Identify A Tree By Its Fruit

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Good morning! Have you ever went inside a grocery store to purchase fruit? In the produce section, sometimes you are able to look at fruit and know right a way that the fruit is bad. Other times, you need to touch and feel the fruit to know if it is ripe. Enjoy today’s reading as we read about what good and bad fruit trees produce.

BIBLE VERSE – Matthew 7:15-20 NLT

“15 “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. 16 You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. 19 So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. 20 Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.”

Reflection

Here we find Jesus warning against the false prophets and comparing them to vicious wolves. In His assessment of the prophets he labeled them as bad trees that produce bad fruit who would be better off being cut down at the root – if they failed to produce their purpose (producing good fruit).

The problem seemed to persist with the prophets leading many astray with restrictions and traditions, and while they did good things such as prophesying in His name and driving out demons – they were not obedient or willing to follow God’s will. They did not have a personal relationship with Him – it was just lip service, showboating, and name dropping.

This week, ask the Lord to lead you to be good trees with good fruit. You may ask, how do I do this? 

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

Allow the Holy Spirit to produce good fruit from you.

PRAYER

Father God, you are good and your word is true. Father, we want to produce good fruit. Lord, teach us your ways daily. As we surrender our lives to you fill us up with your Holy Spirit. Equip and guide us in all of your ways. Lord, don’t let us be led astray by the self-righteous or by religious laws. Lord, help us to read and understand your word so that our hope is in you and not in man. Lord, we pray for our nation today and this week.  Lord, the enemy is devising plans to separate our nation by race, religion, culture, haves and have nots. Lord, stumble the enemies plans for today and this week. Lord, wave your hand and cease the chaos and confusion. Open the eyes of the blind and help us to see things as you see them…as you see them…as you see them. Lord, we need you. Lord, give us discernment. Teach us to bear good fruit so that we can stand firm in you. Lord, wherever there is pain and heartache we ask for healing. Wherever there is hunger, Lord feed your people. Lord, wherever there is fear, remove it and replace it with peace and a sound mind. Lord, we put our trust in you. Continue to change us to be more like you. In Jesus name, amen.

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  • Virtual Bible Study on Thursday nights. From 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. (PST)

We are studying the book of Jeremiah.

If you would like to join us or get more information, please send an email to: contactus@maryewhiteministries.com for the Zoom link.

  • SAVE THE DATE

Saturday, July 19, 2025 we will host our next Women’s Retreat. Our theme for the retreat is taken from Ephesians 6:10-17.

Our Theme is: She is Armed & Dangerous  – “Take the helmet of salvation & the sword of the spirit.”

Arboretum

Thanks to our faithful donors, the retreat will be a hybrid of in-person and virtual participation. Stay tuned for more updates. We have 75 seats available. Tickets go on sale on April 1, 2025.

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Sisters, we are looking for volunteers for our upcoming events and also to fill an open Board position.

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