Fruit

It seems that I always learn things when I am preparing and teaching lessons at Utcuyacu. This past Thursday my English lesson for my class was on fruits, vegetables, and some verbs that go along with food, like to eat; to drink; to grow; to buy. I coordinated this English lesson with the Bible lesson we had been planning for a while. We have been teaching different commands, but this week we decided to teach our students about the fruit of the Spirit. We have been talking about so many commands and laws from the Bible we decided this week it would be a nice switch to talk about things in which there is no law. Instead we got to spend time explaining these fruits and encouraging our students. We got to explain that if they follow the commandments found in the Bible they will begin to produce fruit in their life. We made the clarification that they will not produce things like apples, oranges, mangos, papayas, grapes, or bananas, but they will produce fruit of the Spirit, characteristics of God. What great news it is to know that against such things as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control there is now law.

Fruit is something I have been thinking about a lot lately; because it is something we have not seen a lot of since being here in Recuay. Now, do not misunderstand me, we see lots of bananas, oranges, apples, papayas, and passion fruit, but we have not seen a lot of fruit from our ministry. Fruit is something we have honestly been praying for. We want to see fruit in the lives of the ladies we do Bible study with weekly. We want to see fruit in our own lives as we live life here in Recuay and seek the Lord in everything we do. We want to see fruit from our teaching at Javier, we want to know that it is not just wasted time. (When you walk into a class with no teacher and the kids sit and listen to a whole Bible story then look you in the face and tell you they were not listening you begin to wonder.)

One thing I am learning and reminded of everyday is that the Lord does not promise that I will see the fruit of my ministry here on this earth. But He does give me some great promises.

  

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.” Isaiah 58:9b-11

“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:10-11

So, even though I may not see the fruit of our ministry here in Recuay here on this earth I will find my delight in the law of the LORD. On his law I will meditate day and night that I might be like a tree that is planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. How sweet is the promised fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Fruit that comes when we live a life surrendered to Christ. Fruit against which there is no law.