A productive Christian By Cephas Aziabou

MY WALK WITH CHRIST GUIDELINES.  

Topic: A productive Christian

Part 1

Anchor verse:
John  15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

We can relate productivity to performance. How well we perform is depended on the things we do consistently. In this article we will be talking about the believer who bears fruit and our focus will not be on the output specifically but on the input. YOUR INPUT DETERMINES YOUR OUTPUT.
Growth is a necessary condition for fruit bearing. In Genesis 1: 28 God said unto man "be fruitful and multiply" and our anchor scripture is equally talking about fruit bearing; here Jesus is telling his disciples to go and bear fruit.
FRUITS DON'T GROW OVERNIGHT ON A TREE. Planting gives us a vivid picture of fruit bearing. When we consider mango tree for instance, before the farmer harvests the mangoes, he plays some important roles. He plants the seedling into the appropriate soil with the appropriate climate. He waters the plant, he applies fertilizer, sprays around and continues to observe the plant for necessary interventions until harvest. TO BEAR FRUIT THEREFORE CALLS FOR RESPONSIBILITY. Responsibility in the sense that no one  does it for you.
To grow unto fruit bearing is a process and THE PROCESS CALLS FOR WORK.

 If we are going to bear fruit as Christians, meeting therefore the master's demand, we must be willing to work on ourselves (commitment to self).
Your life is a full project that requires your commitment. The farmer who does not commit to his plants does not harvest. The truth is that no one sows today and expects to reap today. GROWTH IS A CONTINUOUS ACTIVITY. In Mark 11: 13, Jesus came across a fig tree that had no fruit and he cursed the tree. But the fact in there is that the fig tree was in the process of growth and the time to bear fruit was not yet come. YOU DON'T EXPECT YOUR LIFE TO BE PRODUCTIVE WHEN YOU HAVE NOT GONE THROUGH THE PROCESS. Many of us are in hurry to manifest but the truth is that you can only manifest according to your capacity which you have built by applying yourself to the process( growth principle).
God undoubtedly wants us to bear fruit but we can only meet this demand when we have applied ourselves to the growth process.
Let us then talk a bit about our spiritual growth since our fruit bearing is not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Three things we all as Christians need for our growth:
1.Our commitment to the word of God.
1 Peter  2:2 As _newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:_
Our new birth is by the word (1Pet.1:23) and our growth is possible when we diligently listen to the word and reading it on a daily basis.
2. We must be men and women of prayer. Prayer speeds up our growth process just as the mango farmer would apply chemical to the mango tree to increase its ability to bear much fruits. In
  _Galatians  4:19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,_
Paul was praying for his new converts that they will grow, Christ being formed in them. There are countless scripture verses that talk about prayer as a requirement for the believer's growth. We will refer to them in our subsequent articles. IN THE GROWTH PROCESS, PRAYER MUST GO ALONG SIDE WITH THE WORD. (Acts 6:4)
3. The choice of our social environment.
_Hebrews  10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching._
Just as the farmer does not plant in any kind of soil God has placed us in a family of believers whose desire is to respond to the master's call and fulfill it. Our growth is made possible when we remain in the company of believers. YOUR GROWTH AS A CHRISTIAN IS HINDERED WHEN YOU SURROUND YOURSELF WITH UNBELIEVERS. You are likely to be unproductive as a Christian if you work in an environment of unbelievers 24/7 or spend most of your time with unbelievers and less of your time with the believers. On page 91 of his book titled 4th Dimensional Living in a 3D, David Yonggi Cho writes "When we enter into fellowship with other men and women of faith, we expand the territory of the Kingdom of God". Our individual productivity is therefore determined by our social environment.

In conclusion remember that your input determines your output. You cannot be productive when you don't apply yourself to the growth process. Productivity is possible when we mobilize and consistently engage the available resources (factors of production). There are benefits in Christ that we only enjoy by becoming responsible Christians in bearing fruit.In Galatians 4:1-4, Paul tells us that though we are heirs, until we grow we are not different from the slaves. YOUR LIFE IS NOTHING DIFFERENT FROM THE UNBELIEVER IF YOU DON'T GROW AS A BELIEVER. Your spiritual growth is not an option; it is a must. God expects us to grow. Sadly for those who don't grow they eventually join unbelievers in the lake of fire. _Matthew  3:10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire._
May the Lord be gracious unto us in Jesus name!

Written by Cephas Aziabou Godson (visionary)


God bless you for reading.
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