Producing Fruit

Read Philippians 2:12-16

It is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
-Philippians 2:13 (NIV)

WHILE chatting with a friend, I mentioned that I had begun taking art classes and that I was not doing well because I am not naturally creative. My friend surprised me by saying, "Jane, the Creator lives within you! Of course you are creative."

That truth began to change my thinking. Scripture verses to support her assertion came to my mind, such as when Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit" (John 15:5, nrsv). Before long, I was creating - making inspirational cards by using watercolors, pens, and verse. As I worked, I prayed that those who received the cards would see in them the hand of our ever-present Creator who is at work in and through us.

The great Initiator of all good, creative works desires to dwell in us. God lovingly cultivates the soil of our lives to produce fruit through us - sometimes in ways we never dreamed possible.

(by Jane Ebersole (Pennsylvania, USA))