Trees of Righteousness part 2
I like the image of the tree. I think it's pretty good. Pretty profound. He is the vine, we are the branches. He is the Gardener, we are the garden. So good. But today I really just want to focus on what kind of tree we are. The tree OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. And just so we're clear on what we're talking about, "righteousness" in Isaiah 61:3 is number 6664 in Strong's Hebrew Concordance and it means, "the right (natural, moral, or legal); also equity or prosperity: even that which is altogether just, right." Prosperity. A tree that bear fruit. The Tree of Life that bears the fruit of the Spirit. Which, we know, is love. That is what we are here to do. Not produce fruit, but simply bear it. Jesus does the planting. He does the producing. It's all Him. He simply chooses to do it in us, and through us, and as us. He gives us the ball and we run with it. We are the spout where His glory comes out. People will know we are His disciple when they see the love that we have for each other. Trees are known by the fruit they bear. An apple tree is only an apple tree because of the apples. We are trees of righteousness because of, well, the righteousness of God. Look at Philippians 1:11, "Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God." And I like how every time we talk about what we do, or what we are capable of, it always ends with WHY we do it. What's my motivation? The glory of God. Glorifying my Father. Making Him proud. And, listen, God always loves us. Always has, always will. He IS love. What else could He do? But think about this: I love my son. Always. And yet there are things he does and times in my life when I'm really proud of him. Sometimes he'll do something that will just fire me up. Fill up my pride meter. And when someone compliments my kid... I take that personally. Because I put a lot of time and effort into raising him. Into training him up the way he should go. I'm not trying to pat my own back, but simply illustrate how our heavenly Father feels about us. You can love someone and be disappointed in them. And you can love someone and be proud of them. Those are separate things. When we bring glory to God... I believe He is proud of us. Well done, my good and faithful servant. So this idea of righteousness, right standing with God, prosperity and that which is altogether just, it is what puts a smile on Father God's face. When we receive AND release the gift He has given us. That's who we experience that gift, by the way. Breathing it in and breathing it out. Focusing on love with every breath we take and every move we make. Making the fruit that God has produced in us available to those that we come into contact with. Prospering ourselves by prospering others. Living out of our abundance by giving away what we've got. Gladly spending all that we have and all that we are. Laying our very lives down for our friends. Esteeming others higher than ourselves. Putting others first. All of these things... are love. All of these things... are what Jesus has done for us. He planted us when He planted Himself IN us. That incorruptible seed that bears much fruit. And it's GOD that gets the harvest. We don't have to make anything happen. We simply have to know and believe that something already happened. The cross happened. The Finished Work happened. And it... is... finished. Our tree doesn't NEED fruit. Our tree has fruit. The fruit of mercy. The fruit of grace. The fruit of forgiveness. The fruit of righteousness. The fruit... of love!