Are You Producing Seedless Fruit?
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October 15, 2008“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine; neither can you, unless you abide in me.” (John 15:4) But what about all those people who accomplish so much while never abiding in Christ? If they can do it why can’t I? And more to the point, if I’m a Christian doesn’t that mean that what is produced in my life is fruit? The answer is no. Not everything we produce with our lives is fruit. We often spend a lot of time creating wooden apples and wax pears so to speak. From a distance it looks like real fruit, but it bears no life. No seed from the Divine heart of God. It is impotent, foul tasting and can serve only as a façade to fool those around us into thinking we are fruitful, when we are not. If you keep producing imitation fruit, you will start believing it’s real. Maybe you already do. We must discern the difference between works of the flesh (imitation fruit) and works of the Spirit which produce real fruit. Producing imitation fruit will keep you busy, frustrated and unfulfilled because deep down inside you know something is missing. That something is the Seed, the deposit of the Spirit that originates, propels and completes the production of real fruit. You can’t experience that without a continual abiding in Christ. Do you know what that looks like in practical terms? Can you describe it to me experientially instead of merely theologically? If you can’t, then it’s a good indicator that you may not be really abiding in Him. You may believe in Him and go to Heaven, but I am talking about something quite different. I am talking about bringing Heaven to earth by manifesting in the here and now the fruit God wants to produce through your life. I recently discovered I have a very short time left to live. I actually read about it in James 4:14 and decided to follow the advice of Moses in Psalm 90:12. It’s very sobering. Bottom line for me going forward is fruitfulness. With what time I have left, I want to bring forth much fruit. Care to join me on that journey?
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Michael:
I have lived much of my life believing in Christ but not aware of how to \"abide in Him\". I was taught early on that God only spoke to those in the Bible times, so I never tried to listen directly to Him. I have only recently been feeling like I am missing the real action of the battle taking place in this life - and am actually fearful of being one of those who \"called him Lord\" but were dismissed as among those He \"never knew\". I want to change drastically - I want to know Him closely and recognize when it is Him speaking to me. I really appreciate your comments coming to me - they are challenging and many times speak directly to what I have been thinking about. Keep it up and God bless you!
David Barber
David Barber at 12:38pm EDT - October 15, 2008
Most Def a Word in due season for me. Thanks for sharing and I'm joining you on that journey because a life without Christ is no life at all and not worth living :).
Eskor Edem at 12:39pm EDT - October 15, 2008
I agree, my goal is to hear those precious words, \"Well done, good and faithful servant.\" As I enter the \"AARP\" age (arggghhh, can't believe I am THAT old) I realize life is not much more than a vapor! Father, keep me abiding in YOU, in constant awareness of YOUR Presence in me, to do as YOU please, responding in YOUR will! Bless you Michael Pink! KLH
Kara L. Harris at 1:15pm EDT - October 15, 2008
Wow fruit.........yes I have thought about that . Is there anything we can do to help you in this time of fruitfulness? We will pray , yes! God Bless you , dearly. bjs
BARBARA J SOLLY at 1:19pm EDT - October 15, 2008
A resounding YES!!!
Patricia Hicks at 1:42pm EDT - October 15, 2008
Yes, I would very much like to join you in being fruitful. I am tired of seeing my fruit die on the vine.
Obviously what I thought was abiding in Him is not or I would see the fruit ripen and reproduce.
Karen at 2:35pm EDT - October 15, 2008
Seedless fruit could also be because of the type of soil that is being used.
If the soil is not good soil it will not produce a harvest.
Mr 4:3 Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:
4 And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.
5 And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:
6 But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
Here Jesus speaks of the soil that has other things growing in it.
Mr 4:18 And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,
19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
Most of the problem is that the \"church world\" preaches and teaches \"a gospel of heaven and hell\" and not \"the gospel of the Kingdom of God\".
See Mt. 24:14
I appreciate what you have to say and am in complete agreement.
Melvin Tisdale
Melvin at 3:06pm EDT - October 15, 2008
Michael:
I am sorry to hear that you only have a short time to live. Your family will be in my prayers.
About the substance of your post: can you give some experiential examples of what this looks like for you - or others along the way? So much is said about fruit, but nothing is every really discussed about what that fruit truly is. An apple tree should produce apples. Of course, by spiritual fruit, I understand it to be patience, perseverance, love, kindness, and the rest. I would imagine that a business venture should produce revenue - but what other fruit can be produced in business? Is it wrong to look only to financial gains in the business?
I'm currently faced with growing my meager business with very limited cash flow. I terribly hesitant to take out a line of credit in the midst of the current economic situation, but I need cash to work the business. My fear is that I won't be able to pay back what I've borrowed, but it would allow me to actually grow the business and meet my immediate needs. But like growing real fruit, you need to make the initial investment in the soil and the plant.
How can I measure my business' fruitfulness? (I have repeat clients, which woudl tell me I'm doing something right.)
VaDesigner at 3:54pm EDT - October 15, 2008
Michael, I agree wholeheartedly that we should be about producing good, Godly fruit. Too often, we do produce that \"wax\" fruit, which is a dead end. I do want to join you, and bring others with me, on this journey.
Grace and Peace.
Bob at 10:53am EDT - October 16, 2008
Michael, Please clarify your statement about dying soon. I read your article to be that all is finite in this life, but others saw it as you have some \"terminal\" condition, in addition to life, which is of course, terminal (thank YOU FATHER, it is NOT forever).
Also, we found the Praying Mantis in our first look at nature as we watched it clean off the bugs on my one tomato plant. It does not hurt the fruit, but gleans off the pests that would hurt the fruit. Is this a quality control insect? Bless you and I owe ya one for the e-book! We did receive the hardback copy on Saturday, before we left to camp. I am blessed by your endeavors! KLH
Kara L. Harris at 11:09am EDT - October 16, 2008
Dear Friends... James 4:14 says that life is but a vapor. It is very short. And Moses tells us in Psalm 90 that we are to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.
My comment was intended to make us all aware that life is short. Make it count. Be fruitful. I am healthy and happy and expect to be around for a normal amount of time. It's just that I realize that even that is short.
Blessings all!
Michael Pink at 11:19am EDT - October 16, 2008
WOW, that verse (John 15:4) has never been so impactfull until you delivered it in such a way & God's timing is awesome! I WILL ABIDE. And no more wooden apples for me! Thank you Michael for doing what you do!
Glen Williams Ottawa Canada
Glen Williams at 11:44am EDT - October 16, 2008
Michael,
I'm on the journey, but thanks to the Spirit-led guidance that you and others like Dennis Peacock and Eric Beck are bringing to me the journey is becoming increasingly more focused and strategic. May the Lord bless you with increasingly more insight and revelation to make the ways of God more applicable to all we do. Randy Browne
Randy Browne at 12:33pm EDT - October 16, 2008
A great word. I'm a new reader of your blog and am enjoying it. I read your first book and will be buying this new one.
Count me in on the journey of a fruitful life!
Beverly Lewis at 3:08pm EDT - October 16, 2008
Yes I want to be fruitful brothers. All these days that I am thinking that I am fruitful and fooling everyone including me...please pay for me and motivate me to more....thanks
Anand Swarup at 5:08am EDT - October 17, 2008
You really get to the heart of the matter in this one. Lord, teach us how to abide in You so that we may be fruitful.
Katherine at 5:27pm EDT - October 18, 2008
I echo the above prayer. Lord teach us how to wait on you, trust you for everything and walk in the Spirit hour by hour and day by day so that we bear much fruit in our lives and that we are noticed by people of the world and they may come to us and say \"Who is your God?\"
Helen at 7:03pm EDT - October 29, 2008