Luke 8:15
But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
In the parable of the sower, Jesus showed what happened to the seed that fell on different types of soil. The one seed that I want to focus on is the seed that fell on good ground. Jesus said that seed bare fruit an hundredfold. You will notice nothing happened with one seed. Another seed withered as soon as it sprung up. Another seed grew, but got choked by the weeds. However, the seed that fell on good ground bare fruit an hundredfold.
I don't know about you, but I want my life to bear fruit an hundredfold. What does “hundredfold” mean? It means everything should be multiplied by one hundred if I am going to be a hundredfold Christian. I should desire for my life to produce one hundred lives that are reaching other people for Christ. It is not enough just to produce souls being saved, but I should attempt to see one hundred of the souls I have seen saved to bear fruit as well. As a pastor, I want my church to see hundredfold fruit. I know that is a great goal for my lifetime, but it ought to be the goal of every pastor to see hundredfold fruit in their ministry. There are not many hundredfold pastors, but you should desire to be one of them. No matter what you do for God, whether you teach a Sunday school class, run a bus route, or work in some other ministry, you should desire hundredfold fruit. So, what will it take to have hundredfold fruit?
First, be focused on bearing fruit. The reason the other seed didn't bear fruit is because it got sidetracked with other things. Satan will throw many things at you to sidetrack you from bearing fruit, but you must never lose focus that your purpose as a believer is to bear fruit.
Second, you must keep your heart good. A good heart is accomplished by staying in God’s Word, staying away from sin, and continually reaching the lost. A good heart is critical to bearing fruit an hundredfold because if your heart is not focused on bearing fruit, your actions for God won't bear fruit.
Third, realize that you won’t get there immediately. The verse above says that you bring forth fruit with patience. You must be patient as you go after fruit. Many have quit trying to bare fruit because they were impatient. You must realize there are times when you will bear much fruit, and there will be times when you bear little fruit. However, you must never be impatient with the process of baring fruit. Life is filled with seasons, and that would include bearing fruit. What we often forget is those who God used to bear hundredfold fruit in the past had seasons when there was little fruit, but they never stopped going after fruit. The key to having hundredfold fruit is to realize it takes time. You must be faithful to going after fruit, even in those seasons that seem to bring little fruit. Never let the little season discourage you from going after fruit, but let the little fruit-bearing seasons motivate you to put more effort into bearing fruit.
Fourth, it takes God to bear hundredfold fruit. You cannot get there alone. You must have seasons of prayer every week where you get alone with God to beg for His power on your life so you can bare hundredfold fruit. You can bare hundredfold fruit in your life, but you will only do it with God’s power.
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