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Matthew 3:8 – Some people believe it is wrong to share the Gospel and pray the sinner’s prayer with people. The say that gives the person a false security that they are going to heaven since the prayer does not save you. I understand what they mean. The bible says, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9) – Anyone can say a prayer, but how do we know if they believe in their heart? Paul said, “I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.” (Act 26:20). If this is how Paul preached then we should also. We must tell people that the prayer alone will not save them. We cannot read their hearts; if they are sincere, there will be evidence of their faith. It is not always an overnight growth. Just as in our physical birth, the seed is planted into the egg, and life begins and continues to grow. “Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times." (Mark 4:8). In our physical birth, there is a season where we must remain in the womb, but in the spiritual birth, we must remain in Christ always. Jesus said, “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 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5) “This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.. . . . You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit--fruit that will last--and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.” (John 15:8, 16) – When I share Christ with someone, I want to tell him or her everything I have learned about Christ in the past 27 years. However, I realize 90% of the things I do share they will forget anyway. This is where we have to trust that it is God speaking to them and not us. We are just seed planters; we must be obedient to the call of Christ to be workers in His field. Father in Heaven, please bring a harvest that is too many to count into Your Kingdom. Remind all of us that we are to examine ourselves to see whether we are in the faith. (2 Corinthians 13:5) We must test ourselves to make sure Christ is in us the Hope of our glory. If we fail the test, we much pray that You will change our hearts and lead us to repentance.

This says it all. If you claim to be a born again believer, there WILL be fruit. As we are sanctified, we will be changed to be more and more like our Lord.

After reading this chapter a few times vs 8 spoke to me. In many ways the church (including me) has lost its impact on the world. I believe part of the reason is that we have become too much like the world and our walk does not back up our talk, in other words " our fruit is not in keeping with repentance". I also liked vs 17b. I would like to know God can say He is well pleased with me. However, that is not likely if my life does not reflect Christ

We cannot sit by idle post salvation, but must grow in our relationship with Him & seek out others to bring them to Christ & always repent of sins.

Actions speak louder than words! Faith without works is dead! God expects me to show my faith by changing my behavior. God shows us kindness and mercy and expects us to do the same to others. Lets say I go to make a call on someone who has not been to church for a few weeks. Their house is a mess. Why? Maybe they have been sick. I need to pray for them and then roll up my sleeves and clean their house. Don't judge them and walk away. I might need the same help one day.

It is a reminder to me, that all I do should be to glorify God because of his wonderful gift of grace and mercy through Jesus Christ.