"Being a Fruit-Bearer That Glorifies God Requires Going Through Difficult Stuff"
by T. C. Morgan
There is no easy road for those who surrender their life to Jesus. If you've ever been told that giving your life to Christ will cause everything to be pain-free and insulated from all of life's struggles, you have bought into a lie and the results could have you walking away resenting the Lord for not meeting those terms you thought were in the covenant.
Jesus said in this life you WILL have trials and tribulations, but be of good cheer I have overcome them by My faith! There is something about faith that most forget, it's not faith if it's not tested. The mindset for many Christians is that it stands to reason if you do good in this world you will be treated in the same manner.
However, that is a huge miscalculation of the truth. Nowhere in Scripture does it say just because we are Christ's that we are untouchable in this world. On the contrary, Jesus made it clear that if we follow Him, this world will hate you just as it hated Him and eventually killed Him.
This is why Scripture tells us to count the cost before we think to start building our life on Him. Why? The world hates good because the world is full of darkness and if we become light springing up out of it, the world will seek to put that light out lest it exposes their dark deeds.
There is another aspect to following Christ that some misunderstand and because of it many shrink back, this of course is God allowing things to happen to us when we've done good. It's one thing to suffer when we've done wrong, we get that, but this thing of doing good and then being persecuted for it is hard to get its meaning.
Yet, God has promised to finish what He has started in us, that is, if we don't throw in the towel and quit. Sadly, many do this or worse become bitter at God and life while they attempt to remain a Christian. Life is a struggle filled with groaning and difficulty, but God promises if we stand in faith He will cause our struggles to work for our good.
The issue is not the struggles, but rather how we handle them when they come. Many might think if God is our Father, why would He allow us to be afflicted and beaten by this world? This brings to mind then, why did He allow Jesus who never did anything wrong which we can't equal to go through constant affliction?
Don't be too quick to say, because He was to be the Savior of the world and had to suffer and die. That is partly right, and very important or none of this matters, but the part you may have overlooked is that if we follow Him then our lives will be sacrificed for the sake of others too!
Not as their Savior, but as His shinning lights in a dark world that others who are given to Jesus by His Father, might find the way to Him by our lives shinning brightly. The world will not see you as anything good but more of a thorn in its side, a stone in the shoe, an irritant to their dark works.
You will be persecuted for Christ's sake in this life if you are His, and your Father will allow it to be so. Why? Because this cutting away of yours and my desire to live as we want will cause us to bear more fruit that resembles Jesus when He walked the earth. I wished all men and women everywhere would come to Jesus, but I know many who think they want Him will quit once they don't get in this life what they were expecting.
Let me remind all my fellow brothers and sisters in my Southern accent, this ain't home, we are just traveling through! Let the cutting begin of those things that so easily beset us from reaching our true home with our Lord Jesus, and our Father above. Whoever gets there first who may be reading this today, Please leave the porch light on! There may be some late night travelers making their way home in the middle of the night.
For those of you who will be here for awhile longer, don't fret the stuff that is allowed to be cut from your life, it has benefit to lighten the load while you are here. And if you grow in your season of purging and don't shrink back, there will be much more fruit as your life affects the lives of others, and it is here that our Father is glorified.
This is the power that flows from the Vine. Any who are connected to Him, will extend that power beyond themselves as it bears fruit in their life so that wandering souls may stop and eat of your fruit and thus be strengthened to make the journey home. Don't sweat the cutting, it's necessary for perfecting the sons of God. And remember, you are never alone!
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit" (John 15:1-2 KJV).
