You were created to bear fruit | Pastor Gloria Paul

You're listening to a message to go from axt church.

We hope this message will light up your day.

So for today we're going through the next I Am right,

which is the I Am the Wine. Okay. And as

I was studying this particular passage, I was just reminded

of what will we created to be? You know, what

is God's intention? Just like any other inventor. You know,

when you're creating something beat an architecture or a designer,

they always have a certain plan in mind, right, So

a certain idea like okay, what's the end product going

to be? Like, it may go through a certain process.

By the end of the day, this is what I

want it to be, And it goes through different trials,

different test things, and then there you go, you have

it right. And I think the same thing is with

us of how God created us. You know, He has

an n mind in our lives. You know he has

designed us in such away like the Word of God says,

He's created us in his image, so that will become

this and you know what it has created us to be.

We are created to bare fruits. We are created with

a very clear purpose. But of course sometimes we can

get so drown or caught up with other disrections that

we tend to forget that, and we wonder whether can

we actually do it or what's the purpose or meaning

of life? Right? And so we're going to just study

what this scripture tells us, how he reminds us that

he is the vine ultimately, and what are we called

to do? Okay, So let's just read the scriptures first.

If you have your bibles, can you turn with me

to the Book of John chapter fifteen, Thank you, Richard.

All right, John chapter fifteen, reading from the NKJV. Here right,

So it says in verse one, are you all there? Yeah? Right?

So it says, I am the true wine, and my

father is the wine dresser. Every branch in me that

does not bad fruit he takes away, and every branch

that bears fruit he prunes that it may bear more fruit.

You are already clean because of the word which I

have spoken to you. Abide in me and I in you.

As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it

abides in the wine, neither can you unless you abide

in me. Was five. I am the wine. You are

the branches. He who abides in me, and I in

him bears much fruit. For without me you can do nothing.

If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast

out as a brunch, and he's with it. And they

gathered them and throw them into the fire, and they

are burnt. If you abide in me and my words

abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and

it shall be done for you. By this, My Father

is glorified that you bear much fruit, so you will

be my disciples in man. Be God bless the reading

of his word. And so in this scripture you'll see

a lot of the I am me you right. And

you know, if you notice, what he's trying to say

is that at the end of the day, you can't

do anything without me. Okay, So let's just go back

to the context of why was he using Why was

Jesus using the example of wine over here? Okay, just

like every other ims that we were studying, it was

very common in the biblical contexts. Right. If you if

the kind of trees that we have around us would

be men go trees, banana trees. Right, But during those days,

I mean not those days, but in that culture, right

during Jesus's time, we see a lot of vignyants okay,

where there's a lot of grapes, okay, growing, and so

Jesus always you know, remember we talked about how Jesus

was a great teacher. He always used examples that was

very close to the disciples to the people and say hey,

and then he picks that up and he teaches them

something right, and so the same thing with this as well,

the mind dressers. So when we look at this chapter fifteen, okay,

this actually or when we studied it's actually referred to

as the Last Supper discourse came in that one of

the final teachings that Jesus was giving to his disciples

before you know, he went to the cross. So you

can think about it as in a very important message.

I mean, usually the final words of someone before they

go means something. Of course, everything he said was important,

but this one he wanted to just give them a

final thing like, hey, this is what I want you

to hold on to before I go, right, And so

that's how important it is. Yeah. So then you if

you read John eighteen, you'll see how Jesus goes to

the Garden of gatsimone and then the whole story about

Judas and and and the crucifi crucifixion happens after that.

And so this was an was an encouragement that he

was giving the disciples. Yeah, so this is how you

should leave, This is how you should abide in me. Right.

So that was the whole context of this. Right. So,

as we were saying, vignyards were very important, a very

important part of the people in those times, and in fact,

that was one of the livelihood of the people as well. Right,

And so over here we can see that when many

uses the example of Venyans, he he emphasized on pruning. Okay,

if you look at the scriptures that we read just now,

he mentions that he actually, you know, it was two Okay.

He says, every brunch in me that does not bad fruit,

he takes away. Okay, that makes sense, right, If he

doesn't bad fruit, you take it away. But he also

says that every brunch that bears fruit, he also prudes. Okay,

so there's work to be done for those who are

not bearing fruit and those who are also bearing fruit. Okay,

which we may understand that. Okay, maybe if I'm bearing fruit,

I'm okay, right, why do I need pruning? Why do

I still need trials to learn and go through. Right,

I'm fine, But he teaches us something here about pruning. Yea.

And so when we read John fifteen, you will see

that Jesus identifies himself as the true wine. Okay, he

is the true wine. And what this means is that

he is the one that's on the ground, rooted, giving

us that nourishment that we need, the support that we need,

and the branches are attached to it, okay, and so

we are referred to esther branches. I think we have

a picture there. Yeah, when we look at the vineyard,

the next one okay, yeah, So he is the wine,

right if you're not familiar with how venyants look like, Okay,

you need a wine for the branches to hold on

to it, okay, and so only then the fruits, because

you just need some kind of a support. Okay. So

the wine is Jesus himself, the true wine, and then

the branches remaining on the wine okay. And then of

course when the branches remain, they are able to bear fruit,

and that's when you get the beautiful fruits that we enjoy, okay,

And usually we only enjoy the end product, the juicy fruits.

But did you know that there's actually a process to this. Okay.

It takes a lot of time to actually prune it. Okay,

it takes a lot of time for the gardener. So ultimately,

what Jesus is telling us is that the gardener is

God himself. Okay, who who knows? Okay, this particular brunch

is ready to be cut okay, or this particular one

is meant to be drawn completely okay, And so there's

a whole process to death okay. And he use this,

he uses this example to explain to us why do

we need to remain in him? Okay? And I think

it's just Jesus is just so smart, right, It's just

so powerful with the way he uses illustration to help

us understand. Hey, this is how you need to rely

on me. Because these brunches can actually fall off without

the wine. They can't last, they can't remain. Yeah, they

can't bear fruit, or the fruits can be sometimes too

heavy that can weigh them down. And that's why they

need to hold on on the wine. Yeah. And so

the same thing as we speak about our lives, okay,

just drawing from this example to think about what are

we created for? Right, what's the purpose of God eating us?

There must be a reason. Right. The way of God

tells us that you know, he formed us, and he

knows us from a mother's womb. Right, That's how detail

God emphasizes on each person. First, It's just like, oh,

there's a lot of people. There's a lot of you know,

population and different people. But even in that multitude, God

knows each person as someone special, right, as someone who

has their own journey, who has their own purpose, their

own calling. Right, we're all sated here living in one God.

We're worshiping him. Ultimately, we still have different callings, right,

be in the in the workplace, beat as a parent,

you know, as a child, different roles, right, different calling

And that's the beautiful part of how God created each

one of us. Right. And so God created us to learn,

to explore, to create, to be full of potential. I mean,

imagine how we would be we actually stop learning, right,

life will just be okay, what else? What's next? Right?

I mean as a student, as a young person, yes,

we study, we go to school. Sometimes when we at school,

we don't enjoy it, like when is this going to end? Right?

But after that and we start working Okay, we keep

doing work after work, one day after another, but then

after that, what's next? I know what I'm doing. I

can just close my eye and do everything I need

to every day. But the moment a person stops learning

and growing, always feel that life stops there. You know,

you can just walk around looking that you're functioning, but

inside it's just without meaning, right, without purpose. We can

have all the treasures in the world, we can have

everything that the world may define as successful, but ultimately,

if you're empty inside without any purpose, then again, what's

the meaning of life. I have a friend of mine

and I'm having a discussion with her. She's quite successful,

doing well, she has a family, kids and all that,

but the question she keeps asking till now is, so, Gloria,

what's next? You know what's next? We have everything. I

think we've accomplished to what we need now, but yeah,

what's next? Right? And that's why I believe God created

us to keep learning, to keep exploring, right, to keep

having that attitude of being teachable. Right, no matter what age,

We've got to always be open to say, hey, I've

got to know more about God. I need to know

more about this word, about this life. If He has

positioned me to be where I am, there must be

a bigger reason. It cannot be just for me to

work eight to five, get a salary end of the month,

that's it for myself. There must be more meaning to it, right,

And I believe God created us for that more full

potential to bear fruit. And so if you're dear thinking

otherwise that, oh, well, what's the difference? What the kind

of difference can I make? Can I encourage you that? No,

you do make a difference. Okay, even in a small

group of people, you make a very big difference. Yeah.

So he created us to bear fruit, fruits that brings

glory to God. Yeah, and he made us to believe

the best before assuming the worst. So if you think

about it, Okay, that's the plan that we know that

God has for us. Right. He created us to be purposeful,

to bear fruit, to keep learning, to keep growing. Right.

But what's the problem then? Believe in a fallen world.

Believe in a world where the world teaches us. Otherwise,

you know that sometimes you are not good enough, you're

not matching the benchmark because success means something else, right,

or there are things that you just maybe you need

to do it, you need to trust on your own abilities,

your capabilities. But the truth is how much can we

do as humans? Right? We are very limited in many ways,

and that's why when we read certain scriptures. You know,

even the word of God tells us peace that surpasses

all understanding. And sometimes we just need that peace because

we just can't make sense of certain things. But He's

peace surpasses all that. Right, our human minds are very limited,

no matter how advanced well become. Okay, with all the

technologies and informations that we have, yet we are very limited. Okay,

I think as turn of God, we've got to realize that.

If not, the problem becomes when we try to do

things ourselves right, when we are just successful and capable,

when we trust on ourselves too much, and when we fail,

that's when we fall hard. Okay, Because you know what

I am. I've gat my best, I gave one hundred percent.

Then what went wrong? Right? What went wrong? It has

to go right because I put in my effort, and

many people leave on with that mindset, right, because it's

all about the effort I put in. Yeah, but that

is not the ultimate plan and purpose He created us

to depend on him. That's how he uses the illustration

of the wine and the branches. You know, you've got

to rely on him and do what we need to do. Yes,

we keep being faithful, pursuing all that he has called

us to do, but at the same time to rely

on him, Yeah, to rely on him, and to also

remember that we can't do anything about him. So let's

just take this time to reflect. You know, I just

have this questions here for us, okay, and to help

us come to a place to realize that, yes, God

is enough for us. You know, the question here is

that you know, in what ways do you feel not enough? Okay?

You can reflect on yourself, maybe the past week or

there's been a season in your life. You know, you

just feel you're not enough. And by feeling that way,

how have you tried to cover this up in your

life by doing something right? Did it actually work? Okay?

Just your own thoughts, your own reflection. Yeah, because sometimes

we go into this whole cycle of like, Okay, I've

got to show I'm capable. I've got to show that

I'm strong, just because strong is what the world wants

to look at, right, But has it been working well?

If it's working. Is it going to sustain for the

long run? Right? The Bible teaches us that this life

is like a marathon. We're meant to be running and

running this race. So do we have that stamina to

keep going by holding on to the right strength and

not by our own selves? Right? So what God wants

for us? Okay? We can look at a couple of

scriptures here. I have it here on the slide as well,

but I'm just going to pick up two scriptures. In

Ephesients two ten, Okay, it says for we are His workmanship,

created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared

beforehand that we should walk in them. Amen. So when

he says we are is workmanship, meaning we are created

in him. Right, God prepared beforehand that we should walk

in them. So meaning, I mean, you could have been

in your season now, maybe you're thirty years or twenty,

but you know what the rest rest of your life,

fifty our years in the days to come, has already

been planned out. That is what the scripture actually means.

So in our minds, we might be thinking that I've

not got it all sorted out. I don't know what's

my future, Like I'm all worried and stressed about it.

But if you can just be rest assured, then God

has already planned the future. They're down fifty you know,

fifty years to come or more. Even it's already been

planned out, right, it's already been planned out. What kind

of assurance does it give you to know that truth

that I may not be able to see it yet,

but I serve a God who knows it. He has

it all in control, and he knows what's best for me. Amen. Yeah.

In the first bitter two nine, okay, it says, but

you are a chosen generation, turns to a person next

to you and say, you are chosen? How many of

you like to be chosen? Right? Like I picked you?

I picked you right? A royal priesthood. We're all part

of royal prisuit. Okay, we are. We are the children

of the King's most High, a holy nation. And then

what it says, his own special people? Do you know

you're special? If someone has not told you that, let

me tell you this morning. You are special. And it

doesn't matter if people don't tell you that. But God

sees you as someone special. You are precious him that

you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you

out of darkness into his marvelous light. Yeah, and I

think that's the identity that we need to hold on

to at the end of the day. You know, we

can lose the earthly identity, right, but ultimately who are we?

And if you can ask you today, what is your

first identity? What would you see? Child of God? That's good, right,

I'm a child of God first. God is my number one, right,

and then everything else comes in place. And if you

always have that as your ultimate, every decisions that you

do or you take falls back to that, because you

know what, I want to honor God first. Okay. I

can be successful in my workplace. Yes I am a

leadership in the leadership or different roles, but who am

I serving first God? Right? My boss could be just there, Yes,

it's just a boss, but at the end of the day,

I serve my Master Jesus. So when you have that, right,

your perspective and your workplace changes. Right. You don't just

please men, but you please God ultimately, and people see that. Right,

You're not just going after praises and recognition that men

give you, but of God. And when you please God. Okay,

the Word of God says, when you put God first,

your service, kingdom, everything else shall be added unto you. Right,

and that's the assurance that we can hold on to. Amen. Yeah.

So I hope you encourage church to know your identity

if you've forgotten it. And sometimes as humans to be

forget right, we tend to need remind us and you

need to remind each other as a church. Hey, if

someone says, I don't know what's the reason I'm living,

remind them, Hey, do you know whose child you are? Right?

Do you know that you are special? You are chosen? Okay,

you are a child of God. Amen. Right. And so

this is the very reason why Jesus mentions here in

chapter fifteen about him being the true wine. Okay, And

I believe one of this, one of his final encouragement

to the disciples was this, because he was leaving them,

they were not being able to see him as a

physical person because they were following him doing ministry. They

could see him in action. But now that he's not

going to be there, it would have, you know, they

would have needed more feet to know that, Okay, he's

not here. By've God to still trust in him. I've

got to rely on the Holy Spirit, right, and so

he reminded them of this truth. Yeah. So there are

three points that we can just speak from this chapter. Okay,

So in verse chapter, let's look at the first point,

which is about pruning that he teaches here in John fifteen,

verse two. Okay, it says every branch in me that

there's not bad fo he takes away, and every brunch

that bears fruit he prunes that it may bear more fruit. Okay,

So let's try to understand again why pruning. Okay, I

did a little bit of research about you know, what

the different gardeners do, and they prune. Okay, quite what's

quite interesting to to watch and to learn, okay, And

why do they prune? First of all, it's for structure. Okay.

If you have seen, you know, the vignyands, you realize

that they're a huge place. You know, if you have

walked into different vignyards. I remember going to one when

I visited my friend in Melbourne, and it's beautiful. It's

it's huge, right, and so when you walk in you

realize that they can just be growing branches from every end.

And so if they're not prune, they lose their structure. Okay.

So firstly, it's for structure. Secondly is to also control

the amount of fruit that they can produce, because sometimes

they tend to produce a lot of it that they

may not be able to carry it, okay, So there's

just a bunds of it, but they may not have

the weights because these brunches are not actually very big

trunks that we see, you know, but they're actually quite

thin branches. So they can only carry a certain amount

of fruits, okay. And so that's the very reason of pruning. Yeah,

and they are actually different methods that the gardeners would use.

And do you know that when they do it, they

need the right kind of tools. They need to be

prepared for it. It happens on a certain season. It's

not something that they can do all the time. Yeah.

And these veniands they tend to grow for many years,

you know, they can go on, they can live on

for many years, and therefore they've got to be very

careful in the way they actually prune them so they

don't lose these trees. Yeah. It takes a lot of

physical strength to prune, okay, because they need the right

amount of tools. And in fact, if they can actually

prune these trees. Well, it can actually double the butts

to bloom even more. Yeah. So that's the whole process

of this whole pruning. Yeah, so let's just think about

it in the perspective or what is Jesus trying to

teach us here? Pruning is the process of removing the

old date wood from the existing branches that are there. Yeah,

and sometimes the same thing is in our lives. We

can have struggles that we're in the past, right, fear

or mistakes that we have done, and when we don't

deal with it, it keeps living on in us. And remember,

it becomes like a baggage and becomes heavier. Just imagine

you carrying a back and the problems just adding on

and on, and you're living for thirty forty years and

it just goes on and on. But until it's removed,

you'll feel lighter and you can run even faster. Right,

And that's the very purpose of pruning. It removes the old,

it removes whatever that's unnecessary. Remember, we're living in a

fallen world that you know, we always have trials, you know,

we may have things that the enemy tries to put

in our minds. Right, and how do you think we

can get rid of it? We're just some words of information, right,

I mean it's good to be positive, yeah, but I

don't think that's the only thing that works. You need

the word of God, right, You need what that sustains you,

and that's what pruning happens. Okay, it's pruning comfortable? Do

you think? So? Do you think it's comfortable? I don't

think because it's snapping the prudence. I mean that the branches. Yeah,

it can be painful. I think if I just imagine

how the branches would feel. Right, the same thing is

with us. Right. God sometimes has to remove a person,

remove a certain situation, or maybe root you out and

it uproot you out and take you and put you

into a new place you're not familiar at all. Then

what do you do? And that's when you will say, God,

I need you because now I'm without any of those

things that I was holding on to. Right. Pruning he

does that, yeah, And it says here that he prunes

those that are even bearing fruit. So sometimes you may

be thinking, well, I am serving the Lord, I am

doing all that I'm doing. Then I think I'm okay

where I am right. God doesn't have to change whatever

that's going on. But guess what, Pruning still happens because

God is just not subtle for us to just being average. Right,

He's not just wanting us to just okayla past fifty.

He wants to give you hundred. He wants to give

you a plus. Teachers, so I always think about grades. Okay,

he wants to give you the excellent one. Right, and

that is why he keeps pruning even the good ones,

so that you can glorify its name, so that you

can grow even more. Right. Growth doesn't happen in a

linear way, as we know that. It happens when we

get out of our comfortable zone. It happens when we

have to go through trials and challenges and then okay,

this is what I learned from it. Right. You can

ask anyone, especially if you have an older relative and

your family and uncle or auntie, you can just have

a conversation. Ask them, I know, uncle, auntie, how did

you go through life? Well, I'm sure they have a

lot of stories to share with you, because sometimes life

takes you through different obstacles and then you get to

where you are right, and so never just see your

problem or your situation as just a day then Okay,

that that's how that's all life is going to be.

It's going to be set all the time. But God

uses those situations. God uses those seasons in your life

to actually make you even better, to make you even stronger. Yeah,

so that is pruning for continuous growth. Okay, so that

you'll keep growing. How does God cut off or prune

in our lives today? Think about it? Have you gone

through those processes, like I said, sometimes removing you from

a certain place changing You know, you've been waiting for

the door to be opened, but the door is always

close and it's opening another door that seems to be unfamiliar.

Or now you're at that point of your life where

you thought I thought things would have been different now,

but no, it looks like it's not. Then maybe it's

showing you something else. Yeah, so it could be different

from all of us. But sometimes I think it's good

for us to take a step back and ask ourselves.

Ask God, God, what is it that you're teaching and

showing me? Right? Because if not, life just goes on

and on. Before you know it, you're in August and

the year is going to end, and then it just

keeps moving forward. Right, But if you want to learn,

and you know, ask God, what is this? What am

I learning in this season so that I can count

you to be victorious in the days to come? Is

to take that bit, stop the reflect and say God,

what is it that you're showing me? What have I

learned from these situations? Yeah, let's not just get so

caught up with the noises of the world. It's so

easy to be doing that, right. We go from routine

wanting to the next especially if you're leaving the city,

you're a young adult, you're a parent, so much on

your plate. Then do we have time to actually pick

up those moments of where God teaches us? Right, And

He doesn't just teach us in big ways or big voices.

Sometimes it's in those mundane moments you think about it.

You're driving and then God says something. You're speaking to

someone and then He ministers to you, right, you're doing

your work that you just feel like it's, oh, it's

just another ordinary day. But he shows up. Yeah, But

the question is are we present enough to recognize his voice?

Right?

Can be recognize his voice in those noises that are

already there can be differentiate I think we spoke about

it as well, you know, the voice of God and

the voices of the world, because sometimes it can sound

so similar. Right, And what more, now that we are

constantly getting information every other day with just a click,

so much of knowledge made the word of God, the

knowledge of God's word, not be drowned by the knowledge

of the world. Sometimes, you know, when you want to

study the Bible, we'll be like, Okay, let me just

go to Google and see what a scholar has to

describe what this passage actually means. It's so easy to

get those kind of information, right, Okay, mister Google or AI, right,

explain to me what John chapter fifteen has to say

that you go, you have the summary there. What about

us taking ownership of our word, reading the Bible, going

to it, flipping the passage, looking at what the chapter

tells us, word by word, and allowing the word of

God to speak to us. Yeah, we have to go

back to basics, right, we have to go back to basics.

Let's take ownership of the Word of God and never

never take it for granted. Just because we're holding a

Bible today doesn't mean that we're going to always have

the privilege to do that. Right, there will come a

time and age where it's going to be difficult to

freely hold the Bible. Then what do we do in

those times? Right? There are many parts of the world

where they don't have the freedom to exercise their faith,

you know, so let's count it a privilege. Let's cherish

what we have. And one day where we don't even

have the physical Bible, do we have all of this

in our hearts, in our minds, because that's when it

works effectively, do you think? So when you go through problems,

you know what picks you up? The Word of God.

When you're feeling fearful, you say, hey, the Word of

God did not teach me about fear. I can feel

fearful in my human flesh. But the Word of God

says he gives me peace. Right, it gives me power.

So can I hold on to that? You know when

I feel like everyone has left me, well, but the

Word of God says, I'll never leave you, nor forsake you.

So we've got to learn the Word of God in

such a way, not just reading and flipping it or

the words of the day. Well, those things are good.

We have those tools. Thank God for that. But we

need to also keep this word deep within our hearts

that it truly means something to you. Because if something

means a lot to you, you will cherish it, you

hold on to it. Right, And that is what the

Word of God should do to us. And it's not

just words. Remember, these are the word of God, the

Word of God. How precious it is. He's telling us,

He's telling you, each one of you, this is what

I want you to do. To abide in me. Amen. Right,

I can go on testifying about the times when I

chose to give up. I think I've told you a

few times about this. When I lost Mom, I was

telling pastors like I don't think I can ever be

standing in the front and preaching the word of God.

I thought, Okay, it's going to be hard because life

has changed so much. Right, But you know what brought

me back is the Word of God. Nothing else. None

of my ability, none of my strength. As humans, we're

just so weak in many ways. Right? Are there times

when it's still tough, Yes it is. It's a season, right,

But what picks me up is the word of God.

The Word of God. And let it be an encouragement

for you, no matter what you go through. Nothing ends

until God says it ends again, because He has already

planned our beginning and the end. Right. But until he says, yes,

it's time to take you back, that's the end. But

until then, you still have a choice on how you're

going to live your life. It's whether you want to

just cry and feel all sorry about how life is,

or you can say, hey, I'm just going to pick

myself up and do what I can today and go

on to the next day and then the next day. Right.

We all have a choice, okay, and the choice is

to keep choosing God every other day. Amen. Right, yep.

So let's think about how is God pruning our lives

and what are the results of pruning. And I can

tell you the results of pruning is growth. You have

a greater focus. You know, then what is important in

your life? Yep? When you go through things, you realize

that A, this is not this doesn't it's not worth

my emotions, it's not worth my attention. I'd rather put

my focus on something that's more worthwhile. Right, And sometimes

you realize this thing things after you go through the pruning, right,

you know what's important. And that's why I believe God

is telling us here about pruning, is teaching us to

not feel that we need to run away because of

how painful the pruning is, but to draw closer to

him when it's painful. Yeah. Sometimes our usual way of running,

of you know, getting away from pain, is to just

run away. But where could we run? Right? Where could

we run? I think it's important for us to run

back to him because he is our refuge and strength. Right,

he is there with us. Amen. So that is pruning.

The scripture teaches us about pruning so that we can

bear more fruit. Now, the second thing he tells us

here is about abiding. Okay. In John fifteen, verse four, right,

it says, abide in me and I in you. As

the brunch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides

in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.

So Jesus doesn't just leave us once he prunes. He says,

when you, when you're being proven, when you go through trials,

abide in me. Yeah. And when we look at the

meaning of abide here in Greek it is mentioned as meno,

and meno here means to stay, to remain, and to wait.

How many of you like to do that. To be honest,

I don't think we all want to right, want to

go on to the next thing all the time. I

think that's the complete opposite or what humans like. Right.

We are always chasing after something. If I'm waiting for something, okay,

maybe I'll do something the meanwhile, I should call this person,

I should go to this place. Right. But that's the

thing about God. He teaches us to be completely beyond

how our human way of responding would be, like right,

which is to remain, which is to abide, to waits.

And there's so much power of just being still the

word if God says, be still and know that I

am God. See, if you want to know God, you've

got to be still, right, You've got to be still.

We've got to learn, you know, we've got to learn

to be comfortable with the quietness. Some people get very awkward,

you know, in conversations or when it's all silent again,

then we take out our phones, right because it's just

so awkward. But I think with our communication with God

in prayer, let's just not be so caught up with Lord, this,

this is this, this is how I'm feeling. Can you

please fulfill all of it? Yes? He's listening to our prayers,

But can we take that time to also be still,

to remain in him, to abide in him? Right? And

do you know that waiting and abiding is also an action.

It's not you being weak, it's not you being just helpless.

Therefore I'm not doing anything. People might see that way

while you're sitting alone quietly, you should go and do

something about it, right, But no, when you are abide

in God, you are there's a bigger trust. There's a

bigger a giving if you think about it, because I

can let go of everything else, surrender and come to

God just as I am to trust in him. Yeah,

and so that is remaining right. Connection with God is

a deeply personal and unique individual process. Right. All of

us have our own personal encounter with God. And it's

meant to be that way, right, It's meant to be

that way. He wants us to encounter him as how

we would encounter him, not just as how the worship

leader let the songs and therefore, or this is how

he seems to be, or the preacher say it, and

therefore this is how it sounds like, this is who

he is. Right, But I've got to feel him I've

got to experience him. That is a personal relationship. You know,

you get to know someone if you meet the person,

if you talk, you have a cup of coffee, then

you realize there's a lot more beyond just the physical

that we see. That's just so limited that we can

and we get and be judged so easily sometimes right,

all this person looks like it. Therefore she is like this.

But only when you sit down, have a conversation and listen. Right.

Listening is something is something that some of us need

to learn to do as well. We are so quick

to say things, but listening to God and you'll be

surprised to the things that he would tell you. It

could be just the very direction that you needed on

that day. And say, God, I don't know what to do,

and he tells you what to do. Right, So let's

learn to remain in him. You know, when you do

your quiet time, if you're spending a good ten to

fifteen minutes to ring the passage praying, can you just

allocate some time for you to just be still to

remain say God, what are you talking to me? What

are you saying? Just to linger in his presence? You know,

there's beauty in lingering in his presence. Sometimes in worship

we do that when they sing a song and we

just allow the Holy Spirit to move. Right. Any ministers

be ministers, and so let's desire for that kind of

a relationship where we just enjoy being in his presence.

I'm not just there for the sake of it, or

it's because it's just a religion. Yeah, but I am

there because I have a relationship with Him and I

just enjoy his presence. I step out of that quiet

time because I just feel so good. I just feel

so refreshed. Right, and that is what it means by

abiding in Him. So think about it. What does remaining

or abiding in Christ look like in your daily life?

How can you apply that? Right? So you can you

how you can you say that, yes, I'm abiding in

God every other day, and how does it look like okay?

To me?

Our faith is an action. You know, we can't just

say yes, I believe in God. I trust in Him.

But if we don't do anything about it, then what's

the point of it. Right? We want to experience God,

but if I'm not spending the time with Him, then

we can never be able to know his love. We

can never be able to encounter what He has for

us in this season. Right, So what does it look

for you? It can mean very different for us. Yeah.

For some of you, you're driving to work. The forty

minutes or one hour could mean it's your time with God,

you're speaking, you're communicating, you are just singing worship songs. Right.

For some of you, it could be your lunchtime or

you know, or it could be the time that you've

allocated at night. Whatever it is, just always fit in

that twenty four hours that you have. Always have the

time for God. Right. Never let it to be just Okay,

if I have time at the end of the day,

I'm not too tired, and I'll do it. I think

we should not. It's our first love, right, He is

our first priority. Then you should always come first. No

no negotiation about that, right. It always has to be him, Amen. Right.

So I pray that all of us here would be

able to develop that kind of a faith, abiding in Him,

trust in him. Yeah, and you'll see how things just

turn around, Okay, in ways that you can't imagine or

even expect. Amen. Now, the third point that we can

see here when it says he prunes when we abide

in him, what happens. We bear fruit. All of you

like love to bear fruit, right, we always enjoy the goodness. Yeah,

And so there's a process to it, pruning, abiding and

bearing fruit. So in John fifteen, verse five, as we read,

is said, I am the wine. You are the branches.

He abides in me, and I in him bears much fruit.

For without me you can do nothing, right, how many

of you? And you sometimes just look at your friends

in church or anywhere, you'll notice that there's just something

about them, always filled with love, always filled with in

all generosity. And sometimes these are the things you can't

tell the person can't tell you and show you that

I am kind, right, I'm generous. But it's more from

their action. And you know what that is bearing fruit

when you can see that in them, you know they

just always there at present, They're always there to encourage you, right,

And that is bearing fruit. Yeah. And so we bear

fruit by staying connected to the wine. So as we

saw the picture earlier, the fruit doesn't just hang by itself.

It's connected, right. The brunch is very much actually putting

all the weight, not just some weight, but full weight

on the wine and Therefore it's bearing fruit to the

point where you can actually carry right. And when we

say when we talk about bearing fruit, remember it takes time.

Just like every other season, different seasons. We have different fruits, right,

what season is it during season? Right? Ah? Okay, And

so every other fruit has its own season, especially tropical fruits. Right.

And the same thing with this. When we bear fruit,

things don't just happen instant. It takes time, yep. And

we've got to be patient. Our job is to just

abide in Him until that happens. Don't give up, Just

hold on, persevere, hold on to his word. You know,

when you feel things are just get I'm losing patience,

always go back to him. Right. It gives you the

strength that you need. So bearing fruit takes time. Yeah,

it takes time. So as a branch connected to the wine,

what fruit will I produce? Okay? What fruit will I produce?

If it uh durent tree, of course you get durians, right.

If it's a mangostin tree, you get mangostine. So if

we are remaining in Jesus, what fruits are we bearing? So? Okay?

Hopefully the goodness of Duran? Yeah, the goodness of Duran. Okay,

so what fruits are we bearing? Because if you're really

the child of God, and if you're saying, yes, I'm

remaining on Jesus, then shouldn't be be bearing fruits that

represents him? Right? That people see us still like, hey,

this person looks different. You know, life doesn't seem to

be great, but yet you hold on to it. You're

doing great. You know, there's just something something in you.

So then they see God in you. Right, So what

kind of fruits are we producing? Right? What kind of

fruits are we producing? When we talk about you know,

fruits being bad. Okay, there are two kinds of fruits

that we can actually learn from the Bible. The first

one is about how we are gifted. Okay, we are gifted,

and so you know, there are different gifts, gift things

that each one of us might have, Okay, and you

know different ones Okay, Like you know, if you read

in Romans twelve, if you have your bibles, Okay, maybe

we turn to that Romans twelve versus six to eight. Okay,

Romans twelve versus six, it says, yeah, having then gifts

differring according to the grace that is given to us.

Let us use them. If prophecy, let us prophesy in

proportion to our faith or ministry. Let us use it

in our ministry. He who teaches in teaching, he exhorts

in exhortation, He who gives with liberty, he who leads

with diligence, He who shows mercy with cheerfulness. Right, And

this is what it means by the gifts that He

gives us. And you know, there can be a lot

of us are seated, right, and each one of us

have our own gift. And that's when we come together

as one body of Christ, one church, helping out in

different ways. Right, you know, so some of us could

be the hands, could be the feet, right, some of

us could be. So if you look at all these

gifts here, some of you may be having the gift

of prophecy. So you can speak into people's life. You know,

you're encouraging someone with the word. If it's ministry, meaning

when you're praying, you can actually minister to someone. You

can encourage them with a prayer, exhorts you lift someone

spirit up, right, showing mercy with cheerfulness. Some of us

have that ability to do that. So which of it

is yours. Okay, it's time to discover what is this

gift that God has given to us. If you're still

not sure of it, ask God, right, ask God, because

I believe each one of us have at least one gift. Yeah.

And the thing about gifts is that if we don't

practice it, it doesn't work. You've got to always do it. Yeah.

So if you know it's teaching, and you've got to teach,

teach the word. If you know it is, you know,

to give your give. Really, if it's to show mercy,

you show mercy. Okay, if not, it doesn't work. We've

got to apply these gifts that God has given to us.

A second type of gift of fruit that we can

see is what the Holy Spirit works in us. You

know when Jesus when he left the Holy Spirit as

our helper, right, and so he gathers these different gifts

to be able to grow and to bear these fruits.

We can see this in Galicious chapter five, verse twenty

two to twenty three. Okay. And some of these fruits

that we have would be love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,

and self control. And you know what it should be

our desire to have all of this, right to have

all of this? Are we always one hundred percent there? Well? No,

maybe not yes, because we are constantly growing, constantly learning.

But do we keep trying to pursue this? Yes, that

should be our goal. Okay, we all have different goals

in life, right, let this be one of those that

when I leave my lives? Can I be full of

love to others? Can I be filled with joy? And

you know what? Joy is not just about Aha, I'm

laughing all the time? Happy? Right? But joy is joy

in the midst of trials. You know you can still

feel joy in the midst of struggles. Yeah, peace the

world have. God tells us that not the peace that

the world gives, but the peace that He gives, Peace

that overcame the world. Right, peace that surpasses all understanding.

So if you are experiencing peace now, meaning you have

experienced this fruit, the peace of God, kindness right, being

able to show kindness to all this faithfulness you know,

faithfulness meaning you know you can just faithfully do what

God has called you to do. Right, keep persiving what

He has called you to do. Gentleness Okay, and now,

gentle it is not just about being soft, right, But

gentleness also means you know how to speak, You need

to know how to approach you know, and this courage

and gentleness, do you know that, okay? Meaning you you

are very much secured of who you are. You know

you don't need people's approval, right, your courages. At the

same time, you know how to approach different matters in life. Yeah,

gentleness and of course self control. Yeah. So these are

the kind of fruits that Jesus promises us that as

we remain in him, we will bear all of the fruits.

And how many of you desire that, right? I believe

you desire the fruits. Yeah. And in second Peter was

one five to eight. Okay, it says that as these

fruits are being bad, okay, it should be growing in

increasing measure. I believe we have it. Yeah, growing in

increasing measure, meaning it keeps growing. Okay. That is why

we went back to the very first part of the

sermonment we said about the very purpose or reason why

God created us was to bear fruit, right, and an

increasing measure to never stop. So let us not be

a generation where we feel I know it all, I'm done.

Let me pass on to the next generation. Whenever too

old to learn antil we say until hundred you're still young, okay,

below hundred, yes, below hundred okay, So yes, let's not

lose the spirit of of you know, just wanting to

know more, to grow, to explore, to learn, especially putting,

putting in that desire towards God's wit, and you'll see

how much you can grow, right, So to grow in

increasing measure. So ultimately the food of your life as

a believer connected to Jesus, the source of life is

what is produced because we are attached to Him and

in the result of the Holy Spirit working through the

life of us His disciples. Amen. And as we as

we're in this journey of you know, growing and discovering

these different fruits and remaining in Him, I think it's

also important for us to edify each other. That's the

very reason why we do life in church. We have homes,

we have church, you know, we we have disciples ship,

and so sometimes it's just good to encourage and say, hey,

you're burying in this fruit, you know, how do you

do it? Share with each other's different journey. And sometimes

when you acknowledge and you recognize another person's fruit, it

just gives us, you know, more encouragement to keep doing,

to keep pursuing, and so as the person may not

know that they have it in them until you can

share them all as well. Yeah, so let's acknowledge the

fruits of each other, encourage them, you know, keep because yes,

we can have a lot of friends around us, but

it's also equally important for us to have friends of

the same faith so that we can pray for each other.

We can do this life together. Yeah, and you know,

and as we do that, we have more strength to

bring this word to others as well. So can you

imagine how attracted we are we're all bearing fruits, just

like how we're attracted to the fruits in different seasons.

People will be attracted to our fruits when we bear those, right,

So sweet, so good, so tasty. Right, so you see this, right,

and so this is the kind of frust that God

wants us to bear as well. Amen. Right, So hope

you encourage church to just have a checkpoint in our

lives at this point, right, like how much am I

remaining in God? You know, if you feel that you're

being provene at this very moment, if you're feeling a

little bit painful here and there. Don't give up, don't

lose hope. Just always go back to God. Just always

remain in Him, Abide in him, and he will tell

you what to do right, and he will keep bearing fruit.

That's the promise that He has given as men.

We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more

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this week is going to be a good week, a

hit for you. God bless