Accomplished Pastor, Author and Worship Leader, Steven Furtick; has been blessed to preach and teach the incomparable word of God! I recently stumbled upon one of his most recent sermons on Youtube titled, ‘Focus On The Fruit!’ Just by looking at the title, one would associate ‘Fruit’ to Fruits of the Spirit! One could also make the assumption that ‘fruit’ or harvest are the blessings that God has stored up for us as rewards after making it through a difficult season of waiting! BUT, In my opinion, you cannot talk about one without the other!
The objective in a believers walk with Christ is to grow in discipleship, but there will always be someone or something trying to ‘choke the growth’ along the way. Everyone of us is waiting for something! Whether big or small, we make our requests known to God and we wait! I know it hurts when God says wait. Trust me! I am waiting for a few things right now. But whether we know it or not, the waiting seasons transform us. Most of us are totally oblivious to what we need during waiting seasons. They are uncomfortable, lonely and down right awful if we let them. I like to use the analogy, God is taking us from ‘odd to awed!’ Those odd seasons can be used to get to know God on a deeper level. We can get to know ourselves better and can let these seasons polish and refine us in such a way to equip us for the answers that God will soon provide us with.
Steven Furtick would have believers to focus on the fruit during our times of waiting. The Holy Spirit comes to produce in us the nine fruits of the spirit, which are, love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, forbearance, self control and gentleness. The fruits of the spirit do nothing but Transform us into the woman or man that God has called us to be. They can be the gift that God wants us to have during a hard waiting season. If we spend enough time with him throughout this season, we will gradually be blessed with the fruits of the spirit. As a believer, the objective is to keep your eyes focused on God so we don't miss any opportunities to grow in Christ. FOCUS on the FRUIT!!!
