Photosynthesize

Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye. 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. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? Luke 6:42b-46

Life is a process of getting things into you and watching things come out.

You bring many things into yourself through the things you see, hear, experience, and think about. Your environment affects the fertilizer that comes into the soil of your soul, but you decide how you will photosynthesize those inputs. While a fig tree needs different fertilizer than a grape vine, a fig tree will produce figs. A fig tree will not produce grapes no matter how much grape fertilizer you feed it, but it will not be as fruitful as it could be if it has the wrong kind of fertilizer. “You will know them by their fruits.” (Matthew 7:16a). Knowing what fertilizer you desire will tell you much about who you are, but it’s your fruit that fully shows what kind of plant you are. “Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.” (Matthew 15:11). If you like the fruit you produce, add more fertilizer and improve your soil. If you don’t like some of the fruit you produce, change your fertilizer and restore your soil, but, most importantly, change how you photosynthesize your nutrition.

Faith is having conviction and turning that conviction into evidence.

Faith, like fruit, begins in the soil. Faith begins by listening to God’s word for nutrition as the planted seed begins to grow. “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17). As you become rooted in the soil, your faith becomes a conviction that holds firm through both drought, rain and wind. Faith is turning the soil, fertilizer and seed of God’s word into a solid tree of evidence. The final proof of faith is the evidence of good fruit on the branches of the tree. Faith is the process of photosynthesizing God into your life and watching His fruit come out on your branches. The seed is the word of God, and the soil feeding it is also nourished by God’s word, so the fruit of the tree will be good. 

Whenever you spend time somewhere, you don't get to spend it somewhere else.

If you spend all your time adding nitrogen to your soil, your soil may lack the balance of calcium and potassium that a healthy tree needs. And just as a tree receives nutrients from its roots and carbon dioxide from its leaves, so you receive God’s word in different forms. You receive His word from reading, relationships and revelation (prayer). Each form of soul fertilizer increases the strength of your tree and the quality of your fruit. Neglecting any one of the forms of receiving God into your life can result in an unhealthy tree. Pay attention to how you are receiving God into your life and how you are photosynthesizing His presence in your life to produce fruit. Produce the fruit you are designed to produce.