Do you ever pray for something and nothing seems to happen? For over a year I prayed the same prayer that Jabez prayed, for it was in line with the desire of my heart.

Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” And Jabez called on the Elohim (God) of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So Elohim granted him what he requested. (1Ch 4:9-10)

But my territory did not enlarge the way  I expected it to. As I look back now, I see that my Father had to conform me more fully into His image before He could ever begin to enlarge my territory. Otherwise all I would have done, at that time, was to sow a false image of my Father and a distorted image of His wonderful kingdom. I confess that at that time I had no fruit in my life. Ha – I did not even know what fruit was!

After Yehovah created man in His own image He commanded Adam to be “fruitful and multiply.”

So Yehovah created man in His own image; in the image of Yehovah He created him; male and female He created them. Then Elohim (God) blessed them, and Elohim said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Gen 1:27-28)

Ya know, I never gave these instructions much thought; I just kind of figured that it meant we were to have babies. But then I had to ask myself how the “be fruitful” part fit in, after all, He wasn’t telling Adam to multiply and multiply.

Adam was created in Yehovah’s image but after his fall even the good sons were created after Adam’s image, instead of Yehovah’s.

And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. (Gen 5:3)

After the flood Noah was again given the same instructions that Adam received.

So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. (Gen 9:1)

We, Israel, were intended to have our sons and daughters learn Yehovah’s righteous fruitful ways and then they were to follow Him in teaching their sons and daughters to do the same.

You shall teach them (Yehovah’s commandments, statutes and judgments) diligently to your sons, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. (Deu 6:7)

But the mercy of Yehovah is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to son’s sons, to such as keep His covenant, and to those who remember His commandments to do them. Yehovah has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all. (Psa 103:17-19)

It appears to me that multiplication without fruitfulness is counterproductive for shining the light of Yehovah’s image and His Kingdom on the earth. For if we have no fruit, all we are doing is adding numbers to a kingdom of men that will not learn righteousness. Perhaps that is why Yeshua said, “For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.” (Mat 12:50)

But fruitfulness without multiplication is just as damaging to Yehovah’s kingdom. For if we do not learn and do and teach Yehovah’s righteous ways to others, His kingdom does not prosper on the earth as it should. Well, we know that Yehovah will not allow that to happen, and that He has always had a faithful remnant throughout the ages. It is this remnant who will be great in His kingdom.

Yeshua said that the ones who would be great in the kingdom of heaven are those that do and teach even the least of Yehovah instructions which His gave to us through Moses and the Prophets. Yeshua said,

“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Mat 5:17-19)

Fruitfulness and multiplication always go hand in hand. Now, more than ten years after I began to pray the prayer that Jabez prayed, I am starting to see Yehovah use me to impact my world for Him. I see now that my fruitfulness had to preceed any multiplication.

In December 2010 I began a new blog that allowed me to utilize the free plugins that all hosted WordPress sites may use. It cost me far more than I was comfortable with at the time but it has allowed me to add many plugins to my blog that I could not add to my free WordPress site and I now have the ability to host other sites as well.

Switching from the free site to the paid site meant I lost almost 200 subscribers to my old newsletter (ouch!), but the full WordPress site is stronger now than ever and I am able to reach the whole world with the good news of Yehovah’s kingdom more efficiently. Here is a look at who has visited my blog over the last 30 days.

Today I would like to offer you the chance to start a WordPress blog of your own. For just $10 per month I will host your domain, install WordPress on it with up to 5 e-mail addresses and make myself available for questions from time to time. This is what I needed at the time that I was wanting to make the changes to my blog, but I had no one like myself to ask and had to learn to use WordPress by myself; that meant many hours of trial and error that you will not have to spend. WordPress is a wonderful program which easily creates a “what you see, is what you get” site.

So, for a very small investment each month, you too can begin to enlarge your territory. Please do not hesitate to give me a call if I can be of any assistance to you in becoming more fruitful, expanding your territory or both! It would be my privilege to help you.