seed. Jesus said so. Says it multiple times in scripture but Jesus said the soar goes to so the word.

And then just so no theologians could ever get mixed up on what he was actually talking about.

He's actually recorded as a breaking down and explaining that parable to his disciples and he says now the seed is the word of God.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the council of the ungodly.

Nor stands in the path of sinners.

Nor sits in the seat of the scornful.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord in the word of God.

It's not talking about the ten commandments of Moses here.

It's not talking about the system of the law that we've been redeemed from now that we're under grace.

It's law is also a synonym for the word of God.

His delight is in the word of God, in the word of the Lord, and in his law, in the word he meditates day and night.

This person who's full of the seed of the word of God, if you want to be fruitful, you got to get pregnant.

Pregnant with God's word, amen.

When God's word goes in you, it will naturally produce fruitfulness in your life.

But his delight is in the word of the Lord and in his word and the law, he meditates day and night.

This is what happens to that person.

And she'll be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season.

Everybody shout fruit.

I'm not a big repeat after me preacher, but just to wake you up, say fruit.

Who's leaf?

Also, somebody I could just pick to you, just cuddling this morning when the rain was falling.

Lord, will you still love me if I don't come?

I feel the comforter.

No, not the Holy Ghost, the comforter.

Maybe today I'll go to the first church of St. mattress with Pastor Pillow and Sister Sheets.

And you brought that thing in here.

Look, this stuff changed my life.

This changed my life.

I didn't know these things when I first became a Christian.

I was struggling, I was stumbling and bumbling to be fruitful.

And then I started to get ahold of these truths on the word of God.

What it means to ingest the word of God, how to pray with efficacy and with authority.

And I want my Christianity to work, amen.

So I started stumbling upon these spiritual principles.

And there was a pastor's wife.

And I asked her as I'm learning about these principles.

Because look, the reality is there's a lot of people in a church.

I remember looking around.

I'm young, I'm newly saved, and I'm going, this is so great.

And it's changing my life so much.

But I'm looking and I'm going, I just don't get the impression that a lot of these people are experiencing what I'm experiencing.

Why?

Because in a church you can have people who are like clapping seals.

And they're like, amen, amen.

And the Bible says, be careful that you're not ever, ever learning but never coming to a realization of the truth.

Be careful to be a doer of the word and not a hearer only.

So I'm getting my life changed by this principle that I'm about to share and ask her,

Hey, how many people do you think actually do this stuff?

I'm doing this stuff.

Change, how many people do you think do this stuff?

And she went, look down to him.

Not many, not many.

And there not be the story here.

Meditating on the Word of God will transform your life.

The Bible never says to read it.

It says the consummate.

It either says study it or eat it.

And when you do, you'll be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season.

You'll be fruitful whose leaf also shall not wither and whatever you do, it will prosper.

Hallelujah.

So we're going to have a meditation session this morning.

Because we have new people and those of you who've done this before,

the last time you did this was in a service just like this and you didn't do it at home.

So we're going to do it again. Amen.

We're going to meditate.

And biblical meditation is in you in the lotus position chanting Aum.

It's you repeating the Word of God until the Word is made flesh,

until that seed of God goes into your spirit.

And it'll produce much fruit.

I'll show you how to do it. Isaiah 41-10.

You get yourself a good verse.

They're all good, but one that really speaks to you.

Back in the day, we used to use the Concordance.

Now you can Google.

Verses for encouragement.

If I see what comes out.

Verses for when I'm feeling down.

And find one that really speaks life to you.

Write it out.

This is a great one.

We're going to do the first two lines together.

We're going to meditate.

There's a blow you away.

In fact, gauge how you're feeling right now.

Just like taking an internal, how am I doing?

And then check on yourself in three minutes.

And see if you're doing better or worse.

How we're going to meditate on this?

We're all going to stay together reading the first two lines

and then placing the emphasis on every successive word.

You ready?

All right, let's just read the first two lines.

Fear not for I am with you.

Be not dismayed for I am your God.

Fear not for I am with you.

Be not dismayed for I am your God.

Fear not for I am with you.

Be not dismayed for I am your God.

Fear not for I am with you.

Be not dismayed for I am your God.

Fear not for I am with you.

Be not dismayed for I am your God.

Fear not for I am with you.

Be not dismayed for I am your God.

Fear not for I am with you.

Be not dismayed for I am your God.

Fear not for I am with you.

Be not dismayed for I am your God.

Fear not for I am with you.

Be not dismayed for I am your God.

Fear not for I am with you.

Be not dismayed for I am your God.

Fear not for I am with you.

Be not dismayed for I am your God.

Fear not for I am with you.

Be not dismayed for I am your God.

Fear not for I am with you.

Be not dismayed for I am your God.

When you say I am, huh?

Fear not for I am with you.

Be not dismayed for I am your God.

Altogether now, fear not for I am with you.

Be not dismayed for I am your God.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

How do you feel better the same or worse than three minutes ago?

You are meditating on the Word.

You know my greatest fear when I do that is that somebody is going to come in and really think we are a cult.

Like I am just chanting and everybody is repeating after me.

All right, we got past that, everybody is all right.

No cool aid going about.

So this will change.

You find five verses like this and you really meditate on them.

You can do it as you go to sleep, you can do it in the morning.

And if it is you will memorize more scripture which is always positive.

But now you are actually getting pregnant.

I am using that word.

Because it is the seed of the Word of God and it will produce fruit.

What can produce better fruit than the Word of Almighty God?

Hallelujah.

So in biblical principles the fruitfulness, number one,

says in the fruit of the flesh it is the fruit of the spirit.

We can try to make it happen in our own strength.

We understand there is a tension between, hey, when am I just passive and apathetic

and just neglecting my responsibilities and when am I trying to make it happen?

There is a tension there, right?

Usually find Christians on both extremes.

They are either chilling on a hammock, hoping the blessings of God will just fall on them

or they are scheming and they are pushing and they are huffing and they are puffing

and switzing and striving and trying to make it happen in their own strength.

You find the answer to that tension as you walk it out with the Lord.

There is no formula I can give you.

I know when I am getting in the flesh.

By the way, Isaac, who is a child of the promise means laughter.

So one of the gauges for me is how much joy do I have?

Is our house a pretty happy home?

Is there a lot of laughter?

Yes.

Our house is like a non-stop slumber party.

It is like constantly and because that is what the Lord brings, the fruit of the Spirit is joy

and thank God I have a godly wife who when I am not that way and my brow gets furrowed

and my ch...

You know, for a day and then the next day, babe, what is going on?

Because I know that now I am in the flesh, the moment joy is gone.

I don't trust ministers who don't have much joy in their life.

They are always serious.

Always say, bro.

Hey, the Bible says in Hebrews that Jesus was anointed with the oil of joy far above his colleagues.

That means in a group of people, Jesus was the most joyous in the bunch.

Amen.

So I am saying all this because I felt like some people were wondering.

What is the answer between doing too much and doing too little?

What is a good indicator?

Your joy level is a good indicator.

When you are in joy, that means you are at the highest place of faith which is rest.

After you have gotten the word and you prayed and you believed and you stood,

you have to get to a place of biblical rest.

Hallelujah.

And that with that rest is joy.

Amen.

Meditating on the word because God's word is a seed that produces fruit.

And then this one, man, if you weren't amenning me before,

you're really going to be silent now.

John 15.4.

What produces fruit?

Yeah.

Abide.

I can just end there, but I have to read the whole verse.

Abide.

Say that with me.

Abide.

Abide in me and I and you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself.

Unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you what?

Abide in me.

A principle of fruitfulness is abiding and stability.

You don't see a fruitful tree hopping from garden to garden and farm to farm.

It's rooted.

In fact, the Bible says that those who are planted in the courts of the Lord

will flourish in the house of God.

Excuse me, I mixed that up.

Those that are planted in the house of the Lord will flourish in the courts of God.

That means you're not all over the place.

You're not constantly bouncing in order to have fruitfulness.

You've got to find the place and let your boots grow roots.

Again, I'm in New York City, right?

You know how many people I've said by two?

Because this was like the fifth city that we're going to give it a go in.

And now they're off to the next one.

You know what New York didn't work?

I was already in Miami.

I did shite town.

NYC.

And now, hey.

You're not going to have success immediately when you endeavor something.

And you can't hop around from place to place.

You know where you see this the most in people's social media profile?

You look at the bio and it says entrepreneur, photographer, model, engineer, biology, HVAC repair.

What?

You can't do all those things.

How can you be all those things?

Pick one and stay stable.

And you know whenever you're going through it, you know the first thing you do is think of switching to your graphic locations.

The problem is you've got to take yourself with you wherever you go.

Hey, man.

Am I preaching good, son?

All right, thank you.

That's it.

I know because I went through this.

She was teasing me back nearly 10 years ago when I was going through the dark night of the soul.

My nasty secret, I get on my phone and I go on trullia.

I'd be like, I hate it here right now.

I hate everything.

This is terrible.

I wonder how much houses are in South Carolina.

Whoa!

Look what I can for the price of a studio in New York.

I can get a mansion with the turrets and everything in South Carolina.

You got to abide, amen.

Quitting is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

Now, some of you, maybe you have something in your life that's like on life support.

And in that case, you need to shoot it in the head and put it out of its misery.

Like I'm not saying always.

Because there's some people that'll take this message and then they'll stay tied to something that's obviously dying.

But like, no, I'm going to be faithful.

I'm going to be stable.

I'm going to be loyal and they're carrying a dead person around.

Amen.

Sometimes you've got to put that thing away.

And move on.

But for most of us, God is saying they put Hallelujah.

I feel like I need a translator today.

This is not normal.

We are having a wedding today.

So a bunch of people are gone.

I didn't know that they send wedding invites to everybody who participates.

Hallelujah.

God is good.

God is awesome.

All right.

Worship team, come on up.

Malachi 310.

I have to protect my joy level.

So, according to what I just preach, the Worship team, come on up.

I want to show you this from Malachi 310.

Biblical principles of fruitfulness.

Every preacher's favorite passage, the book of Malachi for the Italian Americans.

Now one thing I'm big on is when you're reading an Old Testament scripture, realizing how

it applies to you now under the new covenant.

There is a difference.

But a lot of the principles stay the same.

The Bible says, bring all the tides into the storehouse that there may be food in my house.

And try me now.

Test me now in this, says the Lord of hosts.

If I will not open for you the windows of heaven.

By the way, today, I don't tie so the Lord will open up the windows of heaven for me.

Under the Old Testament, the people of God would get cursed.

Under the new covenant, you are a Christian.

Christ, the new, the hope of glory.

If you are walking with the Lord's Spirit-filled Christian, you cannot be cursed.

Under the Old covenant, one of the curses was that the heaven would be like iron, the skies,

and the heavens.

It means no precipitation would be like iron, and the ground would be like brass.

Under the new covenant, the heavens were opened.

And the day of Pentecost, Acts chapter 2, they never closed back up for the born again believer.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

So why do I tie it?

Not so that God would open up the heavens, but as an act of faith that the heavens are open over my life.

And I'm leaning into that word and partnering with the truth of God's word that the heavens are open over my life.

Okay?

Test me and I'll open up the windows of heaven and pour out for you such a blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.

And this is what I wanted you to see.

And I will rebuke the devourer that in the Hebrew is seed-eater, like a locust,

which is a symbol of a demonic entity, a principality, or a Satan himself.

When you give, now again, under the Old Testament, they would tie, and it was really under the Old Testament.

It was kind of like protection money.

Like I'm going to tie.

Man, I was blowing the trumpet in Zion.

I feel like it's going to happen just like that one day.

I'll be in the middle of a message.

And we'll all just go up, and only the people who didn't laugh will remain.

No.

What is that?

It sounds like a bison dying.

All right.

Preach through it.

Love it.

Praise God.

It was kind of like protection money in the Old Testament.

You paid, and the devourer would be rebuked.

Today, the seed-eater is keeping away from being fruitful.

He was rebuked by Jesus for the born-again believer 2,000 years ago.

Now when I tithe, I'm not paying protection money to God the Father,

so he doesn't send Angelo and Vinnie to break my kneecaps.

I'm saying, Lord, you've already done all this.

It's already a past tense fact, so I'm going to do what's right and high

because you've already done it, and the seed-eater is rebuked.

Look what it goes on to say, so that he, the seed-eater,

it's talking about fruitfulness here, will not destroy the fruit of your ground.

Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,

says the Lord of hosts, and all nations will call you blessed

for you will be a delightful land, says the Lord of hosts.

Hallelujah.

So tithing is recognizing that the seed-eater,

the one who's after your fruit has been rebuked.

Did that bless you this morning?

Let me pray for you.

Father in Jesus' name, you're so, so good,

and I thank you that we are a fruitful people.

Fruitful in every arena, in winning souls, in the fruit of the spirit,

in answered prayer, in material possessions, and Lord in children.

It seems that there's been an attack, Lord, on fruitfulness with children.

We know Satan is behind it ultimately,

but also so much of what's in our environment,

and in vaccinations, and all that stuff.

Lord, it's toxified your people.

In the name of Jesus, I command a holy purge to come upon everybody

at City Light Church.

Burning heavy metals out, burning poisons out,

and Lord, I thank you that we are delight some land,

fruitful in every way.

Lord, every couple trying to conceive will have success.

Thank you, Lord, you're after Godly seed,

and we're going to have babies galore in Jesus' name.

Amen.

And link up with your faith with me.

I'm believing that we're going to have just like a wave of babies.

Hallelujah.

I didn't pray that for no reason, by the way.

Link up with me.

Hallelujah.

Everywhere I've talked to,

people, pastors, they're saying,

and I'll say I've never seen something like that.

This is the City Light Church podcast.

If you've missed any part of today's message,

or if you would like to find out more about Pastor Boyan Janssen in City Light Church,

visit us at citylightnyc.com

that's citylightnyc.com.

Feel free to visit us online or in person anytime.

We would love to connect with you.

We pray that you've been encouraged today,

that you have been reminded how much God loves you,

and that you are surrounded by grace.

Thank you for listening.

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