If you want good FRUITS, gotta have good ROOTS

We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has give us. - Romans 5:3-5

Paul speaks these words to encourage his readers to HOLD ON to the promises of God. God speaks his promises to us as the farmer scatters his seed (Mark 4:3-8) and those seeds grow in the soil just as God's promises do in our hearts - it's a PROCESS. The evil one will do anything he can to discourage us, so that we might abandon the hope of a harvest. Many kingdom crops have been lost on the earth because while we waited for the seeds to show forth, many Christians believed the lie that nothing was happening, that God could not be trusted with the seed he sowed. What the evil one does not want you to know is all that happens beneath the surface before we ever see the first sproutling break through the invisible into the visible realm. Understanding the process of growth will equip us to hold on until GOD'S PROMISES bear HEAVENLY FRUIT.

The Process:

1. The difficulties, hardships and challenges that come against God's promises are theSUFFERINGS that soften the outer shell of the seed (John 12:24). As the seed endures the harsh winter of life, the outer shell gives way to the first growth of the stem and roots. Mind you, none of this can bee seen from the surface.
2. Through PERSEVERANCE and patience in suffering, the roots grow deeper and stronger. The integrity of a tree is found not in the size of its leaves, but in the depth and breadth of its roots. I heard a friend say, "If you want to have good fruits, you gotta have good roots." We often want to skip straight to the fruits in our microwave, "have-it-now" culture, and many Christians are paying the price with their marriages, families and selves. Perseverance produces proven CHARACTER, the integrity of our lives, without which everything crumbles. Mind you, none of this can bee seen from the surface.
3. This GODLY CHARACTER produces HOPE, which "does not disappoint." What is it about hope that does not disappoint? Hebrews 11:1, says, "Faith is an assurance of what we hope for, a confidence of what we do not yet see." Maintaining an atmosphere of hope, the result of a love relationship with God, gives birth to faith, which bears kingdom fruit. Mind you, none of this can be seen yet from the surface.

Eventually, this process will give rise to the first sproutlings that burst through the surface of the soil on their journey toward fulfilling their promise. These original seeds, having gone through the process of growth, will multiply themselves 30, 60 and 100 times. This is God's promise to each of us, as we learn to receive the seed of his word and persevere through the growth process. We will slowly, but surely move from fruit consumers to fruit producers.

"If you want good fruits, you gotta have good roots." Endure the process.