The Heart and The Fruit

You're listening to the My Morning Devotional Podcast, episode 1570. Today's Devo is called The Heart and the Fruit.

Hey there, we're the Alessies, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to-do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five-minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional Podcast.

Happy Friday, everybody. We made it. And I hope you've enjoyed this. I hope that it's brought you some fresh wisdom, some fresh insight, maybe some new ways to read your Bible on ways to not read your Bible. And I hope that it just uplifted you this week. I absolutely love scripture and I think that it deserves our best because it's making us our best. So let's finish on this note about if our heart is right, then we're going to see the fruit when we read the scripture when our heart is right. So let's start reading. James 1:21 in the NIV version says, therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Come on. So today I want to talk about the fruit that we receive from scripture, often depends on the posture of our heart when we read it. We talked about why do we read our Bible? We talked about how to read our Bible. We talked about how to not read our Bible. But I want to talk about today. How should we leave after reading our Bible every single day? What happens to our hearts when we make it a consistent practice? Because have you guys ever noticed how two people can read the exact same thing from the Bible, but then leave with two very different conclusions? One person is changed and then one person is completely unaffected. And the difference usually isn't the Bible. The difference is often the condition of the heart receiving it. Think about planting a seed. The quality of the seed matters, but so does the soil. God's word is always good seed. The question is, what kind of soil are we bringing to it? So every day when we open our Bibles, we're not just reading words on a page. We're inviting God to plant something in our hearts. And earlier this week, when I mentioned partnering with the Holy Spirit, when we read our Bible, that's when true transformation power works. If you finish reading your Bible after a week and you're still confused, maybe you just need to read it differently. If you walk away from your word and you're still anxious, maybe the position of your heart just needs to change. If you walk away from your Bible and you're still in fear, then maybe you just need to check the soil condition of your heart. We want to go to scripture looking for information. We want to look for answers. And sometimes we simply just go to the Bible because this is what we have to do. But James tells us to humbly accept the word that is planted in us. That means that we have to approach scripture with a teachable spirit. You're pretty much saying, God, show me something I don't already know. God, correct me if I'm wrong. God, change me if I need changing. One of the hardest parts about marriage, one of the hardest parts, is when you really, really believe you are right about something, but your spouse is telling you you're wrong. And that moment where you have to swallow your pride and say, maybe, just maybe, I have been seeing this wrong my entire life. And when you can accept that and make the changes you need to make to make your house more peaceful, to come into alignment with your spouse, your eyes are open to a whole new world. And that humility is what produces fruit. You know, the difference between people that humbly accept the word of God is not that life is any easier for them. It's not that they get to avoid all of life's challenges. The difference between somebody who is not humbly accepting the scriptures and somebody who is humbly accepting is direction. Two people can face the same temptation, the same hardship, the same disappointment, and the same questions. Yet the person who reads their Bible consistently and accepts it with a humble heart and has good soil, that person walks away with direction. If you are reading your scripture in the right way, the fruit should be more peace, the fruit should be more faith. The proof and the fruit should be a stronger belief in God and who He is. That when I'm confronted with an issue, I'm not gonna buckle in fear because my scripture says that the Lord has a plan for me. When I'm confronted with sickness, I'm not going to allow my thoughts to go to the worst case scenario. I'm going to immediately start speaking scripture and healing over my body because I am healed of the Lord's. When I'm confronted with scarcity, I'm not going to be afraid because my Bible says that the Lord owns the cattle on a thousand hills and he blesses me. So if you're reading your scripture right, that's what you should be seeing. Boldness in your faith, joy in the midst of hardships, peace when fear is everywhere. If you don't feel that yet, then go back to the basics of how to read your scripture better. Because your life is worth it. Jesus gave you this tool, the Bible, to live your life to the fullest, to be more like him, to be more of the person that he has uh destined you to be. You don't have to live in a rut. You don't have to live in fear. You don't have to live in anxiety. You can come into alignment with scripture. You can adjust your heart just a little bit and accept what the word is saying so that you can live out the truth of his word in its fullness and really experience God's joy, really experience his peace. But mainly you experience his direction. You know where you're going. You know how to respond. You know what to believe in. And that's what happens when you make scripture a priority every single day of your life. Don't skip a day. I understand there's busy seasons. I'm a mom of two soon to be three children. So there will be days that I cannot read my Bible. But those are the days that I get to practice my scripture. And then I figure out my schedule and I get back into the scripture because I need it. My spirit needs it. My mind needs it. I need God. I need his truth. And so do you. So dive into your word this week. Allow it to transform you. Allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you through his scripture and just see how it completely changes your life. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for this tool that you have given us, which is your scripture, which is your Bible. And Lord, I pray that right now, everybody that is listening to me will start to adjust their heart to have the right soil, to humbly accept your scripture, to humbly accept your truth, to humbly accept your wisdom, God, so that we can walk in peace, we can walk in confidence, we can walk in faith and in boldness. And that anything we confront throughout our day or in our life won't knock us off our game, but that we will stay anchored to your word, to your truth, to what you say about life, to your promises for our lives. That is our foundation. That is our anchor. And we thank you, God, that this weekend your Holy Spirit is going to interrupt our random moments of the day and speak into our ear fresh revelation about your scripture and your word. And we thank you, Jesus. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

So there you have it, your five minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow, we pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.