Matthew 21:20-22 / Mark 11:20-26...
Faith in God…
The disciples noticed that the fruitless fig tree (Matthew 21:18-19 / Mark 11:12-14) had dried up. Jesus used this to teach two important lessons. A saving faith will lead to a living faith, and spiritual fruit is the sign of spiritual life. He mentions two specific fruits of genuine faith that are very difficult to counterfeit. Jesus also teaches us that these things are linked.
The first fruit was prayer, a fruit He found missing in the temple (Matthew 21:13 / Mark 11:17). He was not teaching us that grace has given us a “blank check” and that all we have to do is express sufficient faith to “fill it out”. We must always have confidence in God’s power but also submission to His will (Mark 14:36 / 1 John 5:14-15). Prayers are expressions of faith, that God will accomplish even the impossible, according to His sovereign will.
The second fruit was forgiveness. Forgiven people become forgiving people. If you know God’s forgiveness in your heart, you can forgive others from your heart. Conversely, unforgiveness is the great obstacle of faith and faithful prayer. It is when we are not forgiving others from our heart that we begin to doubt God.
The object of faith is God, who empowers His children to believe, serve, and glorify Him through the power of the faith in Him that He gives to us. The opportunity of faith is to believe in Him for and through the seemingly impossible. The obstacle of faith is unforgiveness. We must be willing to forgive, because a biblically forgiving spirit is a faithful one.
It is time for some fruit inspection in your life (2 Corinthians 13:5). Are you only appearing fruitful from a distance? How is your prayer life? When the tough times come, do you still believe in God, faithfully praying? How is your forgiveness account, do you dole out the mercy and grace from your heart and before God quickly, or do you have a bitter bank statement? Does a closer examination reveal true, lasting fruit (Psalm 19:12-14, 139:23-24)?
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The fruit of a Christian is prayer and forgiveness. So, when I currently inspect my life am I actively praying for and forgiving others? This is how I can know I am currently faithfully walking in Christ. So if I'm not praying and forgiving then I must be walking in the flesh. Is that a fair assumption?
Yes, amen.
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