Good Tree Bad Tree

Matthew – Chapter 7 – verses 15 thru 20

Be careful of false prophets who come to you in Lambs clothing, but

within they are ravening wolves. You will know them by their fruits. 

Do they gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles?

So every good tree bears good fruit; but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 

A good tree cannot bear bad fruit; neither can a bad tree bear good fruit.

Every tree which does not bear good fruit will be cut down and cast into the fire. 

Thus by their fruit you will know them.

What are these trees?

Jesus is the Good tree. We are grafted into the good tree.

Satan is the bad tree. We come from the bad tree.

Do I have any arguments here? 

Please correct me if I’m wrong.

Good Fruit Vs Bad Fruit

The only Good tree is Jesus. 

From Jesus sprouts the branches. 
If you are  born again you are now considered a branch or member of the body of Christ. As time goes on you will begin to produce fruit. The Holy Spirit is the one who provides the nourishment required to produce good fruit. 

As we learn to understand what these fruits are and apply them properly to our daily lives, the tree comes into perfect harmony and produces the most wonderful fruit that all the members of the body can enjoy. 

Jesus said in John – Chapter – 15 – verse 1 and 2

I am the true vine, and my Father is the laborer. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he cuts off; and the one which bears fruit, he prunes so that it may bring forth more fruit.

Did you notice how the Father is the one who does the pruning? 
I love that! It is the role of our heavenly Father alone to prune us.

Did you also notice how the Father will remove a branch if it does not bear Fruit? 

That’s scary!

That statement by Jesus shows me that the saying, “Once saved always saved” is truly a false teaching.


 
So what is good fruit? 
 
Galatians – Chapter 5 – Verses 22 and 23 - 

But the fruits of the Spirit are 
love , 
joy,
peace, 
patience, 
gentleness, 
goodness, 
faith, 
meekness, 
self-control;



If you are truly of the good tree, you will see each one of these fruits coming forth in your own life. 

The Holy Spirit will transform you over time and bring you into full harmony with the true tree. 

If you do not see these fruits coming forth in your own life, I suggest you take a closer look at who you are and make sure you are truly grafted into the good tree.

Revelation – Chapter 22 – verse 2 – 
In the midst of the great city, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life,(Jesus is the tree of life) which bore 12 kinds of fruits, and each month it yielded one of its fruits; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the peoples.
 
Paul spoke of nine fruits in Galatians. 

Any thoughts or comments on what the other 3 fruits might be?

Now let’s talk about the bad tree and the bad fruit. 

This is where it gets interesting!

We all know that Satan is the bad tree. 
We all know that Satan is the Father of all flesh. 
Whatever fruit we produce in the flesh is from Satan. 

Some examples are obvious as taught by scripture.  

Galatians chapter – 5 verses 19 thru 21- 

For the works of the flesh are well known, which are these; adultery, impurity, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, stubbornness, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings and all such things; those who practice these things, as I have told you before and say to you now, shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. 


These fruits are easy to identify and relate to. 
Each one of us contends with these fruits on a daily basis. 

However, would you believe that Satan also produces what appears to be the same fruit that the Holy Spirit does? 

He absolutely does!



We have many teachings put out by man on the subject of Love. There are teachings on how to live a joyful life and how to achieve the ultimate peace. Just look at the thousands of religions and new age technologies created by man.

Our psychologist and psychiatrist are constantly striving to find ways for us to develop our minds and be gentle creatures. 

Our yoga teachers and spiritualist are teaching us to reach our higher power and learn the art of self-control.

Our bookshelves are lined with thousands of self-help books and how to be a good person. 
We are taught that we are capable of achieving all things! 
Will power is all it takes!
You can do it! 
Nothing is impossible!

But these teachings are vain productions as they are bereft of the highest power, bring no mention of a submission to the Lord Jesus and are void of the guidance of Holy Spirit.

Do you get it? 

Satan is capable of generating by all appearance good fruit.

Great, so how do I know if the Fruit I’m producing is from me or the Holy Spirit?

Very simple: Have you been grafted into the true tree? 

If not, then all the fruit you’re producing is not from the true tree.

Are you following the first commandment and loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength? I can’t answer that question, only you can. That is between you and the Father.

Are you following the second commandment and loving your neighbor as you love yourself? Again, only you know the answer to that question.

The obedience to each one of these commandments will produce fruit for all to see. As each day passes the Holy Spirit will nourish us and teach us the ways of our Father. 

Every so often the Father will prune us (and yes, that can be painful). 

The end result is that we will bear fruit more abundantly for all to enjoy. 
We come from the tree of Life. 
We are not of this world. 
We have already died in Christ. 
We are taught the ways of Love and what it really means to be full of our Lord and to be one with Him and the Father.

John – Chapter 14 – verse 23

Jesus answered, saying to him, He who loves me keeps my word; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make a place of abode with him.

Who is my Neighbor? 

As Jesus said in Matthew – Chapter 5 – verses 43 thru 48; 

You have heard that it is said, Be kind to your friend, and hate your enemy. 

But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless anyone who curses you, do good to anyone who hates you, and pray for those who carry you away by force and persecute you. 

So that you may become sons of your Father who is in Heaven, who causes his sun to shine upon the good (tree) and bad (tree), and who pours His rain down about the just and the unjust. 

For if you Love only those who Love you, what reward will you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same thing? 

And if you salute only your brothers, what is it more that you do? Do not even the tax collectors do the same thing? 

Therefore become perfect, just as your Father in Heaven is perfect.

Every human being on this earth is your neighbor. 
Your wife, your sons and daughters, your mother and Father. Everyone!

Love your neighbor – Simple enough. 

Really?

When’s the last time that you asked the Father in heaven to save your neighbor across the street from you? 
Or that person next door who you only see once in a while and very rarely talk to? 
How about you own children and Family? Do you ask daily? 
Or is when you remember well enough? 
There is no tomorrow or yesterday, only today.

True love requires an action. 
Loving your neighbor requires an action.

Are you sure you love your neighbor as you love yourself? 
When is the last time you reached out and really helped your neighbor? If you look hard enough you will see the many needs that our neighbors have. 
We don’t have to go across the country or around the world to fulfill our Fathers will. 
Look around you and in your own neighborhood and you will see those that are truly in need.

We are in a spiritual warfare. Our war is not with just flesh and blood.

We’re not here to see how much Knowledge we can gain about the Kingdom and all things spiritual. We’re here to Love. All the gifts we receive mean nothing if we don’t have Love.

Satan is mounting a great warfare against those of us who have the testimony of Jesus in our Hearts. He will do everything in his power to keep you from loving the Father and our neighbors. He will fill your life with the things of this world and keep you so busy with spiritual things that you won’t have time to live out the second commandment.

Jesus came here to save us all and destroy the works of Satan. He has already destroyed the works of Satan. He needs us to rise up in these last moments and fight. Satan has no authority in you. Put off all manner of flesh and start this fight today! There is no tomorrow!

Love your neighbor and watch what happens. This my friend is what it’s all about.

Good tree, bad tree. 

Which tree are you really from?

There is one other thing I need some help on understanding.

I constantly see members of the body asking other members to support their ministry. 

Recently I watched a brother’s video and was really enjoying his teaching. Then towards the end of his video he announced how the Father had given him a plan on how to raise the 2 million dollars that was required to support his ministry for this coming year. He went into great detail and spent at least 5 minutes expounding on this great plan the Father had given him. 

Part of the plan was he needed  brothers and sisters to donate into his ministry on a monthly basis and by doing this he would be able to fulfill Gods will. Needless to say, as soon as I heard all this a Red Flag went up. 

If a person’ ministry is truly from our Lord and Father, would not our Father supply all their needs? Jesus himself said to take nothing with you, that the Father would take care of everything.   

Now I begin to question from what tree they are really from. Jesus made it very clear that we are to be very careful. He told us that many would come in his name and perform great miracles and show us many wonders and signs, but in reality they are wolves in sheep skins. Jesus even said that the very elect (if possible) could possibly be deceived.

Remember how Jesus fed the five thousand and then again the seven thousand? He didn’t ask any man. 
He asked the Father and the father produced.

Am I wrong?

I see this as bad fruit. Bad fruit can only come from a bad tree according to Jesus. Now I have to question everything coming from this person’s ministry. Is this really a bad tree? 
A wolf in sheepskin?

If I’m wrong about this, I need someone to step up to the plate and show me where I’m wrong. I really need to see it in the word of God or I will not be able to accept your explanation. I am not going to Judge this brother by any means, what he does is between him and our Father.

However, Jesus has instructed us very clearly, be careful, you will know them by their fruits. 

As a member of the Body of Christ it is my duty and obligation to discern all things that are being presented to me. 
We are to test all the spirits. 

I really would appreciate some feedback on this matter.

Let’s all go forth this day and share the good fruit we’ve been blessed with.

Love, 
Brother Greg

Heart of Gold

Heart of Gold

Our Father has a heart of gold.
The abundant blessings that He pours out to us, His children, are sometimes overwhelming!
And I love it!
I'm so very grateful for all that He does.

My thoughts today are about His heart and how it relates to the Body of Christ.
I have two specific trains of thought on the matter.

Let’s begin with scripture.

Colossians; Chapter 1 – verse 18 
And he (Jesus) is the Head of the body, the church;

1st Corinthians; Chapter12 – Verses 12 thru 14 
For as the body is one and has many members, and all the  members of the body, even though many, are one body, so also is Christ. For all of us are baptized by one Spirit into one body whether Jews or Arameans, whether bond or free; and we have all received through the one Spirit. The body is not one member, but many.

We can see very clearly from these scriptures that Jesus is the head of the body and that we are it's members.
However, I wish to make mention of the two parts of the body that Paul did not discuss.

Within the center of this body lies the most important member of all.
That member is the heart.
It is the member that causes the blood to flow throughout the entire body.

The heart works 24/7. It does not cease to do its job.
The blood which it pumps thru the body provides nourishment to every single cell.
All life comes from this blood. The ability of each cell to be able to perform and do its job comes from the blood. This blood cleanses each cell and keeps it healthy and pure.
All the power that each cell has comes from the blood.
All cells then work together to bring forth a healthy body.

Every cell is different, no two are alike.  

Some are similar in appearance, but, each is still unique.

The Father is the Heart, Jesus is the Head and the Holy Spirit is the blood. 

All working in perfect harmony to sustain the body. If you take a few minutes to contemplate this, you’ll begin to see the point I’m trying to make.

One other point, that I think is really cool is this! Man shall not live by bread alone, but, by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

This is the food that the body needs to consume daily. Only God's word can provide the food that the body needs in order to be healthy. You have to consume this food every day.
For every day is a new day, and in His Kingdom there is no yesterday or tomorrow.
The body needs to be fed ... daily.

Keep one other thing in mind. 

If the body is not fed, and it does not consume good food ( the Word ) or if the body is being fed food that is not healthy ( processed or unnatural ), it starts to negatively affect the body.

In fact, the body could even arrive at the point of being damaged and disabled due to it's poor diet.

What I am referring to here is this. When we eat the words of other doctrines and teachings of men, it eventually leads to ill-health. See what I mean?
If you do not eat daily the body also begins to shut down.
In fact, the body will eventually die if it does not receive nourishment.

If you’re not being sustained by His Bread on a regular basis, you will fall into infirmity, and yes, perhaps even die.

You need to eat!

1st Corinthians; Chapter 12 – Verses 15 thru 27

For if the foot should say, Because I am not the hand, I am not a part of the body; is it therefore not a member of the body?

And if the ear should say, Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body; is it therefore not a member of the body? If the whole body were eyes, where would hearing be? And if  the whole were hearing, where would smelling be? But now God has set every member in the body, as it has pleased him.

If they were all one member, where would the body be? 

But now they are many members, yet but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you. Nor can the head say to the feet, I have no need of you. But rather those members of the body which we think to be less honorable we bestow more abundant honor; and the parts that are uncomely we dress with greater care. For our comely parts have no need for attention. 

But God has so tempered the body together, and has given greater honor to the member which is inferior. That there may be no discord in the body, but that they may care one for another, all members should be equal. So when one member is in pain, all the members suffer with it; and if one member is honored, all the members will glory with it. 
Now you are the body of Christ and members in your respective places.

Each one of us has a duty to find out from God what our respective place is in the body of Christ.

You need to ask.
And the Father will show you. 
Whatever He assigns to you, accept His will.

As a young Christian, I always held high expectations of what my life would be like.
I wanted to be a great evangelist.
I wanted to be a great preacher.
I wanted to be a healer!

On and on I would go!
I had strong, captivating desires encouraged by the winds of a vivid imagination.
However, the Father had a very different plan for me.
Yet His plans are far more wonderful than anything that we can conjure.

As time went on, I learned that this was not the place in the body where the Father wanted me.

I learned to accept the position that was assigned to me.

Like millions of other brothers and sisters, I am a cell.
I don’t have the gift of being an evangelist. I don’t have the gift of preaching. I don’t have the gift of healing. And I’ve learned not to be led by my will. Father and Lord, by Your will, I shall abide.
I am a member of your body, and that is good enough.

I will do as You instruct me.
 I love being a cell!

I see the working of the body every day.
I pray for the unsaved and they become saved.
I get to share the gospel as the Lord directs. I see healings take place all the time (not so much in a physical sense, but spiritual). I see miracles that our Lord performs.
I have been blessed with a business. I have the chance to bless others every day.
I’m in war with the enemy 24/7, fighting to establish the Kingdom of God.

I am a light in this dark world. 
One that is shining brightly! HIS Glorious blood flows through me daily.
Yes, I am indeed a member of this body! All glory to the Father and Lord.
As He is, so am I!

Recently, I have had the chance to spend some time with Tom and Sarah Ahava Fischer.
(I’m sure most of you know them). They are hands and mouths in this body of Christ.

When Tom Fischer touches people with his hand, the power of God flows out.
In fact, Tom just touches people with the finger of his hand and they receive power! When he prays for people, things happen.

I see the Father working uniquely through both of them. They have been blessed with full time service, 24/7.

They feed the poor and homeless, they visit those incarcerated in prison. The fruits they bear are for all to partake of and consume. I get to talk with and learn from both of them. I have the chance to pray with them. I have the privilege of praying for both of them. I have great fellowship with them both.

As a member of the body, I am coming into perfect harmony with them both.
When they are in their glory, so am I. When they struggle, so do I.

I see the perfect harmony of the body and nothing less. As we are told, be perfect, even as your Father in Heaven.
Please keep Tom and Sarah in your prayers daily, they need us just as much as we need them.

I really appreciate the chance to share this message with all my brothers and sisters everywhere.
I encourage each of you to find your respective place in the Body. Each one of us has a part in bringing forth the will of our Father and Lord.
Some of us will be seen, and most will not.

However small your part might be, please remember this.

The Head needs you in order to successfully function. With every member in activity, the blood will flow, the heart will keep pumping.

Again I say  - Our Father has a Heart of Gold!

Your brother,
Greg.

The following extract is taken from NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC -

" The heart is the body's engine room, responsible for pumping life-sustaining blood via a 60,000-mile-long (97,000-kilometer-long) network of vessels. The organ works ceaselessly, beating 100,000 times a day, 40 million times a year—in total clocking up three billion heartbeats over an average lifetime. It keeps the body freshly supplied with oxygen and nutrients, while clearing away harmful waste matter.
About the size of its owner's clenched fist, the organ sits in the middle of the chest, behind the breastbone and between the lungs, in a moistened chamber that is protected all round by the rib cage. It's made up of a special kind of muscle (cardiac muscle) that works involuntarily, so we don't have to think about it. 
The heart speeds up or slow downs automatically in response to nerve signals from the brain that tell it how much the body is being exerted. Normally the heart contracts and relaxes between 70 and 80 times per minute, each heartbeat filling the four chambers inside with a fresh round of blood.
Since the heart lies at the center of the blood delivery system, it is also central to life. 
Blood both supplies oxygen from the lungs to the other organs and tissues and removes carbon dioxide to the lungs, where the gas is breathed out. 
Blood also distributes nourishment from the digestive system and hormones from glands. 
Likewise our immune system cells travel in the bloodstream, seeking out infection, and blood takes the body's waste products to the kidneys and liver to be sorted out and trashed."