As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. Colossians 2:6-7
As I read my 31 Days to Thrive devotional this morning I was prompted to dig into it a little more. In the devotional it talked about how we receive strength in our walk with the Lord through being in His Word and prayer. I know my strength is definitely deepened the more I seek Him. Living in His Presence is the place where I feel His strength the most.
It went on to talk about the word "abound" and how it is the verb form of "abundant." I absolutely loved a statement in regards to this. "To abound in thanksgiving is to purposely direct the overflow of our root system into other people's lives." In order to do that we must make sure we abide in Him. That is the only way He can produce fruit through us.
I get this word picture of an apple tree. It may grow tall and bear lots of fruit but without the proper care the fruit won't be good. It is the same way with believers. We can fill up our lives with all kinds of "good" things but if we don't live a life of surrender to the Lord our efforts won't produce fruit. We must take care of our spiritual life through the disciplines of reading His Word, prayer, tithing and fasting. We must draw close to Him so that we become so intimate that there is a no doubt in our minds that it is He who directs our paths.
Spiritual disciplines are a negative to many because they don't want to surrender to the Lord. Many want to keep control of their checkbooks, calendars, and family instead of allowing the Lord to work through them. There is a constant battle between the spirit and the flesh. But the end result is in having a joyful spirit no matter what we are going through. Richard Foster says in Celebration of Discipline: "Neither should we think of the spiritual disciplines as some dull drudgery aimed at exterminating laughter from the face of the earth. Joy is the keynote of the disciplines." I so wish some of my brothers and sisters in Christ could find this joy. So many are kidding themselves that life is good when if they would surrender they would see just how good life can be.
Hebrews 12:11 reads, All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful, yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Woo hoo! "…the peaceful fruit of righteousness." Praise His Holy Name!
Dear Jesus,
I pray for my roots to not only be grounded in You but I also pray for my fruit to overflow from my surrendered spirit. Lord, I pray for those who haven't surrendered to You. I pray they will come to the realization of the importance for them to surrender to You. I ask that You use my life, Lord, to make a difference in others lives. Lord, I pray that anything that would taint my fruit would be cleansed from me. I pray my fruit will be sweet and juicy for You. Thank You Jesus for being My Gardener. Amen.
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