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“But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.”
Bear Fruit: The Anointing That Abides, the Same Spirit in All, and the End of Spiritual Striving
I want church to be meaningful to you. I want it to add value to your life—real value—where when you take the time to show up, participate, give, serve, open your home, and do life with people, it isn’t just religious obligation. You aren’t doing “Christian things because Christians do Christian things.” You’re being strengthened, nurtured, and encouraged to bear fruit where God has planted you. Because the world doesn’t need more productive religious organizations—it needs to see a healthy family of God on the planet. Not just visions accomplished. Not just ministry boxes filled. A healthy body. A living church.
And here’s the thing: so many believers aren’t being strengthened to bear fruit where they actually live. Instead, they’re being trained to come “catch the vision,” then figure out what box they can stand in to help accomplish an organization’s goals. There’s a place for structure. There’s a place for organization. I’m not trying to dismantle everything about church. I’m saying we’ve often flipped the order. We’ve made people serve systems instead of making the church serve people—serve their growth, their healing, their clarity, and their fruitfulness.
That’s why I’m saying something that will set you free if you let it: quit worrying so much about what your calling is. Quit worrying about what you think God wants you to do. And just bear fruit.
Say it plainly: bear fruit.
Because once fruit starts showing up, the fruit itself tells a story. You don’t have to chase labels. You don’t have to chase titles. Fruit will become visible, and at some point someone can look at it and say, “That fruit looks like shepherding.” Or, “That fruit looks like evangelism.” Or, “That fruit looks like teaching.” But if you chase the label first, you end up with a lot of people trying to be something, trying to “get into ministry,” trying to climb, trying to qualify, trying to measure up—while everyday life passes by fruitless.
Most Christians don’t need a grand blueprint. They need a fruit-bearing life.
Daily life looks like this: you wake up and ask, “How can I be a life-bringer today? How can I bear fruit today?” And if the fruit that naturally comes out of your life eventually demands some structure around it—fine. If it doesn’t—who cares? Be part of the body and bear fruit. A fruitful believer is already participating with the Holy Spirit’s work in the earth.
Hearing God Isn’t Spooky: It’s the Spirit in You
One of the biggest reasons people get stuck is because they’re waiting. Waiting for God to “tell them what to do.” Waiting for the church to start something so they can join it. Waiting for permission. Waiting for clarity. Waiting for some moment where the heavens open and they finally “hear God.”
But the Holy Spirit is not trying to train you into spiritual uncertainty. He is trying to saturate you with sonship confidence.
Sara shared a simple testimony that I love because it’s not spooky—it’s practical. During worship, she realized God had been leading her in health decisions in a way that felt almost effortless. She started taking a liver supplement before tests ever came back. She started making sourdough bread—something she normally would have avoided—yet sensed peace about it. She bought new pans and stopped cooking with cast iron, and later, the blood panel confirmed she needed to reduce iron intake. Then a trainer and nutritionist told her she needed more carbs for lifting and hormones—confirming what she’d already been leaning into.
Here’s the point: this wasn’t a dramatic prophetic moment with religious language and fanfare. It was an organic, intuitive walk with God. The Spirit leaned into daily life and she responded with simple steps. That’s what it looks like when you know God is good, when you know He is for you, when you know He has placed His Spirit within you. Your inner life starts agreeing with His wisdom so naturally that obedience doesn’t feel like pressure—it feels like harmony.
And that’s why identity matters. That’s why the character of God matters. When you know God is good, when you know you’re a new creature, when you know the Spirit is in you, you stop panicking about whether you’re hearing Him. The Spirit’s leadership from within becomes an organic collaborative process—His wisdom leaning into you, and you responding.
This is also why it’s less about constantly crying, “Speak to me!” and more about praying, “Help me see You clearly.” Because as I see You, I become like You. When your vision of God is clear, the fear-driven uncertainty starts to break. The exhausting loop of, “Is that God? Is it not God?” begins to fade. And that’s a sweet spot—when you trust His nature, trust your new creation identity, and live without constant suspicion.
Sara said it plainly: if you’re always doubting that inner voice, lean into learning who God is. You’ve got to know He is for you, that He is good, that He wants good for you—your health, your family, your work, your finances—He is good. And that confidence grows through daily connection: gratitude, conversation, prayer, awareness.
That’s not just “hearing God.” That’s becoming persuaded.
The Church Works Like Family, Not Like a Ladder
Then Bob shared something that puts language to what so many people carry quietly. He’s been saved around fifty years. For decades he lived in organized church systems with obvious hierarchy. The unspoken message was: if you’re really walking with God, you end up in “the ministry.” And ministry meant authority. It meant being “anointed above others.” It meant climbing. Striving. Measuring up.
And what did that produce? Stress. Performance. A sense of never quite measuring up. And it also produced something else: people on pedestals. Not because Bob is power-hungry. He’s a kind, sincere man. It’s just the system trains you into a way of thinking that doesn’t match the kingdom.
So he asked the honest question: if church isn’t hierarchical, what is it?
And the answer is simple: brothers and sisters.
That’s it. Family.
Not climbing. Not competing. Not striving for rank. Not trying to get close enough to God that you can have authority over other people. Bob said it: “That’s totally whacked out,” because Jesus cut that mentality off at the knees from the beginning. James and John wanted seats of power—right and left hand—and Jesus told them plainly that His kingdom doesn’t work like Gentile systems of domination.
If your model of church requires people to climb, then the most “spiritual” people become the ones who win the ladder game. But Jesus didn’t build a ladder—He built a family. And when family is restored, fruit becomes normal. Peace becomes normal. Love becomes normal. People stop disqualifying themselves and start living.
Offices, Gifts, Fruit: Real—But Flowing From the Spirit Within
Now, to balance it clearly: the offices are real, the gifts are real, the fruit is real. But they are not “special anointings.” They are outgrowths—expressions—of the Spirit who is already within you.
Jesus said:
John 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
That’s the assignment. Not “go find a title.” Not “go qualify yourself.” Not “go discover the secret will of God.” Go and bear fruit.
And the basis of this friendship-centered life is here:
John 15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
And the Spirit’s role in this friendship is not gatekeeping. It is declaring.
John 16:15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
So what does that look like in the body? It looks like the Spirit revealing Christ through you, then weaving you together with others as you naturally bear fruit.
Offices (Ephesians 4) — Administration for Service
Ephesians 4:11–12 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Offices are for equipping. For building up. For helping the saints do the work of ministry—not for controlling them.
And the end result is maturity and stability:
Ephesians 4:14–16 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine…
But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth… maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
That line matters: “every joint supplieth.” Not a few joints. Not the “anointed class.” Every joint. Every part. Every believer.
Gifts (1 Corinthians 12) — No Competition in the Spirit
Paul is relentless about one theme: the same Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:4–7 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
Every man. Profit withal. Not performance. Not competition. Not hierarchy.
And Paul keeps repeating the point:
1 Corinthians 12:9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
That’s why you don’t look at someone flowing in prophecy and decide you’re “less than.” That mindset comes from a ladder-based church model, not from the Spirit of Christ.
And this is where we have to correct an Old Covenant misunderstanding. Under the Old Covenant, the Spirit came upon people for specific tasks—king, prophet, judge—and those anointings were portioned and could be transferable. That’s why Elisha could ask Elijah for a double portion. Elijah did not have the fullness.
But under the New Covenant, the anointing is not a portion resting upon a few. The anointing is an indwelling reality for all believers.
The Anointing That Abides: No More Double Portion Mentality
Here is the New Covenant anchor:
1 John 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you… and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
It abides in you.
That’s why you don’t need to chase “special anointings.”
That’s why you don’t need to chase “impartation” like you’re missing something.
That’s why you don’t need to live under “covering” systems that treat the Spirit like it is portioned out through spiritual elites.
The Spirit is not distributed through people. The Spirit is given to people.
And here is the revealed mystery that stabilizes it all:
Colossians 1:26–27 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
That’s the mystery.
Christ in you.
So yes: offices, gifts, and fruit are real. But they grow out of this root: Christ within, revealing Himself outward.
Be a Fruit Farmer: Simplify the Whole Thing
If you want a picture for this, think like a farmer. A farmer doesn’t wake up every day in confusion asking, “What is my calling?” A farmer wakes up with intention. He knows what fruit he wants. He knows what grows where he is. He commits to the process. He works the ground. He waters. He nurtures. And he trusts that seed has life in it.
So the question becomes simple: what kind of fruit do you want to see?
Do you want to see the lost saved?
Do you want to see religious people recover from trauma and control and performance-mindedness?
Do you want to see single moms helped?
Do you want to see healing increase?
Do you want personal fruit—more health, more kindness, less anger?
Then be intentional to sow where you are planted. Engage what strengthens you. Participate in ways that bring life. And stop disqualifying yourself because you don’t have a title or a spotlight.
A lot of people aren’t comfortable being themselves because they don’t know who they are in Christ. They’ve been forced into models where they feel like they have to become something else. They enter a church and, without saying it out loud, they’re asking, “Who do I need to be here?” That is not freedom. That is not family. That is not the gospel.
The gospel says: I know who I am, and I can be me in Christ. If we can work together, great. If not, I still bear fruit. I still love. I still live in union with Jesus.
Homework: Read These Chapters and Let Them Rewire You
Here’s the homework from the message, highlighted and clarified:
Read Ephesians 4 (slowly).
Focus on why Jesus gave offices: “for the perfecting of the saints… for the edifying of the body.” Pay attention to this: “every joint supplieth.” Ask the Lord: What fruit are You bearing through my “joint” in the body?Read 1 Corinthians 12 (slowly).
Mark every time you see “the same Spirit.” Let it dismantle comparison and competition. Ask: Where have I believed I’m “less than” because of someone else’s gift expression?Meditate on 1 John 2:27 and Colossians 1:26–27.
Say it out loud until it doesn’t just sound true—it feels true:
“The anointing… abideth in me.”
“Christ in me, the hope of glory.”
Let the Spirit persuade you that you are not lacking.
The Conclusion: Persuade the Heart of God’s Love Until Fear Has No Place
Now let me land where this really ends—because fruitfulness, freedom, gifts, and maturity all come back to one internal issue: fear.
Fear is the engine under religious striving.
Fear is what makes people chase titles.
Fear is what makes people crave hierarchy and “covering.”
Fear is what makes people doubt every inner impression and constantly wonder, “Is that God?”
And fear does not leave because you get more information. Fear leaves when the heart becomes persuaded of love.
You don’t overcome fear by trying harder.
You overcome fear by being convinced—deep in the heart—of God’s goodness and love for you in Christ.
That’s why the most powerful prayer isn’t always “Speak to me.”
It’s: “Help me see You clearly.”
Because as you see Him, you become like Him. And as you see His love, fear loses its argument.
So here’s how you persuade the heart:
You saturate in who God is.
You return to the revealed mystery: Christ in you.
You practice daily connection: gratitude, conversation, prayer, awareness.
You act on the impressions of wisdom without constantly second-guessing.
You bear fruit where you are, trusting the Spirit to weave you into the body.
And as you do, something happens: uncertainty fades. Performance loses power. Comparison breaks. And love becomes the environment you live in—not something you occasionally visit.
When the heart is persuaded of God’s love, you stop living like a slave trying to qualify, and you start living like a friend who trusts the Father. You stop being driven by fear, and you start being led by the Spirit. You stop obsessing over what you are “supposed to be,” and you simply become what you already are: a branch in the Vine, bearing fruit naturally.
You lack nothing.
Christ is in you.
Now go bear fruit.
