Where’s the Fruit by Rev. Ron Rawls

Devotional

Day 1: When the Owner Inspects the Vineyard

A vineyard owner prepares fertile soil, plants choice vines, and builds walls—only to find bitter fruit where sweetness was promised. God’s care for His people mirrors this diligence: He protects, provides, and waits expectantly. Yet the question lingers—what does He find when He walks among the branches? Justice, compassion, and righteousness are the harvest He seeks, not hollow religion or self-serving activity. When divine inspection comes, will the fruit reveal faithfulness or failure? [27:00]

“Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.”
(Isaiah 5:1-2, ESV)

Reflection: What area of your life feels most like “wild grapes” to God right now—where His investment in you isn’t matching your output? How might shifting from asking “What can God do for me?” to “What does God expect from me?” change your daily choices?

Day 2: Sweetness in a World of Thorns

Bitter grapes leave a sour taste. God’s people are called to flavor their world with grace, even when met with hostility. Like vines among thorns, believers face friction—rude clerks, unfair critics, daily irritations. Yet every interaction is a chance to crush resentment and pour out Christ’s kindness. The test isn’t avoiding conflict but refusing to let it ferment into anger. What grows in the heat of tension reveals what’s rooted in the heart. [19:30]

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
(Galatians 5:22-23, ESV)

Reflection: Recall a recent conflict where you “matched fire with fire.” How could responding with intentional sweetness have better reflected God’s investment in you? What practical step will you take to prepare for this kind of harvest next time?

Day 3: Influence Without Selfishness

God grants influence like a watchtower—a vantage point to protect and serve, not a platform to dominate. Yet too often, His gifts are hoarded like private stockpiles. Leaders crush others to climb higher. Communities starve while individuals feast on privilege. True influence kneels to lift the overlooked, using its voice for the voiceless. When God’s blessings flow through us, they water entire fields, not just personal gardens. [15:40]

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.”
(Matthew 6:1, ESV)

Reflection: Where has your influence (at work, home, or church) become more about self-promotion than stewarding God’s gifts? How could you redirect one specific opportunity this week to bless others without seeking credit?

Day 4: Plucking Weeds, Not Just Planting Seeds

Fruitfulness requires more than good intentions—it demands weeding. God’s people often focus on adding spiritual activities while ignoring the thorns of pride, prejudice, or complacency choking their growth. Like careful gardeners, we must kneel daily to uproot what God didn’t plant. A thriving vineyard isn’t judged by its busyness but by the purity of its harvest. [22:08]

“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.”
(Matthew 7:19-20, ESV)

Reflection: What “weed” have you tolerated in your life (attitude, habit, relationship) that’s crowding out God’s fruit? What specific action will you take this week to start removing it?

Day 5: Religion Without Relationship is Empty Harvest

Activity without purpose is agriculture without yield. Singing, serving, or sacrificing means nothing if it doesn’t flow from intimacy with Christ. God rejects bitter grapes dressed as holy offerings. True fruit—justice, mercy, humility—grows only when connected to the Vine. Rituals rot without relationship; worship without transformation is just noise. [22:50]

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
(John 15:5, ESV)

Reflection: Where has your faith become a routine of “doing” rather than “abiding”? How might pausing to sit with Christ (not just work for Him) this week reshape the quality of your spiritual fruit?

Sermon Summary

Isaiah’s love song starts with a vineyard that had everything going for it. God put it on a fertile hillside, cleared the stones, planted the best vines, built protection around it, set up a watchtower, and made ready a wine press. God did not neglect the vineyard. God prepared it, protected it, provided for it, and then looked for sweet grapes.

The vineyard is Israel, and through Christ the image presses on the church too. God has invested grace, mercy, the Word, the Son, gifts, opportunities, protection, and another day into His people. God’s investment creates expectation. The question cannot always be, “God, what you gonna do for me?” The better question is, “God, what are you expecting from me?”

God expects fruit that matches what He planted. God looked for justice but found bloodshed, looked for righteousness but heard cries of distress. The problem was not that the vineyard produced nothing. The problem was that it produced the wrong fruit. Churches can have church, people can look holy, worship can be loud, and activity can be constant, while the fruit remains bitter. Religion without relationship, activity without purpose, and worship without transformation can leave a whole lot happening while nothing is really being produced for the kingdom.

The fruit God wants is not just shouting fruit, singing fruit, or preaching fruit. God looks for justice, righteousness, love, mercy, compassion, patience, and sweetness. The light of the world cannot walk around with a nasty attitude, matching fire with fire. God’s people must give some sweetness to hard situations, because people should experience a blessing rather than weeds.

The vineyard image also warns that not everything growing in a life was planted by God. Weeds must be pulled. The oppressed cannot become oppressors after God gives them freedom. Influence cannot become a spotlight for self while the people under that influence get hurt. Christianity cannot stop at the church door, because Sunday worship and Monday mistreatment reveal bad fruit.

God will inspect the vineyard. God will look at hearts, families, churches, ministries, and communities. God will not simply ask where the building is, where the programs are, or where the applause is. God will ask, “Where’s the fruit?” God has done His part. The vineyard must now bear what the Master planted.

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Key Takeaways

1. God’s blessings carry holy expectations. God’s grace is never cheap, even though it is freely given. Every preserved life, opened door, gift, and opportunity becomes part of God’s investment in a person. God’s question is not meant to shame His people, but to call them from entitlement into faithful response. [11:46]
2. The right fruit looks like God. God does not measure fruit merely by visible religious activity. Justice, mercy, compassion, righteousness, and love show whether a life is becoming like the God it worships. A loud confession without a Christlike life produces grapes that cannot bless anybody. [25:16]
3. Sweetness breaks the cycle of fire. God’s people do not have to answer every ugly attitude with an uglier one. Patience can uncover another person’s pain, make room for repentance, and keep a small conflict from becoming a bigger fire. Sweetness is not weakness when it comes from knowing whose child a person is. [19:30]
4. Influence must serve more than self. God gives influence in families, workplaces, churches, and communities for the good of others. Self-serving leadership grabs the spotlight while leaving people wounded behind it. Godly influence sacrifices personal gain so that those under its care can flourish. [13:48]
5. God will inspect every vineyard. God sees beyond buildings, programs, titles, applause, and public activity. Hearts, families, ministries, and communities will all reveal the fruit they have truly produced. The final question is plain and searching: “Where’s the fruit?”

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[03:03] - Where’s the Fruit?
[03:41] - God Prepared the Vineyard
[04:51] - God’s Investment Creates Expectation
[07:16] - Blessed and Expected to Bear Fruit
[11:26] - What Is God Expecting?
[13:09] - Using Influence for Others
[15:59] - Sweet Grapes or Bitter Grapes
[17:05] - Showing Sweetness Under Pressure
[20:30] - The Danger of Wrong Fruit
[22:35] - Religion Without Relationship
[23:49] - Justice Instead of Oppression
[26:16] - God Inspects the Vineyard
[30:22] - Where’s the Fruit?
[32:27] - From Where’s the Beef to Where’s the Fruit

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Isaiah 5:1-7
“I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit. Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad? Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled. I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briars and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it. The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines he delighted in. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.” [00:00]

Matthew 5:14
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” [17:05]

Joshua 24:15
“But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” [27:40]

Observation questions

What specific preparations did the owner make for the vineyard in Isaiah 5:1–7, and what kind of harvest did he expect?
In Isaiah 5:7, what did God look for among His people, and what did He find instead? [16:45]
What contrast is made between visible religious activity and the fruit God wants to see in people’s lives? [22:32]
According to Matthew 5:14, what identity do believers have, and how does that connect with the call to bring “sweetness” into hard situations? [17:05]

Interpretation questions

Why does God’s care for the vineyard make His expectation for fruit reasonable rather than unfair? What does this show about the purpose of God’s grace, protection, gifts, and opportunities? [06:26]
Isaiah describes a vineyard that produced grapes, but they were bitter. What is the difference between producing “something” religious and producing the kind of fruit God desires? [20:17]
Why are justice, righteousness, mercy, and compassion central signs of spiritual fruit, rather than optional extras to worship and church activity? [25:02]
What does it mean that a person who has been oppressed should not become an oppressor once they gain freedom, authority, or influence? [23:58]

Application questions

Looking at God’s investment in your life—grace, mercy, protection, opportunities, gifts, or simply another day—what is one area where you sense God asking, “What are you doing with what I gave you?” [11:43]
Where do you have influence right now: at home, at work, among friends, in church, or in the community? How could you use that influence this week for someone else’s good instead of only for yourself? [13:23]
Think about a recent situation where someone came at you with a bad attitude. Did you answer fire with fire, or did you make room for patience and sweetness? What might a different response look like next time? [19:30]
What “weeds” may be growing in your life—such as bitterness, harsh words, pride, selfishness, unforgiveness, or a habit of complaining—that keep others from experiencing the blessing God wants to bring through you? [22:05]
Is there any gap between Sunday worship and Monday behavior in your life? How would your family, coworkers, neighbors, or classmates describe the fruit they experience from you? [25:06]
Choose one kind of fruit God desires—justice, righteousness, love, mercy, compassion, patience, or kindness. What is one clear and practical way you can bear that fruit this week? [31:41]

Sermon Clips

35s

#ProduceGoodFruit

“God said, I ain't playing with y'all. I'm expecting something from you. I'm expecting it produce... To produce good fruit. God said, what more could I have done? Think about that question in your own life. God, what more could I have done for you? God said, I gave you soil. I gave you seed. I protected you. I provided for you. I gave you another opportunity. What more could I have done? The problem was not god's provision. The problem was our production.”

46s

#JusticeAndRighteousness

“He expected a crop of justice but instead found oppression. He expected to find righteousness, but instead he heard cries of violence. God expects the right fruit. How god bless you and you walk around with a nasty attitude. Yeah. Come on. The Bible says that you are the light of the world. God expects for people to see him through us. then when they experience us, we got a nast attitude. Yeah. When they experience us, we we we we look like we chewing on sour grapes.”

45s

#RelationshipOverReligion

“We can have religion without relationship. You know that? Yeah. Look real holy. Dress real holy. Sound real holy, but have no relationship with Christ. But you got religion, But no relationship. No. No. No. No. No. No. That that religion ain't gonna produce much. It it it it that that religion, what what what it does, it it produces you. You you doing a lot. You're very legalistic. You you're doing a lot but ain't really doing nothing. Come on. You ever heard that saying doing a whole bunch of nothing? You're doing doing a whole lot but ain't really doing nothing for the kingdom.”

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