"Making it Last"

 "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." (John 15:5 KJV)

  "We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life." (2 Corinthians 3:4-6 NLT)

 There is more to this than we could ever really realize, as far as this life goes; because the real fruit of what we might do, will not be fully known until we receive that Welcoming Committee in Heaven! It is all about being available when we are called! It could be something that we might have thought of as just a simple act of kindness, a passing word, or just small chance to share our testimony. We have no idea where it went or how far it had gone; but we will see the results in Heaven. 

 The old covenant that Paul is referring to, actually started back in the Garden, with the judgement of Adam. Moses brought forth the requirements of the covenant, but Adam was shown the results, as God said, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return to the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return." (Genesis 3:19) 

 I have thought about this often, believing full well that we will see Adam and Eve in heaven, as they were the first to believe that there would be a new covenant, looking forward to the day that God would make everything new. There had to be something that was shown to them, as Adam named his wife Eve after the curse was given; Eve meaning, "mother of all living." 

 Just so you know, most of the fruit which we produce, is not something we can account for or track in this life; it will be like ripples, continuing on and on, throughout the generations, long after we have gone. It is also the way it works for the bad things too, but hopefully not so long lasting. The Bible tells us that God will wipe away every tear, so, I have got to think that there will be some sort of eraser that makes all the bad things go away! 

 No matter what, we must stay connected! We might place our Bible on a shelf, observing it from time to time, and dusting it off; but we must stay in fellowship with other believers! We absolutely need our brothers and sisters, if for nothing else, but to at least be part of His Body and a member of His Church! I remember a men's fellowship we had one night in Palo Cedro, where we had pizza and shared about being members of the Body of Christ. One of the brothers, whom saw himself as someone who was not worthy to be a member, said, 'Well, if I am a member of His body, I must be a hemorrhoid.'

 I know, it takes all kinds; but we are all one big family...

"But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!" (Galatians 5:22-23 NLT)