We are praying every one of our churches will be richly blessed by God, at the beginning of this new year and throughout 2025. As we do so we pray for both faithfulness and fruitfulness.
You may be asking the I have been asked many times: is whether there is any connection between the two? Answer: ‘yes and no’.
It depends on which perspective we’re looking from. I’m sure I’m not the only person to have, more than occasionally, wanted the fruit, from my human perspective, without concentrating sufficiently on my faithfulness!
However, I have experienced myself, as well as observed in many other people, the reality of Jeremiah’s words: blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. (Jeremiah 17:7-8).
Obviously, our situations are vastly different, but our temptations mirror the twin temptations the people of God faced whilst in captivity in Babylon:
i. Do I seek to withdraw from Babylon, to live a ‘holy life’? or
ii. Do I seek to blend in with Babylon, to engage more fully with my new community?
Our challenge, to be faithful followers of the one, true, living God remains the same today, because we have been called as followers of Jesus Christ. I’m intending to fix my eyes on Jesus and I‘m calling you to do the same. Here’s four facets of truth, which I shall aspire to live by this year, which are far from automatic, always reliant on the grace and compassion of God, but do seem to be connected in some way:
My faithfulness to God needs to be patterned on his faithfulness towards me.
The faithfulness of God and how we understand it seems to be at the heart of practically every pastoral conversation I’ve ever had! It strikes me our understanding of God’s faithfulness revolves around three core elements:
- God is always true to his word.
- God keeps his promises.
- God is unchanging in his nature.
It may seem obvious to point out we understand all we know about each of these elements because we have the Bible. This means when I listen to God’s word, I want to hear how it applies in my life every day, because when I trust in the Lord with all my heart, rather than trying to figure out everything on my own. When I listen for God’s voice in everything I do, everywhere I go; he’s the one who keeps me on track (with thanks to The Message paraphrase of Proverbs 3:5-6).
The fact is God’s faithfulness towards me challenges my faithfulness in every way, as the way in which I attempt align my ways. The life of Jesus is the only pattern by which I can assess my own faithfulness, so I shall continue to aspire towards his life being expressed through mine.
My faithfulness towards others is rooted in my response towards God’s grace and mercy in Jesus Christ.
The arrival of social media has delivered a very noticeable shift in so many relationships away from a relational towards a transactional basis. Specifically in this area, I want to live a repentant lifestyle throughout the whole year. If that doesn’t sound very attractive to you, let me remind you this requires both a consistent turning towards the life of Jesus as I seek to align my attitudes, actions and heart with his and a turning away from anything which might divert me from his way. The life of Jesus remains the most attractive example of human life there has ever been or will be on earth.
My fruitfulness in God is rooted in our acceptance of God’s grace and mercy in Jesus Christ.
I frequently consciously call to mind something I’m grateful to God for today before I go to sleep at night. I find this simple exercise helps cultivate in me a both gratitude and contentment, rather than going to sleep wanting bigger and better. It works on a material level, but the most precious blessing is found in how it helps my recognition and subsequent acceptance of God’s grace and mercy deeper in my heart. We all want more of the fruit of the spirit displayed in our lives and this is one way it happens in practice … not by doing anything.
Our fruitfulness is a gift to be freely shared with as many who will receive it, in the name of Jesus Christ.
I am truly amazed at the reality today. People are genuinely more open to the gospel than I’ve ever known. But one problem for the UK church is, it’s disproportionately made up of my people like me! Babyboomers. It’s people like me who need to wake up to the fact people no longer change the subject when you tell them you belong to a church, because they’re curious – they have no idea what a church, or a Christian is. People are interested when they discover they are people who seek to live by the truth, rather than by my truth. People do want to know more about the fact it’s possible to know Jesus Christ – they only need to get a glimpse and they want more. Wake up friends, it’s no longer the 1970’s!
Every week I’m hearing stories of real people coming to know Jesus. We’re still praying the trickle becomes a flood. May 2025 be the year.
Comments