3 Keys to a Fruitful Life | Pastor Daniel Floyd

Hey, everyone, welcome to Church at Home, church wherever you are today. We're so glad that you're joining us, and I hope you're staying safe. I hope you're staying warm. This is my first experience with a Texas winter storm, and it's interesting, everyone, but so glad that you're with us today. Hey, I want to let you know that next Sunday, we're beginning a brand new series on a topic that everybody needs. There is no one in your life, I promise you, that doesn't need what we're going to be talking about over the next four weeks, and that's all about relationships. Brand new series called It's Complicated, because how many of you know that relationships can be complicated and challenging and interesting to navigate, and they can be a source of life and joy and community and so many wonderful things, and we're going to be talking about it all. And so I want you to be inviting someone. This is a wonderful series to invite someone in your life that maybe is close to you and is far from God, or maybe they know the Lord, but they've just kind of stepped out of church for a little while. This is a great time to invite someone to be back in the house. The whole month of February, it's going to be an incredible time. I'm really looking forward to this series, excited to wrap up Built Different. We've been in this series, we've been talking about the power of prayer, the habit of prayer, the power of the Word of God. Last week, we talked about capturing our thoughts and bringing them in obedience to Christ. Today, I want to talk to you about three keys to a fruitful life and how God wants you to bear fruit, but it may not come in the way that you think. I want to revisit the verse that we've been working from, this theme verse, the entire series. First Timothy chapter four, verse seven says this, do not waste time arguing over godless ideas or old wives' tales.

Instead, here's the word, train yourself to be godly. In other words, it's going to take some work, some discipline. Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better because why? Because it promises benefits in this life and it promises benefits in the life to come. So let's pray together. Father, we open our hearts and minds to you. Holy Spirit, speak to us no matter where we are today. We believe your word has the power to change us and we'll never be the same because of it. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. So most of you know I have a seven-year-old now. Our youngest is seven, Jonas, and this kid has energy. From the time he was born, he slept in two-hour increments. The first year, we didn't sleep at all and it hasn't changed. He's the first one up in the morning and when he gets up, he rubs his eyes and then he's ready to go. I mean, it's full throttle and he wants to wrestle all the time. And so every day when I come home, there's a chance, almost certainly, that there's going to be a moment where he goes, dad, let's wrestle, usually after dinner. So we wrestle for a few moments and then whenever I think we're done, I stop and then he'll come back and go, do it again. And over and over, with never-ending energy, he wants to wrestle. And I do this not because I have all this energy at the end of a workday, but because here's what always happens, is we'll get done wrestling, he'll run to his room, he's playing with Beyblades or Legos or something, and then he'll run back into the room and he'll jump and give me a hug and go, I love you, dad. And then he takes off as fast as he came in. Here's what I want you to know, is that what I want is the hug. The way it comes is wrestling with him and fighting with him and meeting that need that he has for some reason to want to get beat up every day after work.

And I want to propose to you this, is that a lot of the things you want in life may not come in the way that you think they'll come, but they'll come in the way that you least expect. This is what Jesus is saying in Matthew 6, verse 33, you may know this verse, it says, Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these other things will be added unto you as well. In other words, in the context, he's talking about all the physical needs that you and I often worry about and stress about and strain about, like, where will food come from? And he says, if a frog has a lily pad, won't I take care of it? And then he says, so seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all this other stuff that you're worried about and running after will take care of itself. We live life upside down a lot of times. We're striving for all the things, and God goes, no, the kingdom of God is different than the kingdom of this world. If you'll seek me first, then all these other things will come unto you as well. In other words, what you're wanting may not come in the way that you thought it would come. And in this vein of thought, I want to talk to you about fruitfulness in your life, that maybe the fruitfulness you're wanting in your life won't come in the way that you thought it would come. And Jesus speaks to this in John chapter 15. We're going to find three principles that I want to share with you briefly today. And if you're a notetaker, you know, write it down. If not, go ahead and write it down anyways, right? John chapter 15, Jesus says this. He's using the analogy of a vine and a branch, and he says, I am the true vine, and my father is the gardener, and he cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes. Why? So that it will bear even more fruit. And he says, you're already clean because of the words I've spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will 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. He says this, I

am the vine, so he's telling us who the players are. You are the branches, and if a man remains in me, and I in him, he will bear much fruit. Here's the key. Apart from me, you can do nothing. Now, first I want to say to you that fruit bearing in your life is not a salvation issue. So this is not what Jesus is talking about here, because salvation is grace. It's by faith. It's the free gift. It's not of work. So he isn't talking about, if you'll remain in me, then you can earn your way into heaven. That's not at all what God is talking about in this text. What Jesus is saying to us is that because you are a follower of Christ, there should be some fruit in your life. There should be some evidence in it. I've already cleaned you. That's what the text said. I've already cleaned you, but there should be some fruit that comes out of your life if you're connected to me. In other words, this way, I always tell my kids, if you're a Floyd, it means something. Like when people get us, I want them to get generosity. I want them to get a heart of honor. I want them to get a heart of humility. You're a Floyd, period. But when they get us, there should be some evidence of what our family is about. This is what Jesus is saying, is that there should be some evidence, some fruit in your life. And he says the only way you get the fruit is to remain. Now the word remain just simply means this. It means same. It means continue. It means doing it over again. Do it again and again and again and again. And here's the challenge with that, is sometimes that can feel boring. And sometimes that can feel monotonous. And sometimes we think that it's the flashy thing. It's the new thing. It's, you know, a beginning of a year. If I get a new planner, then I'm going to be organized. If I get the new budgeting app, then I'll get my finances together. If I can just get the gym membership, then I'm going to be healthy again. And I just want to propose to you that maybe it's not the new. Maybe it's the same. Maybe it's the same thing. It's remaining. It's routine. It's consistency. It's moving the same direction over a long period of time will produce the fruit. This is what Jesus is saying. Remain in me. Stay connected to the branch, to the vine, and then you'll bear fruit in your life. Now there are some same's that you don't want. I'm going to give you a few of them. You

don't want stupid same. Stupid same is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results because you don't like the ones you're getting. Let's don't do stupid same. Let's don't do stagnant same. That is no progress and you're not moving forward. Let's don't do scared same. That's allowing fear to control your life. Let's don't do stubborn same. And some of you, you're elbowing your spouse on the couch right now. Like stubborn same. That's the refusal to change even though the current path isn't leading towards a godly end. So I'm not talking about these kind of same's where you're in a rut and you're stuck, but I'm talking about the same, the consistency, what we've been talking about this series, the habits that change your life. That Jesus says if you'll remain, if you just keep doing the same, if you continue in it, there is a power to same. There's a power to same. Think about it. There is a power to the athlete that works out every day. It's the same. It's the 1,000 free throws every day that produce the thing everybody cheers on national TV. It's the same. It's the miner that chips away little by little and then they strike gold. It's the power of consistency. It's the power of remaining. You want the fruit in your life, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, the blessing of God, the favor of God on your life. You want to deal with some issues in your life, some areas where maybe the sin that so easily beset you, as Paul says, you want to deal with that. You want freedom in those areas. You want victory over those areas. It's not going to be because you white-knuckle it this year and you just try your best. It's going to be because you stay connected to the vine. You remain in Christ. You stay connected to him. And so three quick principles on this whole idea of remaining. Number one is this, and you got to know this because I don't want you to get... up or stop short is that momentum may not be immediate. That whenever you're remaining in the vine, momentum may not happen immediately. Some of us, we want immediate momentum, right? We want to get on the treadmill and then go home and look in the mirror and see the change. Can I just tell you, our walk with Jesus, it's kind of like that, that, you know, one Sunday of faithfulness

and one week of being in the Word and then you want to stand in the spiritual mirror and be like, am I stronger now? Did it work? And I just want to encourage you that don't give up because momentum may not be, you may not be able to see it immediately what God is doing, but I promise you this, God is working because faithfulness, obedience, staying committed to Jesus, staying connected to the vine, the source of His power will begin to work in and through our lives and the fruit we really want in our lives, the things that really matter will begin to be produced in our life because consistency compounds. I think about Joshua, right? He was told to go march around the walls and day one, nothing. And just think about it for a moment. Quietly, this nation is marching around the walls. I mean, if I was Joshua by day three, I'd be like, Lord, can like a pebble fall? Like, can just a little piece of mortar from the wall like crack or something so I could see some kind of progress? But no progress, nothing. Day seven, then there's seven times around the wall, right? And even on number six, on number seven, not till they shouted did the wall fall down, but it was the consistency, it was the obedience. They didn't see any momentum until the moment they shouted, then the walls fell. And I just want to encourage you that in this year, some of you, you've already made the commitment to be all in, and you've decided, I'm going to go all in. I'm going to serve, I'm going to give, I'm going to get into a small group, I'm going to get into the Word, I'm going to pray, and you're setting that aside. And man, we're about a month into the year, and you're going, you're in front of the spiritual mirror going, do I have six pack yet? You know? And I just want to encourage you, momentum may not be seen immediately, but God is working. Man, is the serving doing anything? Yeah, it is. It may take time to see it. Fruit takes time to bear. Is the getting up every morning and spending a few minutes in the Word, is it doing anything? Yeah, it is. The seed of the Word of God is getting into your heart, but fruit takes time to bear. Is praying, is giving, is my generosity, is opening my heart up to forgiveness, is that doing it? Yes, it is. Listen to me, it's doing something because God is at work. God's always at work, but fruit takes time to bear. So momentum may

not be immediate, but don't give up in the middle of it. Number two thought is it's faithfulness that produces fruitfulness. Faithfulness produces fruitfulness. Listen to Proverbs chapter 3, verse 3 and 4. It says, let love and faithfulness, there it is, never leave you. Let love and faithfulness never leave you. It goes on to say this, bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart, then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and of men. There's a power to your faithfulness. There's a power to, Dad, do it again. Dad, wrestle again. Dad, wrestle again. Dad, wrestle again. Because here's the deal, your potential in life is really found in your patterns. It's not found in your goals, and it's not found in your desires. It's not found in the thing that you aspire to. Your potential, your spiritual potential, your life potential is found in the patterns of your life. It's what you do every day that creates what you will do someday. I like to say it this way, praying isn't awesome, reading your word isn't awesome, being in the church isn't awesome, giving isn't awesome, doing it every day is awesome. It's the consistency of it. It's over. It's the same. It's remaining in the vine over and over and over. Here's some patterns that Jesus gave us. Psalm Matthew chapter 6, we said, seek first the kingdom of God. How about this pattern? Give and it will be given back to you. How about this one? Sow and you shall reap. Here's a great one. Confess and he will forgive. Stay connected to Jesus. And you will bear fruit. But here's the deal. Listen to me. I want you to get this. You can't plant yourself, uproot, plant yourself, uproot, plant yourself, uproot, and ever expect to be fruitful. Just like you would never expect a plant to do that. To plant it and then uproot it and then go plant it somewhere else and uproot it. And you're the same way. You've got to remain. Stay planted. Stay connected. Keep serving, keep praying, keep believing, then you will bear fruit. Remain in me and I will remain in you and then you will bear fruit

because transformation doesn't come from you trying harder, it comes from you remaining deeper in Jesus. And that's why all these things that we've been talking about matter so much. But here's the deal, for remaining to become part of your life, I've learned this, is that your routine has to become the reward, not the reward becoming the reward. Here's what I mean by this, is that faithfulness has to be what you fall in love with, not fruitfulness. If fruitfulness is the goal, if it's like, God, I just want you to give me these things, then whenever you get those, then you're done. But if faithfulness is the goal, if you fall in love with, God, I just love being in your word and whatever it produces in my life, that's wonderful, I just love being in your word. God, I just love talking to you in prayer and whatever it produces is wonderful in my life, but I'm just loving the faithfulness. I just love showing up at the house of God. I just love obeying you. I just love, I fall in love with the faithfulness piece and the fruitfulness will come. But man, if all you're focused on is God give me, God do, God make happen, God produce this, God change this in my life,

then the moment that God does that, then you stop doing the thing that got you there. I wanna encourage you this year, fall in love with faithfulness. You wanna have a fruitful life? You wanna have the life that God wants you to have? Then fall in love with just being faithful, with pattern, with routine. If you fall in love with fruitfulness, then the pattern is monotonous. But if you'll fall in love with faithfulness, then the fruit will just be like icing on the cake. It's faithfulness in your life that produces fruitfulness. It's the same, it's over and over and over again. It's Joshua, as we said, marching around the city. It's David, you're a king, now go watch sheep. It's Hannah, I'm gonna keep showing up every year and praying and asking God for this child. I will keep seeking the Lord over and over and over again. I'm going to remain and the promise of God is true. If you remain in him, he will remain in you and you'll bear much fruit, but you gotta remain. And it's faithfulness that produces fruitfulness. All right, final thought, number three, is that there is a cycle to seasons. Listen to Genesis 8, 22. It says, as long as the earth endures, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease. There's seasons, we serve a God of seasons

that produces things in seasons. We're in a season right now, right? This is, I think it's been called, it's winter is what everybody's telling me. This is winter here and so we're in a season. Then spring is gonna come and then summer's gonna come and then the two days of fall will come. I did live through that this year and so we live in seasons and God is a God of seasons and he's a God of cycles. Ecclesiastes 3, verse one says this, there's a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven. So just like there's seasons in natures, there's seasons in how God works in our life. And if you don't recognize the season, then you can be frustrated and you can abort too early something God wants to do in your life because you're missing the season that you're in and you can get frustrated. I was thinking about this so I started, I looked up some horticulture websites and I actually have a friend that does that and I was like, explain to me, explain to me vines and branches and viticulturalists who really study these things and here's what I learned. There are nine stages of a vine, a branch and fruit bearing, nine stages

and I won't give you all of them but there are things like renewal, budding, leaf growth, ripening, harvest, listen to this, even dormancy. So there is a season of dormancy. There is a season where you see no fruit on the vine but something is happening in the soil and happening internally so that it can bear the fruit that God wants it to bear in the natural. Man, I think that's such an application to us in the spiritual and here's what I wanna encourage you in is that if you want to be in a continual fruit bearing season, that may not be reality. He didn't say remain in me and I'll remain in you and you'll bear fruit in every season. He said remain in me and I'll remain in you and then you'll bear fruit and there's different seasons and different things God is doing in our life and sometimes he is pruning back. He's cutting back branches and he's pruning back things that are no longer bearing healthy fruit in our life and you feel like, oh God, what are you doing to me? Why is all this pruning? happening in my life and God says no I'm wanting you to bear even more fruit so in order to do that I've got a prune and there is a dormant season there is a winter season where nothing is budding and and no leaves are showing you're like God where are you and why is this a grind and why is this so hard right now but man there is something happening in the soil of your life there is a character building there's a strength God is building in you that happens but

it only happens in a dormant season and here's what I found most interesting in all that I read about this is the gardener decides the length of the season that interesting the gardener decides the length of the season and I just want to encourage you that as Jesus said in John 15 the Father is the gardener and he is determining the length of the season and he's doing it for your good and he's doing it for your benefit and he's doing it so that you might bear much fruit and so your job isn't to bear fruit your job is to remain in the vine and trust the gardener your job is not to be like I'm gonna be more loving I'm gonna I'm gonna do it I'm gonna be more joyful here I am I'm more joyful right no your job is to remain in the vine and in the right season at the right time the gardener is gonna do the work inside of you and the life of the vine is gonna come flowing through you the branch and the life and the fruit of the vine the fruit of Jesus the fruit of the Holy Spirit is gonna come flowing through your life into the lives of the people around you so if you want a fruitful life you want a life that's full of joy and peace and patience and kindness you want a life that has the hand of God on it the favor of God the blessing of God it isn't up to you to go out and try to make that happen it's up to you to remain in the vine same over and over and over and over and when no one's patting you on the back do it again and when no one's plodding you do it again and no one sees you getting up early and staying in the word do it again and when you don't see that the leaves are budding do it again and when you don't see that the fruit is producing then do it again because in the right season at the due time because there's a time for everything under heaven as Ecclesiastes says the fruit will be produced in your life if you don't give up so remain in the vine because what you want in life may not come in the way that you thought it would come it doesn't come by you striving the Christian life is not about you striving it's about remaining in Jesus staying connected to Jesus and then his life will come flow through you you want a fruitful life this year and just keep remaining just do it again and again and again and you will bear fruit it's the promise of God to you and to me

let's pray together father we're so grateful today for your word that it's alive it's real it's powerful and we thank you today God that you are the one who is producing the fruit in us so may this year be marked by us having these habits of staying remaining continuing to be connected to the vine knowing that it will produce the fruit in our lives that you want it to produce as we continue to pray maybe you're right there in your living room or watching on an iPad or laptop or wherever you may be joining us from and you've never got connected to the vine and there's no way you can have a fruitful life this year without the life of Jesus flowing through you you've never surrendered your life to Jesus you've you've never let go of the reins of your life and giving him the control of your life I want to invite you to do that today you know the Bible says the way we do that is by faith that we're trusting that what Jesus did for us on the cross is enough to save us change us to cleanse us and to give us a life of fruitfulness so in just a moment I want to lead you in a prayer and I want to invite you to join me in that prayer there's nothing special about the way I pray it's just me helping you communicate to God that you want to surrender you want to give your life to him the Bible says that if we'll confess him as Lord that means we're surrendering control and that we believe in our heart that God raised Jesus from the dead then we will be saved that we'll be saved from the penalty of sin and we'll be saved to a new life in Christ and so if you're here if you're listening you're joining us and you need a fresh start today then I want to invite you to join me in this prayer just simply say Jesus I need you I ask you to forgive me of all my sin. I believe you died for me. I believe God raised you from the dead. Today I make you my Lord and Savior. Thank you for a brand new beginning. In Jesus' name, amen. If you made that decision, we want to know about it.

And so you can text the keyword Jesus to 71010, and we would love to connect with you and help you in the journey. Whether you live in Texas or Wyoming or wherever you may live, we want to help you in your journey of faith. We'd love you dearly. God bless you and have a wonderful day.