This is the visual God gave me the other day in church. This is not my typical way of writing. Just pray it ministers to someone, somehow. God knows!

You have a beautiful transparent pitcher and an amazing fresh water Source. The water is so pure and refreshing, it seems to quench not only your physical thirst but also some deeper thirst within you that you are often unaware of until that need is met. You delight in filling your pitcher to the brim with the fresh water not only to quench your own thirst but to also share the fresh water with your spouse, your children, your family, your neighbors, your co-workers; really anyone who stops to chat for a minute. You know how refreshing the water is, so you just want to share it.

On occasion, the pitcher gets some debris in it. Sometimes that’s completely accidental and as soon as you notice, you take it to the water source and just let the fresh water flood out the debris. In the past, you used to try to clean the pitcher out by hand without water, but it never got fully clean. You’ve learned the best way to clean out the debris is to just let the fresh water Source flush it out.

Other times the debris build up is just from neglect, you’re just not really paying attention, especially when it comes time to share some of the fresh water with others. When that happens, you often fail to notice how much debris actually gets into other’s cups. Sadly, too often you don’t even notice until the person has taken a big drink of the fresh water and debris.

The pitcher is transparent, but sometimes the debris sticks to the sides of it and it loses its transparency. It’s then that others fail to see the beauty of the pitcher as well as the refreshing beauty of the water within. They may decline any offer of water you make. However, the pitcher truly is beautiful having been crafted by the same Source as the water.

Every time, the answer is, go back to the Source. Let the Source flood the vessel until all the debris has fallen out onto the ground (not in others’ cups). Then, what remains in the pitcher to be poured into other vessels is: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control!

– – – – –

Explanation: The pitcher is you. The water Source is the Holy Spirit of God. The debris can really be anything, but according to online dictionary: debris – the scattered remains of something broken or destroyed, rubble or wreckage. Or carelessly discarded refuse; litter.

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Matthew 23:26b First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

James 3:11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 

John 7:37-38 Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

John 4:13-14 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Perhaps the greatest limitation we put on God, in our own minds, is our human finiteness. Because we know no other existence, it is difficult to imagine a God that is not bound by time and space as we are. Consequently, we attribute to God the same limits we ourselves have. We have no way of knowing what choices we will be faced with tomorrow nor what we will decide in that given moment. But, because God is outside of time and space, He is already as present in our future decisions as we are present in this very moment. And since He is already present in our future choices, don’t you think He has something prepared for us? That is to say, as if He doesn’t already know every single choice we will ever make and He has the right thing prepared for us in that choice.

Let’s take Jonah, for example. God commanded him to go to Nineveh and preach to them about repentance. However, Jonah did not want to go, so he decided to jump on a ship heading in the opposite direction. Even in the moment God command Jonah to go, He knew Jonah would choose not to go. That is why we see in Jonah 1:17 that God had already prepared a fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah had no way of knowing that would take place when he told the sailors to throw him overboard.

I’m curious how we can apply this lesson to our current situations. Is there something currently happening in your life that has caused you some confusion? Some doubt? Some uncertainty? Do you suppose God is surprised by what’s happening in your life right now, as you yourself might be surprised about it? He is not surprised. Do you think He doesn’t already have something prepared for your next step, and your next step, and the one after that? Does He not have a place for you? A purpose for you? A provision for you, a promise to be fulfilled for you?

Look at Psalm 23:5, “You prepare (put in order) a table before me in the presence of my enemies…” God has already prepared something. Also, in II Chronicles 29:36, “And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because God had prepared (provided) for the people, for the thing came about suddenly.” God provides by preparing for His people. Again, in Psalm 68:10, “your flock found a dwelling in it; in your goodness, O God, you prepared (provided) for the needy.” He knows our needs. He prepares and provides for those needs. Matthew 6:8 teaches us this principle.

I Corinthians 2:9 is a beautiful promise we would do well to remind ourselves regularly. We can’t imagine, but God has already prepared for us!! “But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.”

In Matthew chapter 3 we see John’s ministry of baptism of repentance. I want to look a bit more into the finer details.

Verse 1 – John was preaching in the wilderness. People had to seek him out if they wanted to hear the preaching. He was not preaching in a public or well-known spot that the masses already frequented. This must have pointed to the people’s genuine desire to hear the preaching (for whatever reason).

Verse 2 – His message was simply repentance. That’s it. Repent. Why? Because the kingdom of heaven was at hand.

The Amplified Bible creates a much clearer picture of what he meant by repentance: “change your inner self – your old way of thinking, regret past sins, live your life in a way that proves repentance; seek God’s purpose for you life.”

The Greek word [metanoeo] for ‘repent’ in that verse means to think differently or afterwards, that is to reconsider. When we change our way of thinking, our actions and behaviors follow suit.

Verse 3 shows how John was fulfilling Old Testament prophecy about being the forerunner of Christ. Verse 4 details what he wore.

Verse 5 adds to the point in verse 1 that people who wanted to hear his message had to seek him out.

Verse 6 is where we see some evidence of repentance, not only were they being baptized by John but they were also confessing their sins in the process.

Verse 7 and 9 are interesting. We see John immediately calling out the Pharisees and Sadducees. He knew and verbally acknowledged their excuses; whatever justifications they wanted to use.

Verse 8 is where I want to focus. “Bring fruit in keeping with repentance.” (ESV) Other versions also say it so well.

BBE – Let your change of heart be seen in your works.

CEV – Do something to show that you have really given up your sins.

ERV – Change your hearts! And show by the way you live that you have changed.

TPT – You must prove your repentance by a changed life.

YLT – Bear, therefore, fruits worthy of reformation.

AMP – So produce fruit that is consistent with repentance [demonstrating new behavior that proves a change of heart, and a conscious decision to turn away from sin].

MSG – It’s your life that must change, not your skin!

We can see scripturally that our repentance is likened to Jesus’ death on the cross. “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin” Romans 6:6.  Again, defining what repentance looks like: “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds…” Ephesians 4:22-23 and “In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices…” Colossians 3:7-9

Looking back at who came out to the wilderness to see John; we must self-evaluate our motives. Just ‘showing up’ at a church service or even weeping at an altar does not prove repentance. In fact, it begins with a work of God in our hearts. II Corinthians 7:10 teaches us that it is “godly sorrow that worketh repentance” not a worldly sorrow.

Personal confession: I’ve been walking with God now for over 27 years. I believe I learned early on what true repentance is and that it’s not just lip service, not just asking for forgiveness. It is a change of direction. However, somewhere along the line over the past few years, I would say, I somehow lost sight of the “fruit of repentance” aspect. I think I forgot the part about changing thoughts, changing actions. I don’t want to justify it, but I can understand how someone can slip into that way of thinking. It’s not as if I’m actively sinning the “big sins”. It is perhaps easier to, for example, stop smoking (clear action) when repenting over smoking. But, I guess I forgot how to stop thinking or believing a way (about myself) as evidence of repenting over said thoughts. (Hope that makes sense.)

Anyway, thanks be to God who is so patient, loving and kind towards us, towards me. He is talking to me again about the need for change of thought, change of action, change of behavior, not just words.

In the KJV we read it as “bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance.” The Greek word for fruits means exactly that, fruit, either figuratively or literally. The Greek word for meet means deserving, comparable, suitable, due reward. Therefore, in our repentance we must also show action in our lives that is deserving, is comparable, is suitable for repentance.

So, in my own case, I need to stop and change my thought pattern about a thing and at the same time begin behaving in a way that shows I believe what God thinks about a thing. I think to date, I have just shrugged at my own thoughts and beliefs as if to say, “well, that’s just me”. NO! That is no longer acceptable! True repentance, for me, would not only be asking for forgiveness, and wanting His ways, but also shutting down all the thoughts about a thing that are anti-God and start walking out His Truth about a thing. Romans 12:21 states, “do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” This is applicable both for actions and thoughts!

I know that is a bit vague and a bit off my normal type of post, but I hope it is helpful and I think I need a certain level of transparency in this repentance. Just as those who came to John to be baptized. The scripture says that they came confessing their sins.

There are so many scriptures that talk about fruit (that could be a whole study in and of itself, maybe someday). Here are just a few to close this out with.

James 3:18 “and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.”

Hebrews 13:15 “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving praise to his name.”

Hebrews 12:11 “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

Colossians 1:10 “so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God”

Philippians 1:11 “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”

Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law.”

John 15:1-16