Judge a Tree by its fruit.
by Grace Nesaraj on November 14, 2016
Matt. 23: 25, 26 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside…”

Sanctification starts on the inside, by the Sanctifier Himself. It starts the moment you believe in Jesus, and continues till He comes again or till the time our bodies go down to earth. (2 Thes. 5:17-21).
Religion teaches otherwise-start doing this, that! Religious folks can be found even today who start on the OUTSIDE – do this, do that, and by the time you finish that come for prayer, kneel down, close your eyes, and all the other external stuff to feel “holy”! Jesus lambasted the Pharisees, even admitting they tithe and say long prayers, but neglecting the weightier matters of mercy, justice and truth. Ah…but that’s INSIDE stuff.
How do you judge whether a person is good or bad? Anyone can pretend to be good (just as the Pharisees “for a pretense say long prayers”) by DOING the right things, SAYING the right things or MAKING the right noises. But all this is inconsequential, if nothing has changed on the INSIDE of you. As we saw, in the instance of Jesus cursing the fig tree – there can be a lot of leaves – all green and full, but Jesus when looking for a fig fruit found none. Jesus cursed the fig tree and it withered from its root upwards!
You can know them by their fruit. Luke 6:43, 44 “For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit…”
An apple seed is supposed to produce only apple tree! An orange seed cannot produce apple trees. 1 John 3:9 “Whoever has been born of God does not sin. For His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.”
What a radical statement by John (by the way “John” means grace) – the apostle of love. Now we can either believe in this super-abounding grace of God through His seed-Jesus living on the inside of us, or we disbelieve and depend on our understanding and outside experiences.
Gal. 5: 22, 23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”
This is the fruit that we bear; this is the fruit that we can look for when the Spirit of God lives inside of us. You must know for sure that God in Christ has loved us. And you and I are called to be His children. Is it any wonder that we “act” or “behave” like Him? It comes naturally, because His seed is in the inside of us. Just as it would not surprise you, if our child behaved like his father, so it is no surprise that we do the things that our Father does – healing the sick, cleansing the lepers, raising the dead, preaching the gospel to the poor.
Even as you go about your normal work or studies, you can talk to Him-our Father. It does not require a special place, or a special time or a special posture. Run to Him anytime “Daddy!” Talk to Him while you drive, or while in the bath, or even as you stand waiting for a train or bus. He loves to hear from you. Amen.