This Is How We Know: The Intention of Fruit

By Lori Reece

What are you hungry for?

What can you offer to others who are hungry?

We were created to be hungry for God, to know Him, and to love Him with all of our beings.

In her new book, This Is How We Know: The Intention of Fruit, Lori Reece visually explores how that hunger should increase our desire to produce good fruit fo

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Jul 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9781685565862

Lori Reece

Artist, educator, and now author, LORI REECE has always been fascinated with how the language of the Bible paints pictures in her mind. To share what she sees, Lori uses her paintbrush to create a visual channel for worship. Her passion is to see the artwork of Christian visual artists embraced by the church as catalysts for praise. Lori and her family make their home on the beautiful Gulf Coast of Florida. Find out more about her at:[e-mail]/lorireeceart

Book preview

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THIS

IS HOW

WE KNOW

THE INTENTION OF FRUIT

By Lori Reece

This Is How We Know: The Intention of Fruit

Trilogy Christian Publishers

A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Trinity Broadcasting Network

2442 Michelle Drive, Tustin, CA 92780

Copyright © 2022 by Lori Reece

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without written permission from the author. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA.

Rights Department, 2442 Michelle Drive, Tustin, CA 92780.

Trilogy Christian Publishing/TBN and colophon are trademarks of Trinity Broadcasting Network.

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Trilogy Christian Publishing.

Trilogy Disclaimer: The views and content expressed in this book are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views and doctrine of Trilogy Christian Publishing or the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN: 978-1-68556-585-5

E-ISBN: 978-1-68556-586-2

Dedication

To Robert Reece, my husband and best friend, for giving me the gifts of uninterrupted time, creative space, a critical eye, and unfailing support so that I could use the gifts that God gave me to bear the kind of fruit that is worthy of repentance.

Acknowledgments

This work would not have become a book had it not been for the fierce support, steadfast encouragement, and gentle prodding of my friends, Mike and Susan Rollwagen, leaders of the Rte. 66 Bible study group and founders of Wordwalk. I thank these two faithful believers, along with my two kind and pragmatic friends, David and Renee Miller, for opening their homes for me to share my artwork with small groups of people. These friends pushed me to think beyond the space my paintings occupied on the walls of my studio to the possibility of sharing my visual meditations with a larger audience.

I have learned so much from my fellow travelers in the Rte. 66 Bible study community. I will always be grateful for the insights they have shared and for their dedicated support of my efforts to use my gifts to bring glory to God.

I also owe a debt of gratitude to Shannon Moyer, my sister and friend, for her honest feedback and constructive criticism. As a fellow artist, she gave me the confidence I needed to share my heart on canvas.

Table of Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Life—the Fruit of God’s Love

Death—the Fruit of Our Pride

God’s Wrath—the Fruit of Idolatry

Redemption—the Fruit of God’s Grace

Heart Condition — Series Introduction

The Calloused Heart

The Shallow Heart

The Strangled Heart

The Fruitful Heart

Fruit of the Spirit — Series Introduction

Love

Joy

Peace

Patience

Kindness

Goodness

Faithfulness

Gentleness

Self-Control

The Fruit of Their Labor

Life Restored—the Fruit of God’s Promise

About the Author

Bibliography

Introduction

What kind of tree is this? I was doubtfully eyeing the scrawny, bare-limbed little tree before me. Having fallen in love with the beautiful jewel-like pomegranates that I enjoyed in the old city market during a recent trip to Jerusalem, I was on the hunt for a pomegranate tree that would thrive where I lived in Florida. There was no label on the tree’s container and no leaves or fruit to give me any indication of the type of tree I was scrutinizing. The man at the plant nursery simply said, It doesn’t look like much right now, but if you plant it in good soil, in full sun, and give it the right amount of water, it should produce pomegranates in two or three years. If it doesn’t fruit, you will have to prune it. Okay, so obviously, this was not going to bring me instant gratification. It would require time and some work on my part to help the tree to become fruitful.

My experience with the pomegranate tree makes me think about what it takes to bear fruit in our own lives and what our fruit, or lack thereof, says about us. As the daughter of Baptist missionaries to Central America, I became a Christian at an early age. Therefore, my container had a label. However, what about leaves and fruit? Would anyone outside of my family and church friends have recognized me as a believer? I think I was a rather scrawny, bare-limbed tree for a long time, which meant that I needed some pruning in order to bring about fruit.

Growing up in a devoutly Christian home, attending church every time the doors opened should have provided the good soil, full sun, and water needed to grow spiritually. Instead, it resulted in a certain stuntedness, a complacency on my part in my relationship with God. I saw my faith as a part of my family tradition, my culture. I did not wrestle with the reason for my shallow faith until much later in my life, when God led me through a series of painful pruning events. I had to struggle with my lack of understanding of who He is and His purpose for me. With great faithfulness, He worked in my heart to strengthen my trust in His love and goodness, even when circumstances made it seem like He was not showing those parts of His character to me.

In looking back, I sometimes wonder if what I should feel is regret. Have I wasted valuable time by being a very slow learner? In order to answer this question without yielding to discouragement, I have to acknowledge that God’s sovereign plan for me operates outside of space and time. Neither of those human concepts limits Him. He has always known what choices I would make, even before I made them. He has listened to my questions and shepherded me through my own personal learning curve. I choose to see my struggles as opportunities that my Father designed specifically for me, to