God’s plan and God’s expectation is that those who are saved will bear fruit. And not only will they bear fruit, but they will bear fruit quickly, consistently, and abundantly. Fruitfulness is evidence of both salvation and sanctification. This was the conviction of Robert Macdonald, who ministered in Scotland in the mid-1800s.

In the religion of the Colossians there was more than mere conviction, or emotional excitement, or visible profession; there was, over and above all this, varied and substantial fruit. Speaking to them of the word of the truth of the gospel, the apostle said, “which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.” The fruit so commended were those graces of the Spirit which adorn the Christian character, and of which all must more or less be possessed who would really be the Lord’s.
Fruit is the Lord’s expectation, and it is a grievous sin to disappoint it: “These three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none.” Fruit, too, is the test of discipleship: “By their fruits ye shall know them.” To remain barren and unfruitful, therefore, decisively falsifies our profession. Moreover, when abundant, fruit is specially honouring to the Lord; for it is expressly written, “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bring forth much fruit.” From these and similar statements it is clear that when fruit does not spring up in the life, the word has never truly gone down into the heart. This is ever a perilous condition, for though the Lord may bear long with the fruitless, he will not bear always.
With regard to the Colossians, it is an interesting fact that they were not only richly fruitful, but the word produced fruit in them from the first day they heard it. Like the Bereans, they received the word with all readiness of mind, and speedily brought forth the peaceable fruits of righteousness.
We cannot be too soon the Lord’s, and live to high and holy purpose.

Drawn from From Day to Day: Helpful Words for the Christian Life.

Happy Fourth of July to my American friends and family! 🇺🇸
Today’s Kindle deals include Glen Scrivener’s excellent The Air We Breathe. There are many other options as well.
Beginning today, 10ofThose is hosting a 4th of July sale. They’ve got lots of great books discounted from a variety of publishers.
(Yesterday on the blog: Trusting God in the Uncertainties of Life)

“There’s an interesting phenomenon underway among a younger cohort of Christians in the West today. And it’s this: Faced with a plethora of challenges; a growing secularism, a hardening against the gospel, a rejection of a biblical understanding of humanity and sexuality, Zoomers are leaning in.  They’re steeling themselves and saying ‘Okay, if I’m going to believe this thing, then I’m going to go all in.’”

Scott Mehl: “One way to summarize God’s design for sex is to say that He created sex to be God-centered and other-focused. Ultimately, God created sex to teach us about Himself. In that way, sex is God-centered. But in order to learn and experience what God intends to reveal through sex, our engagement in it must not be self-focused but other-focused—that is, focused on the pleasure, joy, and fulfillment of our spouse.” (For more on this, read Mehl’s excellent book Redeeming Sex in Marriage.)

Keith Mathison writes about political ideology versus science. “At its root, the main problem with the ideologues is that they won’t accept the fact that reality is what it is regardless of what you or I think. The ideologues assert that each of us can effectively create our own reality regardless of what reality actually is. Each of us can be a god.”

Glenna Marshall confesses that she is prone to fret and catastrophize. However, she also explains how God has helped her grow in her faith. “While the Bible doesn’t say ‘Thou Shalt Not Catastrophize,’ it does tell us repeatedly not to be afraid. Fear batters our trust in God. Fear is the wave that tosses us around with instability. Fear is the desire to manipulate the future with annotated research and pantry stockpiles.”

Jacob celebrates his wife and praises her for the sacrifices she has been willing to make. “The world would have her believe that these sacrifices are oppressive. That these sacrifices somehow make her ‘less than’. That following her dreams is the purpose of her existence and any obstacle that gets in the way of that should be removed. Absolute garbage.”

Lois makes good use of the naval term “sailing under sealed orders.” “Sailing under sealed orders is no longer military theory to me; it’s become real life. And what I’m learning, as I go from one set of coordinates to another, is that God is faithful.”

In every part of the life we share together as a church, we have the ability to minister the truth of God’s Word to others. Who in your church needs you to minister the word to them this Sunday?

A man can’t be always defending the truth; there must be a time to feed on it.
—C.S. Lewis

I’m wondering if I have any readers in Croatia. If I do, and especially if you’re in or near Split, would you mind getting in touch?
Since Eerdmans is offering 80% off the Kindle editions of all of their books, I spent a long time yesterday scouring their rather extensive catalog. I came up with a long list of books that may be of interest.
Westminster Books has some favorite ESV Bible editions discounted up to 63%.

“Our heads may love the psalms from 20,000 feet—the passionate pleading, the glory in God’s grandeur, the praise of his perfect providence. It’s a captivating landscape of raw emotion and spiritual vitality. But our hearts sing plenty of antipsalms.” Pierce explains and provides an example here.

Sarah Walton: “I have been increasingly convicted by my attitude of entitlement and discontentment. Entitlement to health, success, financial relief, and God’s favor in ways that make sense to me. And yet, the truth is, he doesn’t owe me anything. He’s already given me more than I deserve and increasingly, I believe that God is pouring out his favor on me – and most likely you – as he strips away the lesser things that we measure his goodness by and sows in us a deeper, more settled faith that praises him in the darkness and rejoices in what he will do, even when that hope is yet to be realized.”

This is a brief reminder that the things you have don’t actually belong to you and, therefore, must be treated accordingly.

“If we’re to love our enemies, surely we’re to love ‘those’ people at church. Even the ones who drive us crazy. So how can we do that?” Jamie Dunlop offers a few ways.

This is such a sweet celebration of grandparents and grandparenting.

“When we read of ‘people walking in darkness’ or a ‘land of darkness’ it’s not hard to relate. That’s our reality. We feel the burden of the world’s evil daily—injustice, political upheaval, heinous crimes, greed, spite, dishonesty, exploitation, outrage, slander. And that’s all just in the morning’s headlines and a scroll through social media.”

Each of us who is in Christ is tending a little garden in which heavenly seeds have been planted and begun to thrive—seeds of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 

The coming of Christ is not only a magnificent spectacle; it is a personal welcome. And the welcome is supremely to himself.
—John Piper