Producing the fruit of God

Most of us want a productive life.  If you are born again, it is your hearts desire to live a life that is pleasing to God.  What are God's requirements.  In the old testament they had a list of do's and don'ts.  We call these the 10 commandments.  The rich young ruler had kept all of those commandments even from his youth.  Though he had kept all of the commandments, he still felt like he was missing something.   The thing he was missing was Godliness.  Is there a difference between being a good person and being a Godly person?  Yes, there is a difference.  A Godly person lives his life following the leadership of the Holy Spirit.   The rich young ruler was a good person.  A good person will try their best to live by the golden rule, "Do unto  others as you would have them do unto you."  A Godly person is a good person, but not all good people are Godly people.  If we aspire to be a Godly person we can only do so by the power of the Holy Spirit residing inside our lives.  If you are going through life trying to be a good person following all the dos and don'ts that God lays out you are living a life of failures.  It is impossible to truly be good.  The Bible says in

 Psalms 53:3 Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that does good, no, not one.

and also in  Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

It means our goodness falls short.  Our efforts are useless.  Our will falls short of the glory of God.  Many times I have seen people pray, and then try in their own efforts to 'be good' but in the end, they fall short.  I have seen many others that live under constant condemnation because they are continually falling short of God's requirements.  Salvation starts with the will of man to turn to God, but it is completed when the Spirit of God converts the soul.  Without the quickening of God all mighty, there is no redemption of the soul.  Jesus said for us to abide in the vine. 

John 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing.

How do we abide in Jesus?  We do so by prayer.  We do so by studying the bible.  We do so by seeking him with our whole heart.  We do so by attending local church meetings.  We do so by worship and praise.  If you only do these things once a week, or when you are in church, or once or twice a day, you are not abiding in Jesus.  He said I am the vine and you are the branches.  Does the branches attach to the vine, and then unattach and live it's own life, and then reattach later?  No. The vine and the branches are one, they share one life, one livelihood, they cannot be separated.   The idea that our religion is separate from the rest of our life is not what God desires.  Your spiritual life should be a part of EVERYTHING that you do.  You should pray without ceasing, as you go through your day.  You should have your mind on scripture through the day.  Your heart should be singing melodies to the Lord through the day.  You should be witnessing and living the life of Godliness throughout your day by the power of the spirit of God.  If you are not living in this manner, you are not abiding in the vine, you are trying to be good without being attached to the vine.  You are tying to replace Godliness with goodness.  The rich young ruler wanted was a very good person, yet, he fell short of having eternal life.  We must go beyond being good to being Godly in Christ Jesus.  Pray today and seek him with all your heart.  Search after the Lord like you would search for gold.  When God becomes your passion, you will find what you are missing!