Dominon Mandate: Be Fruitful

Wisdom says if one loses something to retrace their steps and they should be able to find it. If we have lost our way we need to take ourselves back to where we began. So here we are: "The beginning - the book of Genesis." God after creating Adam and Eve in His own image now gives them their purpose, be Fruitful, Multiply, replenish the earth, Subdue it and have Dominion over every living thing (Gen. 1:27-28). Sin separated us from our purpose we became self-absorbed people. Now in Christ we have been restored to our original purpose, the dominion mandate. Let's break Genesis 1:28 down so we can fully understand our life purpose.

Be fruitful naturally means to have children but spiritually it means to reflect His likeness. I use to think that I need to sacrifice having children in order to devote myself to ministry. Until I learned that my greatest ministry is having children. My children are my greatest influence. They are made to reflect me. So if I reflect God they will reflect God and I will reproduce myself not just naturally but spiritually as well.

John 15 states how one bears fruit, this fruit is the fruit of the spirit, the nature of God described in Galatians 5:22-23 as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. First of all one must allow God to work in their heart, like a gardner does with it's crop. We must allow God to pluck off that which produces no fruit. As long as someone or something moves us outside of God their is removal needing to take place. I like to see my house, car, office nice, neat, and in order, the problem I have is finding the time to maintain it. It just seems like things always begin to pile up with time. So is my spiritual life without prayer, burdens pile up and I feel so dirty and distant from God. John 15 says to abide in Christ which means to remain, be consistent, dwell, this is what it takes to bear fruit. I must remain connected to God through prayer at all times for Him to continually be working in my heart. Like a plant that isn't being watered when I disconnect myself from God dead branches will follow. When a field is neglected the natural environment begins to be reflected, soil hardens, weeds grow, plants die, etc. The process of transformation where the old man is being plucked off and the new man is coming forth is all determined by the time I allow the gardner (God) access to my field (heart).

Challenge: Let's allow God more access to our heart. Spend more time in prayer. Allow God to remove dead branches, unfruitful activities, and to re-schedule our days so He is the center of all we do.