ARE YOU FILLED WITH THE FRUITS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS?

Years ago most retail businesses would close early on say June 30 (the end of the company’s financial year) and do a STOCKTAKE. I guess these days it is all done by quality computer systems. Then the office staff would assess all the income and expenditure to work out whether the company had made a profit or a loss for the year, this would be then submitted to an AUDITOR to confirm the office staff’s findings. Around this time of the year Stock Exchange listed companies report their financial position, and often it get mentioned on the tv news, which is always interesting to hear about.

I wonder whether as Christians we should do a regular STOCKTAKE, and even get an accountability brother to Audit us to see how we are going spiritually.

I was blest and challenged by Paul’s prayer for the Philippian church in his letter chapter 1: 9-11 NKJV And this I pray, that your LOVE may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may APPROVE the things that are excellent, that you may be SINCERE and without offense till the day of Christ, being FILLED with THE FRUITS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. The MESSAGE Bible says :

So this is my prayer: that your LOVE will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is SINCERE & INTELLIGENT not sentimental gush. Live a lover’s life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: BOUNTIFUL IN FRUITS from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.

Let us look at these three verses and make a stocktake of our lives.

1. How is our love for the Lord, His people and the lost? Is it flourishing? When we are born again, Paul tells us in Rom. 5:5 NKJV The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Every day we are faced with choices, do we let God’s love flow in our hearts” or dowe because of a hurt of some kind dam up God’s love and stop it flowing.
2. Are we being sincere or being religious and hypocritical?
3. Are the fruits of righteousness bountifully growing in our lives? Again when we were born again, we were “declared righteous” and God placed His DNA, His righteousness in us, and our responsibility is to grow the fruit of it in our daily walk with the Lord. A Disciple maker has such a huge responsibility to help us to learn to pray, and to read and meditate of God’s Word, and let the blood of Jesus, the Word of God and the Holy Spirit do a continued work of sanctification in us so that the fruits of righteousness, and that people can see Jesus in us.
   

Paul knew he had to pray for the Philippian Believers that they would as Peter expresses it in 2 Peter 3:18 NKJV GROW in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

If we are honest we need all the help we can get, whether through prayers for us by our Christian brothers and sisters and Biblical discipling to help us GROW.

Paul speaking of himself in Phil 3:14 NKJV says I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. The MESSAGE Bible very graphically says I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.

We can’t afford to relax at all, (not for a moment) but make a decision of our will daily, I WILL PRESS IN (TO GOD) I WILL set my eye on the goal and there will be NO LOOKING BACK amen.