Wed.'s Devo - Bearing the Fruit

Read John 15:3-7
Reading the Word washes us and renews us. Do you want to stay young? Then read the word and let it renew your spirit and your body will manifest it. We are to abide in Jesus; stay in Him. It IS possible to abide in him- he wouldn't have told us to do it if it wasn't possible. It is God's job to prune us of what is not life-giving. The only way we can produce life is through him because we are a branch of him. If we choose not to abide in him we will be cut off. There are many scriptures about how righteous living will cause you to live a long life and if you don't, your life will be cut short. In the end all our works will be cast into the fire. What we have done for God will remain but all else will be burned up.
Verse 7 is a great verse to encourage a righteous life: "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done to you." If we are abiding in him then our prayers will be according to his will and they will be answered.
God talks a lot about fruit. Fruit is the gift that a tree gives to us. We enjoy looking at the majesty and splendor of a tree and sitting under its shade, but the fruit is a tangible gift we can enjoy. It brings nourishment, pleasure, satisfaction and supplies a basic need we have. Every fruit has its purpose. Oranges provide vitamin C which helps our immune system, and a whole lot of other things. The fruit we produce has certain functions also. Maybe our fruit is wisdom or prophecy, or prayer. Fruit can also be people that we are instrumental in winning to the kingdom. Gal. 5:9 says that the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, and faith. We are to produce this fruit both in season and out of season. Jesus cursed the fig tree because it was not bearing fruit when he came to it, even though it was not fruit-bearing season.
Lord, help us to abide in you so that we will bear much fruit for you.