In Matthew 7:15 Jesus warns us of false prophets that are dressed up as sheep but are really wolves. Paul warned the Ephesian church leaders of the same sort of thing, how people like savage wolves would come in to the church to sow discord. (Acts 20:29) How do we know the wolves? Well, Jesus said we would spot them by their fruit (Matt 7:16). In that passage, in Matthews Gospel, Jesus went on to say that good trees don’t bear bad fruit, nor do bad tress bear good fruit. That’s pretty clear.

What’s on the inside of us, in our hearts, is going to come out in our words and actions at some point (Matt 12:34; Matt 7:20), even though we may try to cover things up.

It's the Holy Spirit that changes us and causes good fruit to develop in our lives (Gal 5:22-23; KJV): “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

Let’s humble ourselves before God and allow his Spirit to change us and cause his fruit to characterize our lives. Ask God to do this, he will if we allow.

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When Jesus taught in the synagogue in his home town of Nazareth, he quoted from Isaiah 61:1-2: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight  to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18-19).

He announced that he had been sent to preach the good news of the Gospel; God’s free gift of forgiveness and salvation through Christ Jesus. He proclaimed or heralded (preached) that his ministry on this earth initiated the season or age of grace, when salvation was freely available to all men and women. We still live in that age.

In the quotation from Isaiah, Jesus also said that God sent him to heal the bruised and crushed, to free those who had been harassed and held captive by satan and to open the eyes of the blind (physically and spiritually).

Jesus did all of this in the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit who dwelt in him (Luke 4:18; John 1:32-33; Acts 10:38). Do you realize that you have the same Holy Spirit anointing on the inside of you to empower you to continue the ministry of Jesus (Mark 16:15-18)? “ As he is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17).

Jesus did say go (Matt 28:18-20)!

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Ephesians 2:8 and 9 tell us that we are saved by grace and not by works. However, in verse 10 it says that once we are born again, we are God's handiwork and recreated so we can do good works. It is only because we have a brand-new spirit that we can do those good works which don't come naturally to our flesh.

In 1 Timothy 6:18 we read: "That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate". And in Titus 2:14 we are told to be zealous for good works. To be zealous about something means to be red hot about it. There are many admonitions in the New Testament to do good so it must be important to God. The apostle James discusses the issue of faith and works in James chapter 2. In verse 17 and 26 of that chapter he says that faith without works is dead. Faith isn’t faith without corresponding confession (Mark 11:23) and actions. If we are believing God for healing but our words are just saying how sick we are, there is a problem. Similarly, if we say we are praying in faith for a friend to be blessed but don’t allow God to use us to bless him or her, we would have to check our faith. 

Opportunities usually present themselves every day for us to do good works; if they don't then we can intentionally create those opportunities. So, be creative and enjoy being a blessing. 

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We have all often heard it said that talent, gifting and calling may get us where we want to go but it is character that keeps us there. Jesus had a proven character (Heb 4:15). He exhorted us to be perfect just like God is perfect (Matt 5:48) and God himself said we should be holy as he is holy (1 Peter 1:16). Paul was able to say follow me as I follow Christ (1 Cor 11:1). Jesus said I only do what the Father gives me to do (John 8:28).

It seems to me that character is basically rooted in obedience to God. Jonah was a prophet called of God but he objected to taking a message of warning to an evil nation and decided to disobey God. God got his (Jonah’s) attention by getting him thrown into the sea and into the belly of a whale; Jonah was still unhappy when God forgave that nation (The book of Jonah). You would have to say that Jonah had a character or obedience problem.

Abraham on the other hand obeyed God’s command to go and sacrifice his (Abraham’s) son. Once God saw Abraham’s obedience he intervened, before Abraham killed Isaac and provided a ram for the sacrifice. (Gen 22) The place where this all occurred was the same mountain on which God allowed his only son, Jesus, to go to the cross. Jesus was obedient even to death upon a cross (Phil 2:8).

Peter tells us we can be: “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4; KJV). He also tells us that God’s power, the power of the Holy Spirit, can enable us to walk in Godliness through our knowledge of Jesus the word (2 Peter 1:3). So, let’s get into our bibles and allow the Holy Spirit to show us how to walk in obedience to God. To obey God is to obey his commands and directives seen throughout the bible. Study the life of Jesus and of the great men and women of the bible; follow them as they followed God. Character will keep you where you want to be.

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Check out our web site ( www.onthewayinlove.com ) for information on our book: “On the Way: Basic Christian Training”, including how to purchase it and also to see more encouraging Bible based blogs. Please recommend our book to others.