Nothing to Prove by Holly Otten

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I don't need to see fruit. I need to love God with all of my heart and do what He says to do. I don't need to prove to anyone that Tin Man Ministries is fruitful. I need to please my Daddy God. That's it. In other words, I don't strive to show others that I or TMM is bearing fruit. I just love Him, obey Him and pray. He produces the fruit. I don't have to see it with my natural eyes. I believe it with my spiritual eyes. If I abide in Him, there is fruit. It's a Biblical truth found in the book of John. It says, "I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, bears much fruit" (John 15:5).
     The late Mother Teresa and missionary Heidi Baker didn't move with the poor, feed them, clothe them and adopt them, to prove to the world that they and their ministries were fruitful. They loved God. They obeyed God. They loved the people God placed in front of them. It's simple, but people complicate things.
     To the natural eye it may seem that I have only ministered to a few. What if each individual person that I have spent considerable time ministering to and pouring into, then impacts hundreds or thousands, including their churches, towns, families and very importantly, their generations! Heidi Baker of Iris Global has a motto, "Stop for the one," meaning, stop what you are doing and love the one in front of you. What if I spend months or years loving on the one, and that one turns out to live a life such as Billy Graham, Lou Engle or Bob Jones.
     Since my husband and I founded TMM, I have tried to model my life after Mother Teresa and Heidi Baker, but in my younger years, I desired to be like my Auntie. My Auntie never became famous, but her great love and faith in God caused me to pray, "Lord, make me like my Auntie." I watched her sacrifice for others and love them unconditionally, including the delivery person, her elderly neighbor and her rebellious grandchild. I watched her live out her faith in God, never wavering, whether in the storms of life or sunny skies. I know this for certain, this one life impacted my life and now my life is impacting my generations and even the nations. I can say this because I have the eyes of faith to believe it.
     God's word says, "Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). Paul lists men from the Old Testament who became "famous" because of their great faith to believe the promises of God. He goes on to say, "These heroes all died still clinging to their faith, not even receiving all that had been promised them. But they saw beyond the horizon, the fulfillment of their promise and gladly embraced it from afar" (Hebrews 11:13a TPT).
     I have a promise from God that He gave to me before TMM was founded in 2012. "I will use you to bring healing to this generation." I have faith to believe that this promise will be manifested, even if I never see it with my natural eyes. I believe God will produce the fruit of this promise (and all the others), including the harvest of my prayers and the sowing of my tears in intercession. The fruit will manifest, from faith, in God's perfect timing. I will cling to these words, "These were the true heroes, commended for their faith, yet they lived in hope without receiving the fullness of what was promised them" (Hebrews 11:39 TPT). 
     Do I want to see the fruit of my labors? I do! Sometimes in my weakness, I pray to God, "Let me see some fruit Lord!" He very lovingly obliges me, because He knows that it encourages me to continue the work that He has given me to do. 

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