How To Be A Producer, Not A Consumer

Do you know someone who is always taking/receiving but never giving?

They will accept free stuff whenever possible but they never give anything to anyone else. They allow, even expect, people to do things for them but never do anything for others. They don't even say thank you when someone helps them out. They take in but rarely, if ever, give out.

They are consumers.

Many Christians are only consumers.

They come for the Sunday service to get fed the word of God. They take it in but never do anything with what they have received. It has little to no impact through the rest of the week.

They don't share what they've learned. They don't love people like Jesus says. They don't follow the scriptures' instruction to make disciples.

They don't serve anyone besides themselves.

However, we are told to be producers.

In Matt 28:19-20 Jesus gave us something to do:

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."

In John 15 Jesus tell us:
"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."

We are to produce fruit. Fruit that will last (John 15:16).

Here are 3 things you must do to be a producer

1. Consume the word of God.

We need to connect ourselves to the vine and remain in him to receive in to our lives everything that the source possesses. We remain in him by consistently reading and knowing the word of God.

 John 15:4 says,

"Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me."

“Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do." -Joshua 1:8

2. Take action on what the word says.

Yes we must consume in order to produce but without the producing of fruit the consumption is worthless.

"What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless." -James 2:14-17 NLT

Did you notice the cycle that is present in Matt 28:19-20?

We do what Jesus tells us to do and teach others to do everything he commanded us, which means that they also go and make disciples and teach them to obey everything he commanded.

A continuous cycle of making disciples.

"The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who is wise wins souls." -Proverbs 11:30 NASB

3. Speak thanks and praise to God.

"Through Him (Jesus) then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name." -Hebrews 13:15 NASB

In Luke 17 Jesus cleanses ten lepers but only one returns to thank him.
"'Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?' Then he said to him, 'Rise and go; your faith has made you well.'" -Luke 17:18

Continuous thankfulness and praise, expressed with our mouths, keeps us centered on God and brings his peace that guards our hearts and minds (Phil. 4:7).

Be a producer.

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2 Keys To See More Of God In Your Life

Have you ever been doing one thing but your mind keeps getting ideas for something else?

Sometimes it's helpful. Other times it's a distraction. Knowing the difference is important.

Many times an idea or a solution comes to me when I'm actively working on that thing, but not always. Some of my best ideas come when I'm doing something totally unrelated.

When I read the Bible and study God's word, he speaks to me. He shows me things from his word about himself, his will and also about myself.

Many times I hear his voice when I'm doing the ordinary things of life like putting laundry away. At that moment I'm not reading his word but I may be meditating on it. Other times I'm not even thinking about what the Bible says but God suddenly shows me something.

A  few days ago I was making breakfast and getting ready to fill my mouth when he said:

"Get yourself in to me and I'll get myself in to you."

I quickly wrote that down because if I don't write these things down I have a tendency to forget and then I don't act on it. The act of putting it in writing makes it stick in my head better and I also have those words to look back on later so I can do some more thinking, studying and pursuing his instruction.

I always check what I hear against scripture to make sure what I'm hearing is from God. Reading and knowing the word allows me to do this in my head without looking it up. I knew the words resounding in my head were right and I needed to pursue him more.

“Come close to God, and God will come close to you."  James 4:8 NLT

Jesus said:

"Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:4-5

Being fully connected to the vine brings whatever is in the vine into the branch. Whatever the vine has the branch also has and it brings life and growth. Make sure to get your whole self in to the vine and Jesus will bring in to you what is in him so you can produce much fruit.

As I said, I'm not always meditating on or studying a particular passage when the mind blowing idea comes. However, it's the previous input from doing those things that sets me up to hear his voice. Being in close proximity to God allows us to hear him more clearly.

Have you noticed a time when in the middle of doing something, you were tuning out other voices, then someone said something about you and suddenly you were very attentive to them? Or maybe your spouse wasn't hearing a word coming out of your mouth until you mention something they have a deep passion for and then you have their full attention?

Selective listening. My parents said several times that I had this capability. I’m sure many who are parenting teens can relate to this.

Parents do something similar with their own kids. They can sit in a place with lots of children running around screaming and be somewhat oblivious to all the noise (who can be totally oblivious to it?) while engaged in a conversation and the moment their kid yells with an alarmed tone the parent hears them and responds.

Our brain is able to tune out sounds that are determined to be irrelevant but a voice we recognize can quickly redirect our focus.

The voice we listen to the most cuts through all the other noise and gets our attention.

Frequent and consistent reading of the Bible will allow you to recognize God's voice because you hear it over and over again.

“If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him." John 14:15-17 NLT

The first key to seeing more of God in your life is to get more of yourself in to God by reading and knowing his word, the Bible.

The second key is by doing what it says.

"But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it."  James 1:22-25 NLT

"Faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless." James 4:17 NLT

Obedience to his word is vital. There are many times in the Bible where God promises to bless those who do what he has said. They are "if, then" statements. If you do this, then you get this blessing. Read Deuteronomy 28 and John 14 for just a couple examples.

When you get closer to God, recognize and listen to his voice and then act on what he has said you will "produce much fruit" (John 15:5) and it will be "fruit that will last" (15:16).

No matter how much you may already have, get more of God in your life by getting yourself more in to him.

TIPS

Frequently reading and memorizing scripture will help you to immediately recognize things that are not in alignment with the word of God.

Always have something with you like a notebook, or an app on your phone (I use Evernote), for writing notes so you can record everything you're hearing from God.

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