Our Heavenly Father, the Vine Dresser, has provided His junior partners some valuable tools to assist in pruning and cultivating His emerging spiritual crop.

Jesus cursed the fig tree because it lacked fruit and produced only leaves. It symbolized pharisaical hypocrisy, where works and talk are not in alignment.

To be made clean only prepares us for producing fruit. If we stand still, simply resting on our justification, the dark forces will pull us backwards.

Briars, thistles, thorns, and weeds are visible emblems of sin or its consequences, which we must pull up by the roots for the balance of our physical life.

Horticulture is not so easy as merely planting a seed and watching it grow. Tending and keeping implies continually watering, fertilizing, and cultivating.

Fruit is not produced immediately; it is produced only when a plant is both mature and stable enough that mere survival is no longer its top priority.

Dr. Bruce Wilkinson explains that 'takes away' should be more properly rendered 'takes up,' meaning new grape vines are lifted out of the dirt.

In the Parable of the Barren Fig Tree, Jesus does not attribute tragedy directly to any person's sins as the Jews did; instead, He affirms the sinfulness of everyone.

Jesus' cursing of the fig tree has puzzled and even disturbed Bible readers for centuries, as it just does not seem to be something our Savior would do.

If our worship of God ends in slavish obedience, so does our salvation! While He wants us to obey, God is not looking for obedient drudges but loyal children.

John 15:2 seems to say the Vinedresser cuts off every barren branch, but the Greek behind 'takes away' shows God doing something else: He lifts up.

Imagine a man studying the Bible for two hours a day. But if he then spends his other waking hours watching cartoons, he will derive little benefit from study.

When the gospel of the coming Kingdom of God is preached in all the world, the ears that hear it are not always receptive of this priceless knowledge.

We must invest as much energy into understanding the messages as went into preparing them, regardless of the idiosyncrasies of those delivering them.

The entangling cares of the world draw off nutrients from our spiritual garden. Without daily tending, the spiritual weeds get out of control.

The rampant disorder in America may encourage God's people to choose political sides, but doing so may place them in a position of opposing God's will.

We must weed out detrimental habits that choke our lives. If we want to produce quality fruit, we must weed our garden.

God's calling and predestination can be confusing, especially the verse that 'many are called, but few are chosen'. Why does God not just choose everyone?

Without a meaningful relationship with Christ, God's people cannot possibly bear fruit. Our responsibility is to yield to God's creative work in our lives.

The Book of Hebrews is a must-read for all members of God's church who seek the key for spiritual growth through a meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ.

God gives His elect two unknown deadlines: Christ's return and the Christian's lifespan. They focus His people on becoming spiritually rich toward God.

We have the obligation to bear spiritual fruit, heeding the lessons of the cursing of the fig tree, and the parables of the barren fig tree and the talents.

If we neglect our cultivation of spiritual fruit during the year, the harvest will reflect that. The fruit of one's labors will be evident at harvest time.

Here are five easily neglected doctrines, which, if carelessly observed or distorted, could jeopardize the salvation of God's people.

Neglecting to feed the flock has been detrimental to preaching the gospel to the world. Because of neglect, members succumb to feeling insignificant.

Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem fulfilled prophecies. The crowds welcoming Jesus were actually choosing the Paschal Lamb of God on Abib/Nisan 10.