THE WATER THAT GIVES LIFE

God always has a way of teaching me through the kalamansi bush that we have at home.
The past months have been dry, practically no rain at all.  The kalamansi bush in our house did have some fruit, but they were small and it has been taking a while for them to grow, probably because of the lack of rain.  In fact some of the fruit dried up even when they were still tiny.  There was obviously a lack of water to nourish it.
And then yesterday it rained practically the whole day.  It was a welcome pouring of rain, a big change from the scorching hot weather we have been experiencing.  It cooled our day.
Then, this morning, I noticed something with the kalamansi bush:

I'm not sure if it's clear in the pictures I uploaded, but I was surprised to see flowers starting to bloom.  This, of course, is a sign that there are more fruit about to come out!  Wow, all it needed was just one day of rain, the right amount of water, to bring it back to life!  The kalamansi bush was nourished, and had all it needed to continue bearing fruit!  I can't wait for the next "harvest", not only of the fruit coming out of these flowers, but from the small fruit that, for sure, will keep growing because of the nourishment it received from the rain.

It reminded me of a psalm I just read a few days ago:
Psalms 1:3  He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

Our kalamansi bush needed rain for it to be nourished after a long hot spell.  But imagine if this was planted right beside a stream of water!  The flowers would just keep blossoming, it would keep bearing fruit, and for sure it wouldn't wither.

Psalm 1:3 describes  a man walking with God, who will become LIKE a tree planted by streams of water.  When a man has everything he needs to be nourished he will yield the fruit he needs to bear, he will not "wither" and in whatever he does prospers.

But what fruit is this talking about?  This is not talking about material or financial fruit or prosperity.  This speaks of the spiritual fruit that we should bear as we walk with God.  How do we know that?  Because the nourishment that Psalm 1 is talking about is spiritual nourishment, that bears spiritual fruit. 

Psalms 1:1-2  Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.  (2)  But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

Now that's a man who is blessed!  He is someone who gets the right counsel, walks in the right way and sits with the right kind of people.  He is someone whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and meditates upon it day and night.  To meditate is not just to read, or memorize.  To meditate is to ponder on what you have read, and see how it can be applied in your life.  That application of the Word of God in our life is the fruit that you bear.

A man who is continually nourished by the "water" that God supplies him is someone who will continually bear the fruit that God wants us to have, to bear.

When a fruit tree bears fruit continually, that's when it is blessed and prosperous.

So with Christians.  When we continually bear the fruit of God's Word, that's when we are considered a blessed and prosperous person - blessed with the spiritual fruit that comes from the spiritual nourishment of God's Word.

This is the prosperity that the world needs to see in us.  Not just financially or materially prosperous, but rich in the fruit that comes from the spiritual nourishment we receive from God's Word.

Everyday we have been given the blessing and access to this spiritual nourishment from God's Word.  All we need is to make time, read and meditate upon His Word, apply it to our life - and that's when the outpouring of His nourishment will come.  He will "rain" His Word upon us, and be nourished.

Then, we will be a people blessed and fruitful in our life.