Fruit comes from living in God. It is the result of His life flowing in us, of our yielding to His power; not of our trying and struggling to be good. In the Waldensian valleys in Italy some of the vines are grown on huge wooden crosses – and in September they are a beautiful sight, laden with grapes. The branches are stretched out on the cross, and so get every drop of rain, every ray of sun. I do not suppose these branches are conscious of the cross, as much as they are of the warmth, and life, and joy of fruit-bearing, and is not that a parable of the Christian life? It explains the joy and peace of the early Church, even in persecution. They had utterly given themselves to Another; self was crucified with Christ, and joy and fruitfulness were the result, as it will be with us today, if our lives are hid with Christ in God. -- S.T. Fraser.
[From ‘Streams in the Desert’ Volume 2, by Mrs Charles Cowman.]
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