Building Up the Body of Believers

July 10th – July 20th

Remaining Connected

By Michael Youssef, Ph D.  07/11/21

When we are sealed by the Holy Spirit and experience the moment-by-moment filling of the Spirit, we begin to bear the fruit of the Spirit. We begin to manifest the outworking, or the results, of the Holy Spirit’s presence. His work is manifested in our thoughts and emotions and in our behavior toward others.

If you have ever watched the harvesting of grapes, you know that two people usually work together. One person holds an open basket while the other cuts the grapes and lays clusters in the open container. In a similar way, as long as a person is walking closely connected to the Lord and is keeping his life open to receive the daily filling of the Holy Spirit, he will see his life filled with the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is character rather than conduct; it is being rather than doing. The “fruit” is the likeness of the Holy Spirit.

What is our part in the fruit-bearing process? Staying connected to the Holy Spirit. If you leave a branch attached to a healthy grapevine, it naturally will bear grapes. True spirituality works the same way. As we remain connected to God’s Son through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, we will naturally bear spiritual fruit—the evidence of true spirituality. If we are separate from Him—or if we separate ourselves from Him through disobedience—then we can no more produce spiritual fruit than a dead branch cut off from the grapevine can produce grapes.

Prayer: God, help me stay connected to You that I might bear spiritual fruit, becoming more like You every day. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me” (John 15:4).