The 5th Day of Creation–The Holy Spirit and Bearing Fruit: Genesis 1:20-23

And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day. -Genesis 1:20-23

Scientists are conceding they have grossly underestimated the quantity and diversity of marine life in the ocean. Research scientists from 80 different countries are undertaking a huge census of ocean life around the world. Called the Census of Marine Life, the census effort began in 2000, and ten years later, scientists continue to be amazed at the numbers and varieties of new species they’ve found. In the first three years of the study 160 new species of fish were found each year. That’s about 3 new species discovered every week. As the census has progressed, new species of marine life are being discovered at an even greater rate. One study found 700 new species of crustaceans in an area the size of a small bathroom. (Census of Marine Life)

In 1965, 1,168,800 tons of herring were pulled out of the North Sea. That’s somewhere around 2.3 billion herring, from just one part of the world. Think about that: 2.3 billion herring. If we’re talking about all of the fruit, all of the marine life in the ocean, this is just one species, it doesn’t include all of the other types of fish caught in the North Sea. And that’s just the North Sea, it doesn’t count all of the rest of the world. And it doesn’t even include all of the marine life that’s not caught–caught fish represent just a tiny, tiny fraction of all of the marine life in all the oceans of all the world.

When God said “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas…” we had no idea how serious He really was.

“Let the water teem with living creatures…” God said. Of course the water didn’t produce the fruit, the multiplied billions upon billions of creatures of the oceans–God did. Apart from God no fruit is born. Not during creation, nor in my life or in yours either. While Jesus walked the planet, He was the primary Person God used to perform His work here on earth. When Jesus left, he promised to send us the Holy Spirit, to help us perform God’s work. (Luke 24:49) From that point forward God’s Holy Spirit has been, and still is the primary Person God uses to perform His work here on earth. Without Him we can’t bear fruit for God’s kingdom.

So ask for the Holy Spirit. God loves you and wants you to have Him in your life. It’s Jesus’ will that the Person of the Holy Spirit come to you to help you in every dimension of life including bearing fruit for Him.

“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” -Jesus Christ, Luke 11:11-13

References:

[Image via: tobze – Creative Commons]
Biblegateway.com
Blueletterbible.org
Census of Marine Life: coml.org
timesonline.co.uk
Boreal Environment Research
Matthew Henry Commentary
Chuck Smith, Living Water, The Word for Today, 2007, p 8, 287-296

1106 Design Love Like Jesus Book Cover

Now available on Amazon!

Love Like Jesus: How Jesus Loved People (and how you can love like Jesus)

Love Like Jesus begins with the story of how after a life of regular church attendance and Bible study, Bennett was challenged by a pastor to study Jesus. That led to an obsessive seven year deep dive. After pouring over Jesus’ every interaction with another human being, he realized he was doing a much better job of studying Jesus’ words than he was following Jesus’ words and example. The honest and fearless revelations of Bennett’s own moral failures affirm he wrote this book for himself as much as for others.

Love Like Jesus examines a variety of stories, examples, and research, including:

Specific examples of how Jesus communicated God’s love to others.
How Jesus demonstrated all five of Gary Chapman’s love languages (and how you can too).
The story of how Billy Graham extended Christ’s extraordinary love and grace toward a man who misrepresented Jesus to millions.
How to respond to critics the way Jesus did.
How to love unlovable people the way Jesus did.
How to survive a life of loving like Jesus (or how not to become a Christian doormat).
How Jesus didn’t love everyone the same (and why you shouldn’t either).
How Jesus guarded his heart by taking care of himself–he even napped–and why you should do the same.
How Jesus loved his betrayer Judas, even to the very end.

With genuine unfiltered honesty, Love Like Jesus, shows you how to live a life according to God’s definition of success: A life of loving God well, and loving the people around you well too.

A life of loving like Jesus.

(Kindle, hardcover, and paperback available on Amazon and at brick and mortar book stores everywhere.)