MAKE THE TREE GOOD

MEMORY VERSE: Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. 1 Corinthians 15:33

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Acts 11-12

Jesus said, “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit” (Matthew 12:33). There are several lessons to learn from this verse. One of them is you know a tree by its fruit not by its leaves or appearance. You know a man (tree) by his works (fruits) not by his words. Actions, they say, speak louder than words. Another lesson we can learn from this verse is that "the tree" has the potential to be good. Unfortunately, it also has the potential to be bad. No wonder Christ says “either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt.” Every man has the potential to misbehave. Every man has the potential to be proud. Every man has the potential to be rebellious. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” However, every man also has the potential to behave well. Every man has the potential to be humble. Every man has the potential to be law abiding. Proverbs 23:26 says, “My Son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe me ways.” If you give your life to Christ, He will come into your heart and dwell there. He will take away the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh and you become a totally different person (2 Corinthians 5:17). The moment Christ comes into a man’s heart and becomes his personal Lord and Savior, the man realizes his potential to be good. There was a sister who used to argue and fight with her husband all the time. One day she gave her life to Christ and everything change. She changed so much that the husband followed her to church and also gave his life to Christ.

Another lesson we can learn from this verse is that a bad tree can be made into a good tree. Sadly, a good tree can also be made into a bad tree. One of the ways this happens is through association. Proverbs says, “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.” Association changes people. If a foolish man makes friends with wise men and learns from them, within a short period of time he will become wise too. Just as association can change people from bad to good, it can also change people from good to bad. 1 Corinthians 15:33 says, “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.” One way to bring about good fruit is sow good seeds which in turn grow into good trees that bear good fruits. Everything you listen to or watch is a seed that goes into your spirit and soul. Unfortunately, whatever goes into your spirit and soul will come out under pressure. Remember, fruits are the physical manifestation of the seeds that have been sown in your heart. If you sow seeds of faith, you will produce a tree that bears the fruit of faith. Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” If you read and meditate on the scripture regularly, your faith will grow and you will begin to make confessions of faith. However, if you feast on newspapers, doctor's report on your medical condition, and other articles that causes fear and depression, fear will grow in you and you will begin to make fearful confessions. 

NOTE: Your association will determine your fruit. 

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world

SEEING MEN AS TREES WALKING?

MEMORY VERSE: And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. Mark 8:24

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Proverbs 13

STUDY: Mark 8:22-26

Jesus arrived at Bethsaida and they brought a blind man to Him and begged Him to touch this man (Mark 8:22-26). I hope you will beg Jesus to touch you this hour. I hope you will beg Him to touch that son that is always telling lies. I hope you will beg Him to touch that wife of yours who is not interested in the things of God. I hope you will beg Him to touch that husband of yours that is always coming home late and drunk. I hope you will beg Him to touch those that will be interviewing you for that job or visa. The bible records that “they besought Him to touch him”. Jesus took this man by the hand, led him out of the city, spat on his eyes, touched his eyes, and asked him, “do you see anything?” Mark 8:24 says, “And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.”

How you see a thing will determine how you will relate to that thing. How you see a man will determine how you will relate to the man. Also, how you see a woman will determine how you will relate to the woman. How you see your wife will determine how you will relate to her, so also how you see your husband will determine how you will relate to him. How you see your pastor will determine how you will relate to him or her, so also how you see your pastor’s wife or husband will determine how you will relate to him or her. In addition, how you see people will determine how you will treat them. There are people you will never believe what they say; i mean there are people when they say good morning to you, you check your watch to make sure it is morning indeed because they are not honest. When they tell you something costs 30 dollars, you know the price of that thing will be at most 15 dollars because of your past dealings with them. The blind man saw men as trees, in other words he saw men as something to use and dump. This brings us to the question how do you see your wife ? As trees walking? A brother who sees his wife as a help meet for him, helper sent from God, will not treat his wife as a punching bag. Someone once said, “A woman’s heaven is under the foot of her husband”. This is not biblical at all. A sister who sees her husband as her head will not treat the brother as her opponent – always competing with him. A brother who sees his wife and himself as one will not put his junior brother or parents as his next kin. If you and your wife are one then your next of kin should be your wife not your junior brother. So also a sister who sees her husband and herself as one will not build a house secretly without telling her husband. When couples begin to see their marriage as God sees it, the word ‘my’ will be substituted with ‘our’. My money becomes our money. My house becomes our house. A brother who sees his wife and himself as one will do everything possible to escort his wife to the hospital for medical check up. If you and your wife are one, how come she is always going for medical check up alone? A sister who sees her house help as someone’s child will treat her as such. She won’t treat her like an animal. Jesus knew the danger of that man seeing men as trees so He touched his eye again and everything became normal.

PRAYER POINT: Father, please touch my eyes.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world

STAY CONNECTED

John 15:5 – I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

John 15:1-7 highlights the relationship between the vine and its branches. From studying the tree – branches relationship, we learn that the branches depend solely on the tree. Without the tree there will be no branches. The branches get its nutrient from the tree i.e. life flows from the tree to the branches. We also learn that the bigger the tree the bigger the branches. The branches cannot be bigger than the tree. We learn that the taller the tree, the taller its branches. We will also like to add that it is the tree that keeps the branches in place and standing. The tree-branches relationship is similar to the vine-branches relationship. Jesus is the vine –John 15:1. From Him, we get life and nutrients that keeps us alive. Jesus is the Most High – Psalms 83:18, the higher Jesus is, the higher those connected to Him will be. As far as the vine is standing, the branches will remain standing. As far as Jesus is standing, those connected to Him, will remain standing. Jesus will remain standing till eternity and those truly connected to Him will remain standing until they sleep in the Lord. As we have also learnt the bigger the vine, the bigger the branches. Jesus is bigger than the biggest and his bigness has no limit. So also is the potential of those connected him. Just to add, there is a possibility of branches connected to the vine to grow smaller branches. The closest part of the branch to the vine is always the biggest and the hardest to break. The farthest part of the branch to the tree is the smallest and the easiest to break. The closer we are to the vine, the bigger we become and the harder it is for the enemy to destroy us. The secret of increase is getting closer to the vine.

Whilst the branch is connected to vine, it is expected to produce fruits. While we are connected to Jesus we are expected to bear fruits. We are expected to bear fruits of the Spirits which are genuine traits of godly character. Galatians 5;22-23 says the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith , meekness, temperance . Another fruit expected is supporting the work of God. This was what Paul was referring to in his epistle to the Philippians in Philippians 1:17 when he said “not because I desire a gift: but i desire fruit that may abound to your account.” A very important fruit expected is leading souls to Christ. The Father in heaven – The Vine-dresser expects all branches connected to the vine to produce fruits. The branches that produces fruits; he takes particular interest and enhances their ability to produce more fruits. He takes no pleasure in branches that are not producing fruit. I pray that Father in heaven will not cut us down but let’s starts bearing fruit.

PRAYER POINTS: Father, please help me to be more fruitful.