Rodney Howard Browne shares a teaching on Fruit

For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Luke 6:43 NKJ The fruit a tree bears is a direct reflection of the condition of the tree itself – good tree: good fruit – bad tree: bad fruit. Fruit cannot grow by itself, without a tree. Nor can a tree produce good fruit when it is in bad shape. You could say that the fruit is not the problem, it is the evidence of the problem. If you are unhappy with your fruit, you will have to do something with your tree. “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. John 15:1-5 NKJ

Jesus is the trunk of the tree, God is the Gardener, and we are the branches. If we want to bear good fruit we will have to hook up with Jesus and allow God to water and prune us, too. We must live in His presence. We must live in His Word and His Word must live in us. The fruit we bear is not a result of our own efforts. We don’t work to produce good fruit, but we work to press in to the Lord and to seek His face. The fruit is produced as the Word and the Holy Spirit are allowed to do their work in our hearts and our lives. I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5:16-21 NKJ

Galatians 5:19 in the NAS translates “the works of the flesh” as “the deeds of the flesh” and the NIV translates it as “the acts of the sinful nature”. The works (deeds) of the flesh – acts of the sinful nature – are the manifestation of sin that is allowed to grow unchecked. Sin grows from the fleshly, carnal nature like weeds. It chokes our lives and destroys everyone and everything around us.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-25 NKJ

When the Spirit of God is allowed to work in us as we yield to the Spirit and walk in the Spirit, then the fruit of the Spirit becomes manifest in our lives. Like sap in a tree, we do not see how the Spirit is moving and working in people, but as the fruit is produced and grows on their branches, we are seeing God at work in their lives. You cannot fake fruit. The manifestation of fruit is a very honest reflection of a person’s heart. The fruit of the Spirit is sweet and delicious to us. Like good, healthy, delicious fruit growing on a fruit tree, the fruit of the Spirit is not only a reflection of our heart, but it also blesses us and all those who are around us.

Psalms 113:1-9 “Praise ye the LORD. Praise, O ye servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD. Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD’s name is to be praised. The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high, Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth! He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people. He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD.” God is so awesome! He is so great and so mighty—the Creator and the Ruler of the universe! The Lord is high above all nations—His glory is high above the heavens! The whole of creation bows down before Him! Praises ring out to Him from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same! Every created being has to bow their knee at the very mention of His Name! And yet—He humbles Himself to regard the heavens and the earth. It is so wonderful that someone so important and so incredibly magnificent would make the time and the effort to come down to where we are to reach out in love and kindness toward us and to draw us to His side. He comes down to show us that He loves you and me so much! He knows us inside out and He cares about us and pays attention to every detail of our lives. How wonderful that He would send Jesus—the best that He had, in fact, all that He had—His only begotten Son—to be the mediator of an everlasting covenant between God and man. The Lord came down from Glory to lift us out of the dust and the ash heap and the dunghill of life—and seat us at His own right hand to eat at His table. This is not just for heaven—this is for right here down on earth. The Bible says that there will always be poor people with us, but the good news is that they don’t have to stay poor. There will always be people on the ash heap of life, but they don’t have to remain on that ash heap. God, Himself, has reached down to lift us up out of whatever mess we have gotten ourselves into and to set us at the table of restoration and honor and blessing and provision. Psalms 138:4-8 All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD, when they hear the words of thy mouth. Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the LORD: for great is the glory of the LORD. Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me. The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands. Even though there is none higher than the Lord and all the kings of the earth praise Him—when we humble our heart in repentance before Him, He reaches down to us, extending His mercy to work on our behalf. He takes all the little broken pieces of our lives—all the things we have messed up, all the things that have gone wrong through the years, all the bad things that have happened to us—and He makes them all right. He will wipe out the past and bring us into a place we have only dreamed of. He turns things right side up and restores the years that the locusts have eaten and He perfects the things that concern us. Who else, but God, would take people from the dunghill and set them at the princes’ table? What an awesome God we serve! Don’t waste time wallowing in the dust and the ash heap of your sin and your disappointments. Come running to God in humility, admitting your sin and mistakes, and He will wash you, restore you and set you at His table! No matter what life has thrown at you—God can wipe it away and bless you beyond your hopes or dreams!

Mark 10:17-31 (KJV)
17 And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.

Jesus was not just a good man – He was God in the flesh. He held the secret of eternal life – yield every area of your life to the Father and obey Him.

19 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honor thy father and mother.

20 And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.
21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

22 And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.The man kept the law and obeyed God as much as he was able, but his possessions meant more to him than God. He was a good man; but when it came to the bottom line, he trusted in his riches more than he trusted in God. He could not imagine his life without his possessions. He could not see what God could have done with his life because he could not see beyond the things that he had in his hand. He could not see eternity because he was blinded by earthly things.23 And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!

24 And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!
25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.The “eye of a needle” was a small, after-hours gate in the city wall that a camel could squeeze through only if its load was removed. Jesus did not say that rich people could not go to heaven, as some people would have us believe. He said that it would be hard – or difficult – for them to enter the kingdom of God, because they trusted in their riches too much. Riches came between them and their salvation. God did not have their whole heart. If you want what God has for you, you must give Him your whole heart and let nothing else disturb or distract you.26 And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved?

27 And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.The disciples wondered “Who then can be saved?” Everybody has a certain amount of possessions – some more, some less. It is not your possessions, or lack of them, that determines your spirituality, but it is who has your heart. Does your Father God have your total allegiance today, does He have your whole heart?

28 Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee.
29 And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s,
30 but he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.
31 But many that are first shall be last; and the last first.

The disciples had given up all that they had to follow Jesus, but even then, they could not take the credit for it or be proud of it like it was some great earth-shaking sacrifice. Some people act like they did God some great favor and honor by giving up things for Him. Yes, you sure sacrificed a whole lot by giving up that alcohol and those drugs, by giving up your rotten lifestyle and your bad attitude so that you could have His peace, His joy, His abundance, and His blessing! There is nothing that you gave up for Jesus that was not worth the sacrifice and the return on your giving.
Jesus promised up to a hundred fold blessing in return in this life and the next! Whatever you gave up is headed back your way and it’s exceeding abundantly above all you could ask or think! God does not deprive you of anything because He wants you deprived. He asks you to give to Him so that He can give to you. He asks you to give Him everything that is important to you, the things that mean everything to you, so that He can truly be Lord of every area of your life!

Sure you may have to endure some hard things to serve God. The world won’t like you as much as they used to. But who cares about a few difficulties down here, when you can see eternity stretched out before you and the promise of wonderful, glorious eternal life in the presence of Jesus, our Lord and King?

Chronicles 24:14(KJV)
14And when they had finished it, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, whereof were made vessels for the house of the LORD, even vessels to minister, and to offer withal, and spoons, and vessels of gold and silver. [And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the LORD continually all the days of Jehoiada.]

Under the Old Covenant, God used certain material things to represent spiritual things or principles. In the
Temple, there were vessels specifically designed and intended for serving and worshipping God. Under the New Covenant, we are the vessels who serve and worship God, anywhere we go. The vessels used in the temple were holy and sanctified. We should be holy and sanctified and we will be – if we allow the Holy Spirit to work in us.

Ezra 6:5(KJV)
5And also let the golden and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple which is at
Jerusalem, and brought unto
Babylon, be restored, and brought again unto the temple which is at
Jerusalem, every one to his place, and place them in the house of God.

We, God’s creation, were designed and intended to worship Him, not other gods or the devil. We function at our best in the place that God intended for us. Everything else is frustration and torment.

Romans 9:20-25(KJV)
20Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? 21Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? 22What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 23And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, 24Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? 25As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.

People use this passage of scripture to say that God ordains our way in a manner that leaves us with no choice. They say that God is the one who sovereignly chooses to use us for good purposes or bad, but that is a misrepresentation of scripture. If you read the entire passage in Romans (we do not have space for the whole chapter here), you will see that God is talking about and defending His mercy – extended toward the Gentiles, the heathen, the ungodly – not just toward the Jew. In verse 22, you will see that God did not desire or plan to have destructive, evil vessels on the earth, but rather He bore their evil doing with patience and longsuffering. It is not that God does not have a specific plan for our lives – He does. God has planned for all of us to be vessels of mercy, prepared for glory. We choose whether or not to be what God intends for us to be.

2 Timothy 2:19-22(KJV)
19Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. 20But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. 21If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work. 22Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

Being either a mud pot or a fine golden vessel is our choice. We change from the ignoble to the noble as we purge our lives from sin and the crud of the world.

2 Corinthians 4:6-7(KJV)
6For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

Our vessel (body) may be made of earth, but as we yield to God and His presence and power in our lives, we shine forth His glory. We are golden vessels when we are yielded vessels.

IT’S TIME TO SEE AMERICA SHAKEN BY THE POWER OF GOD!

When the Lord spoke to me about America, He asked me, “How are you going to reach America without going on TV?” Going on TV was something that I had not wanted to do. However, since I have made myself available to the Lord in this regard, awesome things have begun to happen. 

Please keep checking our website for updates. If you are not in any of these coverage areas you will still be able to view the telecast at your leisure at www.revival.com under the Chronicles of Revival banner. We are very excited about this opportunity to take the power of God to the nation of America. America must have a great awakening and I believe that we will see an awakening this decade!

We traveled to the Faroe Islands; Aland Island; Stockholm, Sweden; and Somerville, Massachusetts, close to Boston. We had awesome meetings—we saw revival and hundreds of salvations. In the Faroe Islands, particularly, we saw a great move of God among the youth. Teens were so excited about the meetings that they brought hundreds of their friends from school. Kids who had never heard the gospel gave their lives to Jesus and were filled with the Spirit and the joy of the Lord. It was awesome!

In order to be a blessing to you, to let you know what we are doing, and to help keep you a part of the ministry, as we travel around, bringing the fire of revival wherever we go—every day we post photos, write-ups, and podcasts on revival.com. Please check our website for updates from the crusades. It is not that we are doing any more than we’ve ever done, but technology helps us to bring you real time updates, photos, and voice recordings. If you don’t already get our e-mails and you would like to, please go to our website and  register so that we can send you regular updates from the field.

Remember when Jesus walked up to Peter and asked Him if He could use His boat? Peter allowed Jesus to preach off of his boat and when Jesus had finished He told Peter to launch out in the deep.

The Word of God declares that Jesus gave Peter a net-breaking, boat-sinking load of fish! It was so obviously a miracle catch that it shook Peter to the core—he left everything to follow Jesus into the ministry!

Peter’s boat was an amplification system that Jesus used to preach the Gospel to the masses. Your gift—your seed—is an amplification system for the Gospel to reach the masses. 

Yours for Revival and the Harvest,

Drs. Rodney & Adonica Howard-Browne

On Friday night I was approached by a woman who asked me if we had been to the Alzheimer unit at a specific nursing home. I told her that the administration would not allow our team to pray with the patients on that unit. The woman whose name was Tema, she gave me her phone number and asked me if there was anyway we could return to the facility to pray for her father on the Alzheimer unit. I told her that I would send a team to pray for her father on Saturday May 24th. She called ahead and made sure that the staff gave us access to pray for her father. I sent one of our team leaders onto the unit to pray for the gentleman. She came back and said that he was “unresponsive”. I felt led to go onto the unit myself and pray for him. As I knelt down next to him he said “Your a minister aren’t you!”. I said “yes, I am a minister, and your daughter Tema asked me to come and pray for you today.” I read through the gospel script and he rededicated his life to the Lord. Afterwards he said “I bet you didn’t think I was going to pray that prayer with you today.” I told him that I actually felt in my spirit on my way to the nursing home that he was going to pray with me. He then started mumbling words which I could not understand. I was also blessed to be able to pray the prayer of salvation with 15 other patients on that Alzheimer unit. The testimony is wonderful and does not end there. When I called Tema back to tell her that her father had rededicated his life to the Lord she began to weep. It turns out that her father was a backslidden preacher who had been hurt by the church and had turned his back on God many years ago. Tema told me that she had not been able to go soul winning this week with our teams in Tri-Cities as she had to work. As she was weeping she told me that God had personally showed her how important it was that we went out and carried the Word of God to the lost. All she kept saying was “God Bless you and your ministry for going out and praying for my father. I will never forget this ministry.” Tema said that she was going to take off of work and fly to Arizona and help our teams bring in the harvest there. It blessed me to see how one small act of obedience on my part could touch this family so deeply.

Elizabeth H.

Rededication; I went to the nursing home to visit the people there and I went into a ladies room and asked her if she knew the Lord she said yes, she didn’t know for sure if she would go to heaven so I read her the script, she repeated after me the prayer. After we got through, I asked her if she had bible she said she couldn’t see very well. I told her she could get a relative or someone to read the bible to her because it is very important to hear God’s word that to know it.

 Carol C.

Testimony:

I went out on Saturday to the projects at Athens. My friend and I talked to 12 people and lead 6 to the Lord. On Monday we continued praying and on Sunday and Monday together, we lead 14 people to the Lord. A man getting out of car said he didn’t have time, some of these people in the area were drug addicts, prostitutes, drug pushers etc, but he stopped anyway to rededicate his life. 

Danny S.

Being born without the ability to walk can create quite a few challenges.  That’s exactly what happened to me.  Born in 1964 with no bones or muscles in my left hip region, doctors told my parents that I’d never be able to walk; x-rays confirmed that.  However, God had another idea.  My parents regularly prayed and spoke the creative power of God’s Holy Word over my body.   The doctors were partially right; I didn’t walk much – I ran!   One thing that the doctor did tell me when I was twelve years old though was not to get too excited because by the time I was twenty I would have crippling artheritis and would be bound to a wheelchair the rest of my life.  Needless to say, the doctor was totally wrong.Throughout the course of my life I have not only walked and run but jumped, skiied, hiked, and played about any sport I wanted to – all with no pain.  I am a walking miracle.  Many doctors have taken several series of x-rays only to stand back amazed because what they witness makes no sense with what the x-rays show.On my 40th birthday I was in church at the River at Tampa Bay; Dr. Rodney Howard-Browne is the pastor.  When I left the service to get in my car, pain like I didn’t even know was possible hit me in my left hip and sent me face-first into the asphalt.  I heard the voice of the devil speak to me and say, “You’ve gone twice past the age that the doctors told you you’d be able to walk and from this day on you’ll never walk again.”  A very long story cut very short:  The devil is a liar.  I stood on the Word of God, enduring a month of excruciating pain while speaking the Word over my body.  Then in another service at the River at Tampa Bay, Pastor Rodney felt to have a healing service.  In that service the power of God overcame every attack of Satan on my body and the pain instantly vanished, never to return again to torment me!Jesus is still a healer today and He will heal YOU if you will simply believe His Word.

Just the other day I had an awesome experience right at my home.  As I was doing some bible study a knock came on my door; a lady wanting to know if the company that she worked for could come and clean some carpet for me free of charge.  After a few questions on my end I accepted her offer and in 15 minutes the person arrived to do the job.  Okay, you’re already ahead of me; yes it wasn’t all it was set up to be.  It ended up being a Kirby vacuum demonstration.  I started to tell the man that he had come under false pretenses but I felt I should allow him to continue. I long story shortened; after his presentation, before which I had told him that I wasn’t in the market for a vacuum, I used the gospel soul winning script that I had gotten online.  This is a powerful soul winning tool being used by thousands of people and introduced to the Body of Christ by Rodney Howard-Browne.  Anyway, immediately the man prayed with me, accepting Jesus Christ into his heart as his Lord and Savior!  After that, that was all he wanted to talk about.  He told me that he was tingling all over and that he felt power flowing through him.  I explained to him that what he was experiencing was the touch of God.It’s so easy to win people to the Lord using the Gospel soul winning script.  You don’t need to say anything but what’s on the script and, guaranteed, you’ll have scores of people every single day praying with you to receive Jesus into their life.