Tag: faith

Make a tree good and its fruit will be good; or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad.  For a tree is recognized by its fruit (Matthew 12:33).

For there is no good (healthy) tree that bears decayed (worthless, stale) fruit, nor on the other hand does a decaying (worthless, sickly) tree bear good fruit.  For each tree is known and identified by its own fruit… (Luke 6:43-44)

You will fully recognize them by their fruits.  Do people pick grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?  Even so, every healthy (sound) tree bears good fruit [worthy of admiration], but the sickly (decaying, worthless) tree bears bad (worthless) fruit.  A good (healthy) tree cannot bear bad (worthless) fruit, nor can a bad (diseased) tree bear excellent fruit (worthy of admiration).  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire.  Therefore, you will fully know them by their fruits. (Matthew 7:16-20)

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life] (Proverbs 18:21).

A man’s [moral] self shall be filled with the fruit of his mouth; and with the consequence of his words he must be satisfied [whether good or evil] (Proverbs 18:20).

From the fruit of his words a man shall be satisfied with good, and the work of a man’s hands shall come back to him [as a harvest] (Proverbs 12:14).

Whoever tends the fig tree shall eat its fruit; so he who patiently and faithfully guards and heeds his Master shall be honored (Proverbs 27:18).

[It is] the hard-working farmer [who labors to produce] who must be the first partaker of the fruits [one of the first to receive a share of the crops] (2 Timothy 2:6).

But you have planted wickedness.  You have reaped evil.  You have eaten the fruit of deception because you have depended on your own strength… (Hosea 10:13)

Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord… they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes (Proverbs 1:29, 31).

You have planted them and they have taken root; they grow and bear fruit.  You are always on their lips, but far from their hearts (Jeremiah 12:2).

Hear, O earth: behold, I am bringing evil upon this people, the fruit of their thoughts (their schemes and devices) because they have not listened and obeyed My words, and as for My law, they have rejected it (Jeremiah 6:19).

The Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit (Matthew 21:43).

I, the Lord, search the mind; I try the heart, even to give to every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings (Jeremiah 17:10).

And I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, says the Lord… (Jeremiah 21:14)

Great [are You] in counsel and mighty in deeds, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to reward or repay each one according to the fruits of his doings (Jeremiah 32:19).

Bring forth fruit that is consistent with repentance [let your lives prove your change of heart]…  Already the ax is lying at the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire (Matthew 3:8, 10).

Bear fruits that are deserving and consistent with [your] repentance…  Even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees, so that every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire (Luke 3:8-9).

A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard.  And he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any.  So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, “For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this tree and haven’t found any.  Cut it down!  Why should it use up the soil?”  “Sir,” the man replied, “Leave it for one more year and I will dig around it and fertilize it.  If it bears fruit next year, fine.  If not, then cut it down.” (Luke 13:6-9)

The wicked desire the booty of evil men, but the root of the [uncompromisingly] righteous yields [richer fruitage] (Proverbs 12:12).

Discipline… yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it [a harvest of fruit which consists in righteousness – in conformity to God’s will in purpose, thought, and action, resulting in right living and right standing with God] (Hebrews 12:11).

You cannot operate in the Gifts of the Spirit before you first operate in the Fruits of the Spirit.  Fruits are for the good of all the Church.  Everything God created was created to give forth fruit.

Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with seed in them, on the earth”; and it was so.  And the earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind and trees bearing fruit, with seed in them, after their kind, and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:11-12)

And God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth…” (Genesis 1:22, 28)

Likewise, my brothers, you have undergone death as to the law through the [crucified] body of Christ, so that now you may belong to Another – to Him who was raised from the dead – in order that we may bear fruit for God. (Romans 7:4)

Unless a kernel of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains [just one grain, it never becomes more but lives] by itself alone.  But if it dies, it produces many other seeds and yields a rich harvest (John 12:24).

And those sown on the good (well-adapted) soil are the ones who hear the Word and receive and accept and welcome it and bear fruit – some thirty times as much as was sown, some sixty times as much, and some [even] a hundred times as much (Mark 4:20).

As for what was sown on good soil, this is he who hears the Word and grasps and comprehends it; he indeed bears fruit and yields in one case a hundred times as much as was sown, in another sixty times as much, and in another thirty (Matthew 13:23).

But as for that [seed] in the good soil, these are [the people] who, hearing the Word, hold it fast in a just (noble, virtuous) and worthy heart, and steadily bring forth fruit with patience (Luke 8:15).

And he shall be like a tree firmly planted [and tended] by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity]. (Psalm 1:3)

The (uncompromisingly) righteous shall flourish like the palm tree [be long-lived, stately, upright, useful, and fruitful]; they shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon [majestic, stable, durable, and incorruptible].  Planted in the house of the Lord, they shall flourish in the courts of our God.  [Growing in grace] they shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be full of sap [spiritual vitality] and [rich in the] verdure [trust, love, and contentment]. (Psalm 92:12-14)

Say to the righteous it shall be well with them, for they shall enjoy the fruit of their deeds (Isaiah 3:10).

Every child of God has the same identity in Christ Jesus and opportunity to grow.  When our identity is firmly established and we have matured to the point where the fruit of the Spirit is evident, we will feel fulfilled when we use our gifts and talents to edify others.  God has not distributed gifts and talents equally and for that reason alone we can be assured that our sense of worth isn’t based on what we do.  God has known us from the foundation of the world.  He has entrusted us with certain life endowments.  He will certainly lead us in a way that makes use of those gifts and talents.  It is our responsibility to take advantage of every opportunity as it arises.

The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure, then … full of mercy and good fruit (James 3:17-18).

You did not choose Me but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit… fruit that will last (John 15:16).

This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples (John 15:8).

I am the vine; you are the branches.  Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit.  However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing (John 15:5).

He cuts off every branch that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, so it will be more fruitful…  You cannot bear fruit unless you remain in Me (John 15:2, 4).

Now [God] who provides seed for the sower and bread for eating will also provide and multiply your [resources for] sowing and increase the fruits of your righteousness [which manifests itself in active goodness, kindness, and charity] (2 Corinthians 9:10).

May you abound in and be filled with the fruits of righteousness which come through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God (Philippians 1:11)

And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord, and may please Him in every way, bearing fruit in every good work (Colossians 1:10).

Through Him therefore, let us constantly and at all times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name (Hebrews 13:15).

The fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness, gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence).  Against such things there is no law [that can bring a charge]. (Galatians 5:22-23)

For the fruit (the effect, the product) of the Light or the Spirit [consists] in every form of kindly goodness, uprightness of heart, and trueness of life.  And try to learn [in your experience] what is pleasing to the Lord [let your lives be constant proofs of what is most acceptable to Him].  Take no part in and have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds and enterprises of darkness… (Ephesians 5:9-11)