“By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” (John 15:8 ESV)

You bear much fruit by abiding in Jesus 

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5 ESV)

Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire

“So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.” (Matt. 7:17-20 ESV)

“Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” (John 15:2 ESV)

 Therefore…

“So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” (Col. 1:10 ESV)

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” (Jer. 17:7-8 ESV)

Quote:

“It is of no use for any of you to try to be soul-winners if you are not bearing fruit in your own lives. How can you serve the Lord with your lips if you do not serve Him with your lives.? How can you preach His gospel with your tongues, when with hands, feet, and heart you are preaching the devil’s gospel, and setting up an antichrist by your practical unholiness?” - Charles Spurgeon

“And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.” (2 Cor. 5:18 NLT)

God gave us the wonderful message of reconciliation 

 “For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.” (2 Cor. 5:19 NLT)

 We are His ambassadors telling the world to “Come back to God”

 “So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” (2 Cor. 5:20 NLT)

The message of reconciliation is easy to understand as explained in one verse

 “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” (2 Cor. 5:21 NLT)

 Don’t ignore it! You are God’s partner!

 “As God’s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it.” (2 Cor. 6:1 NLT)

 The right time is now!

 “For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor. 6:2 NLT)

Therefore…

 “We live in such a way that no one will stumble because of us, and no one will find fault with our ministry.” (2 Cor. 6:3 NLT)

 “In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind.” (2 Cor. 6:4 NLT)

 “We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food.” (2 Cor. 6:5 NLT)

“We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love.” (2 Cor. 6:6 NLT)

“We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense.” (2 Cor. 6:7 NLT)

“We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us impostors.” (2 Cor. 6:8 NLT)

“Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (John 14:9 ESV)

According to the above passage, you can know who God is and what He is like by looking at Jesus. 

God and Jesus are one

“I and the Father are one.” (John 28:30)

Perceptions of God vary among people 

Some picture God as an impersonal white bearded old man, sitting on a cloud far away, who is out of touch with the modern world. Others see Him as a harsh judge with a strict set of rules, constantly watching to see if you break any of them, and when you do, like the evil Ming from Flash Gordon, He rains terror down on you from the sky with plagues, storms and other “acts of God” disasters. Some see Him as a mean and controlling father, teacher or drill Sargent, who sends bad things like problems,  accidents or sickness your way to teach you lessons. If your perception of God is like any of these examples, you would probably find it hard to pray. You would not want to spend time with Him, or be His close friend, or even be around Him. In fact, you would probably be afraid of Him. On the other hand, if you see God as good, loving, kind, giving and joyful — a personal, approachable God who saves, provides, protects and blesses you, then your perception of Him would be very positive and you would find prayer to be easy, because, when praying, you would be spending time with someone you are excited to be around and spend time with! 

Seeing God according to the life of Jesus… 

• He came to seek and to save the lost

 “For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them.” (Luke 9:56 KJV)

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10 KJV) 

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:17 NIV)

• He is joyful and wants you to be joyful, too

“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11 ESV)

• He loves you and doesn’t want you to perish 

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 ESV)

“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.” (1 John 4:9)

• He wants you to be victorious 

“But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 15:57)

•  He wants your life to be abundant

“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)

• He wants you to have victory

“But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” ( 1 Cor. 15:57) 

• He wants to have a close and personal relationship with you

“Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.” (John 14:23 NLT)

Therefore…

“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Rom. 10:9)

“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:19)

“Don’t do as the wicked do, and don’t follow the path of evildoers. Don’t even think about it; don’t go that way. Turn away and keep moving.” (Prov. 4:14-15 NLT)

 The way of the wicked 

“For evil people can’t sleep until they’ve done their evil deed for the day. They can’t rest until they’ve caused someone to stumble. They eat the food of wickedness and drink the wine of violence!” (Prov. 4.16-17 NLT)

 The way of the righteous 

“The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is like total darkness. They have no idea what they are stumbling over.” (Prov. 4:18-19 NLT)

 Therefore:

“My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body. Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech. Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet;stay on the safe path. Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.” (Prov. 4:20-27 NLT)

“Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.” (Psalm 62:2 NIV)

No matter what may happen around you, or to you, if God is your rock and your salvation, you will never be shaken! That’s a great promise to stand solidly on!

God is your rock, fortress, deliverer, shield, refuge, salvation, and stronghold!

“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” (Psalm 18:2 ESV)

“And they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer.” (Psalm 38:35)

 God is your Rock!

“Do not tremble and do not be afraid; Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it? And you are My witnesses. Is there any God besides Me, Or is there any other Rock? I know of none.” (Isa. 44:8)

“For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God?” (Psalm 18:31 ESV)

“The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.” (Deut. 32:4 ESV)

 Christ is the Rock

“And all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.” (1 Cor. 10:4 ESV)

Therefore…

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” (Matt. 7:24 ESV)

“Be to me a rock of habitation to which I may continually come; You have given commandment to save me, For You are my rock and my fortress.” (Psalm 71:3)

“Trust in the Lord forever,

For in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock.” (Isa. 26:4)

“Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.” (Josh. 3:5 ESV)

Many signs and wonders through Jesus

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—“ (Acts 2:22 ESV)

Many signs and wonders through the apostles 

“And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.” Acts 2:43 ESV)

Signs and wonders through believers

“Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues;” (Mark 16:16-17 ESV)

“To another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.” (1 Cor. 12:10 ESV)

“And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?” (1 Cor. 12:28-29 ESV)

Don’t depend on signs and wonders to believe

“So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” (John 4:48 ESV)

“Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” (Matt. 12:38-39 ESV) 

Beware of lying signs and wonders

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1 ESV)

“For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if [it were] possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” (Matt. 24:24 KJV)

“[Even him], whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders.” (2 Thess. 2:9 KJV)

True signs and wonders from God fulfills the ministry of the Gospel of Christ

“For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ;” (Rom. 15:18-19 ESV)

True signs and wonders from God causes people to come to the Lord

“And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose. And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.” (Acts 9:34-35 ESV)

“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Heb. 11:6 ESV) 

Faith pleases God

If you want to please God, the above passage says you must, with faith, believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. 

Faith gives substance to what is hoped for

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1 NKJV)

Faith comes through hearing the Word of Christ

“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Rom. 10:17 ESV)

We walk by faith not by sight

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” ( 2 Cor. 5:7 ESV)

Our faith is the victory 

“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” (1 John 5:4 ESV)

Therefore…

“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” ( 1 Cor. 16:13 ESV)

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20 ESV)

“That your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” (1 Cor. 2:5 ESV)

“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Cor. 13:13 ESV)

Quotes:

“Faith is not the belief that God will do what you want. It is the belief that God will do what is right.” - Max Lucado

“To have Faith in Christ means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in saying you trusted a person if you would not take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him. But trying in a new way, a less worried way. Not doing these things in order to be saved, but because He has begun to save you already. Not hoping to get to Heaven as a reward for your actions, but inevitably wanting to act in a certain way because a first faint gleam of Heaven is already inside you.” - C.S. Lewis

“For I the Lord love justice; I hate robbery and wrong…” (Isa. 61.8 ESV)

 Types of robbery: petit theft, burglary, piracy, armed, larceny, and fraud.

 Don’t look to robbery as an answer

“Put no trust in extortion; set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, set not your heart on them.” (Psalm 62:10 ESV)

Thieves are on the list 

“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Cor. 6:9-11 ESV)

Christ is the answer

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10 ESV)

Therefore…

“You shall not steal.” (Exo. 20:15 ESV)

“You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him…” (Lev. 19:13 ESV)

“Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.” (Luke 3:14 ESV)

“Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.” (Eph. 4:28 ESV)

Quote:

A man once stole Matthew Henry’s wallet. In reflecting on the incident, Henry said, “I am thankful that he never robbed me before. I am thankful that although he took my wallet, he did not take my life. Although he took all I had, it was not much. And, I am glad that it was I who was robbed, not I who did the robbing.” 

“Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things.” (Heb. 13:18 ESV)

Honor God

 “To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Tim. 1:17 ESV)

 Honor the Lord with your wealth

 “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce;” (Prov. 3:9 ESV)

Have honor in marriage

“Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.” (Heb. 13:4 ESV)

Honor those who rule well

“Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.” (1 Tim. 5:17 ESV)

Honor everyone

“Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.” (1 Peter 2:17 ESV)

Honor your mother and father

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” (Eph. 6:1-4 ESV)

Outdo one another in showing  honor

“Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.” (Rom. 12:10 ESV)

Therefore…

“Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,’ but now the Lord declares: ‘Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed.” (1 Sam. 2:30 ESV)

“Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.” (2 Tim. 2:21 ESV)

“Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor.” (Prov. 21:21 ESV)