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Transcript

Leaves Without Fruit · In the Stillness Podcast

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  Good morning, friends, welcome back.
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  It's friendly. So glad that you're here this
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  morning and super excited to sit with scripture together.
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  This passage has many layers and really challenged me in my quiet
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  time. So we're going to jump right in.
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  We're going to be in Matthew chapter 21, verses 18 through
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  22, and it's titled Jesus Says the Disciples Can Pray for
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  Anything. Early in the morning, as Jesus
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  was on his way back to the city, he was hungry.
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  Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found
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  nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, May you
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  never bear fruit again. Immediately the tree withered.
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  When the disciples saw this, they were amazed.
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  How did the fig tree wither so quickly?
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  They asked. Jesus replied, truly I tell you,
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  if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what
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  was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this
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  mountain, go throw yourself into the sea and it will be done.
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  If you believe you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.
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  All right, so I am going to go through my takeaways and the
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  first one I want to start with is talking about the fig tree.
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  So first, Jesus is fully God and fully human.
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  That's his divinity. And that means that because he's
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  fully man, he actually got hungry, which I think is so cool
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  to read about. I don't know about you, but when
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  I'm hungry personally, my family knows it's probably not the best
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  time to have a deep combo with me until I've gotten food in my
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  system because I get hangry, as I call it.
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  So we know that Jesus is fully God too, so he does not sin.
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  He's not snapping at people. But I think we can imagine the
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  human frustration here. He's hungry, he needs food, and
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  he sees a tree that looks like it should have food and good
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  fruit, but when he gets closer, there's actually nothing there.
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  So a parallel to think about in real life, if you go to a
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  restaurant, you expect them to have food to feed you, right?
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  And if they don't, you'd probably be confused, maybe
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  frustrated, wondering, OK, well, what is the point?
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  What have you been doing this whole time in the kitchen or why
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  are you here? So the fig tree, it looked good
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  from far away, but once you got once you got up close, it had no
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  fruit. This connects directly to what
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  we saw yesterday with the temple.
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  It was outwardly impressive, but inwardly it was super corrupt
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  and it was basically a structure without the spiritual health.
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  And so this tree, it has leaves with no fruit.
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  So here's the heart check question I'm going to give
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  y'all. Is your life actually bearing
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  good fruit or only the appearance of it?
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  Galatians 622 through 23 talks about this fruit.
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  It's the fruit of the spirit. A lot of us know it, but I'm
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  going to read it over y'all. The fruit of the spirit is
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  Lovejoy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
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  faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
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  Now think about all of those things as I'm continuing through
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  this. But these are not surface level
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  traits. They are real proof, evidence
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  that Christ is truly growing within you.
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  And fruit matters because fruit is meant to also be enjoyed.
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  See, it draws people in a life marked by the Holy Spirit.
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  It naturally blesses others, It refreshes others.
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  So that doesn't contradict being the salt of the earth that we
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  see in scripture too. Because salt preserves and it
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  flavors, but the fruit nourishes.
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  And so both are meant to impact the world around us.
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  But here's something really cool that stood out to me while I was
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  also going through commentary. So in the Bible, fig trees are
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  often linked to hiding. We see Adam and Eve in the
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  Garden of Eden. They used fig leaves to cover
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  themselves when they were hiding from God.
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  And then there's a story about Zacchaeus and we hear him hiding
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  in a Sycamore tree, which is actually a type of fig tree.
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  So it made me wonder, can hiding, possibly playing it safe
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  or keeping faith at a distance, lead to that lack of fruit?
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  So I just want you all to think about that and also consider
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  that good fruit, it grows in sunlight when it's nourished and
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  protected and in God's presence and obedience and community with
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  other believers in the church pouring into you.
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  That's how your good fruit is going to grow.
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  So ask yourself, is my faith stronger today than it was last
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  year? Is there evidence of me growing,
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  or am I just maintaining an appearance of a good Christian
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  or a good follower of Christ? Because if you're growing in
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  fruit, that's evidence that Christ is truly growing within
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  you. So now I'm going to go into
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  praying with faith. Jesus shifts the conversation to
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  faith and prayer after the fig tree.
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  And I believe this is where all connects.
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  It's so cool to see. So whenever he is talking about
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  mountains being thrown into the sea, he's using a metaphor for
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  people to understand. Like his parables, mountains
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  often represented kingdoms and power, and then the sea
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  symbolizes nations or people groups.
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  So in other words, faith gives believers authority.
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  This does not mean magic. It's not superstitious power,
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  but access to the power of an omnipotent God.
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  That means all powerful. The one who commands the wind
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  and the waves. Y'all creation obeys him.
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  So prayer with faith isn't about controlling outcomes, it's about
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  trusting the God who already reigns over all of creation, who
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  already is in control of the outcomes.
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  And yes, God's will always prevails.
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  But here's the key. The more that you grow in
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  Christlikeness, the more His fruit of the Spirit grow within
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  you, the more that His desires become your desires.
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  And that's where the verse Psalm 37 for delight in the Lord, and
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  He will give you the desires of your heart.
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  That's what it means. You start wanting what He wants
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  when you're pursuing holiness and righteousness and godliness.
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  And when your heart truly aligns with His Kingdom, then your
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  prayers, they are going to reflect His will.
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  So that's the connection that I want to bring for us.
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  More fruit of the Spirit means you're made more like Christ.
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  Your desires are aligned with God, your prayers are prayed in
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  faith, and whenever we get answered, prayers that boosts
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  our faith. So I just want y'all to ask
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  yourself right now, are you praying just for comfort, for
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  your own benefit, or for God's glory?
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  And are you not asking God for something because you've already
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  assumed in your head that he won't or can't answer that?
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  Because if God is at the center of your heart, don't believe the
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  lie that he does not care about those desires to things like
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  godly marriages and spouses. If you want kids and you want to
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  raise them up to know Jesus, you want a job so that you can be
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  provided for? Y'all, the timing matters, yes,
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  and God knows the optimal moment to give good gifts.
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  That's why we have to wait sometimes.
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  But He wants to give you those desires if they are rooted in
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  Him. So I just want to encourage
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  y'all, do not give up praying. Don't let the appearance of
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  mountains like we've seen the story discourage your faith
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  because you're asking the one who can move that mountain into
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  the sea within a snap of his fingers in an instant.
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  So y'all pray with faith, pray with confidence and pray with
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  the authority that you have been given because the God of the
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  universe, his power, it lives within you as a Christian and
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  believer. So let's move into prayer right
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  now. Heavenly Father, thank you for
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  your word. Thank you for the way that it
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  challenges us not just to look the part, but to truly live out
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  our faith. Lord, we do not want lives just
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  full of leaves with no fruit. We want hearts that are
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  transformed by Your spirit, that have the fruit that is evident
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  so that others are drawn to you. Lord, would you reveal to us
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  where we may be hiding, where we've settled for just an
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  appearance or maybe faith from a distance?
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  God, we need Your help to abide with you, you and us and us and
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  You. We know that that's where the
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  real fruit grows, is when we grow in intimacy with you.
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  Jesus, would you teach us to pray with more faith, not
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  doubting your power, not shrinking back with fear?
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  Lord, it says in Your Word that Your Spirit does not give us
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  fear or timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline.
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  So may we trust You fully. God align our desires with
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  yours. We want to show others your
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  Kingdom in the way that we love and believe and serve God.
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  We give you the mountains that seem so scary and intimidating.
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  We give those to you, we surrender them to you.
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  We know that you are more than able.
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  We love you and we ask this all in your name, Jesus.
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  Amen. OK, well I loved getting to go
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  through this passage. I think it was an awesome
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  reminder for me and I pray it was for y'all as well.
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  And hope that y'all have a great rest of your day.
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  I will see y'all on Thursday's podcast.