Glorifying the Father

Photo courtesy Stockxchng/pamjayne

I know I'm stepping away from the Psalms today, but this verse hit me hard this morning:


"Herein is the Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples (John 15:8 KJV)."


Let's take this verse from the NIV:


"This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."


One more translation from the Common English Bible:


"My Father is glorified when you produce much fruit and in this way prove that you are my disciples."


I love to worship God. I love to give God glory in all that I do. But Jesus points out very clearly in this verse that God is glorified when we win souls! The Bible says we'll be known by our fruit (Matthew 7:16).


Throughout the Gospels, Jesus speaks of bearing fruit. He speaks of good seed  producing good fruit. He speaks of bad seed producing bad fruit. He speaks of good trees bearing good fruit and bad trees bearing bad fruit. He speaks of the bad trees being cut down and thrown into the fire.


In this passage of John 15, Jesus speaks of himself being the vine and us being the branches (verse 5). The branch must abide in the vine and it will bear fruit. He says every branch which doesn't bear fruit will be taken away (verse 2). The branch which is taken away doesn't abide in the vine. Those branches are gathered and thrown into the fire to be burned (Verse 6).


We can assemble ourselves together and worship in word, song, and dance. We can shout, clap our hands, and sing the glorious praises to our God. But Jesus says God is glorified when we produce fruit. Jesus says we can prove we're his disciples by bearing fruit. What better way is there to worship and give God glory than to win a soul for his kingdom?


God, I pray today that you'll put within me a burning desire and passion to be a soulwinner! God, let me bring glory to you by producing fruit. I pray this in Jesus' name. God bless...