Are You Connected to the True Vine?
Good Morning Friends,
In today’s devotional and scripture reading from John we take a look at some of the last words of Jesus spoken near the end of His earthly ministry. The passage is a well-known scripture that has four basic elements: the vine, the vine-grower, the branches and the fruit. The vine is Jesus. The vine-grower is God. We are the branches. And the fruit is the result of our Christian life…the church. The scripture makes it clear that we are totally dependent on the vine for everything. We wither and die without the vine. But there is more. There is the plan of the Father that we bear fruit and bear it abundantly. And the fruit, that outward expression of our inward nature is where Jesus comes in, because only when we abide in Him, and He in us, is God glorified and our lives filled with joy. Only when we outwardly reflect the Nature of Christ are we producing the right fruit in a revealed way. Wrong fruits… no fruits… get cut off. That is why it is so important to be connected to not just any vine. The world is selling vines all the time. Take a vacation, get an upgrade, lose weight, eat this… wear that, drive this, get a better job, elect a new leader and you will be happy. Jesus proposes and promises something different. If you are connected to Jesus you have the promise of answered prayer, fruitfulness, love and joy. There is no real joy apart from Him. So take care to make sure you and those you love are producing His fruit. Are You Connected to the True Vine?
Scripture: The psalmist wrote, “I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.'”
Psalm 16:2 (NRSV)
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.
John 15:1-17 (NRSV)
28for this is my blood of the* covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.’
Matthew 26:28-29 (NRSV)
27
Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
1 Corinthians 12:27 (NRSV)
Message: In today’ scripture Jesus paints a simple picture of himself as the main vine of the vineyard, and we are the branches that grow off of him. God the Father is the gardener. He prunes. He cuts into our lives and removes the things that are not necessary for the good life. He wants us to have life and have it abundantly and that means we are to produce. In the vineyard of our lives, some branches are thrown away. Some are pruned. Some are fruitful. But to live, all must be connected. That is why we must be yoked to His purposes. Friends, the goal is not just to live but to become a fruitful branch… obedient… serving…loving in a way that brings glory to the Father at the cross. When our inward nature and outward expression reflects Jesus we will be prepared to connect others to the best in life and share in our joy of producing good fruit.
Without Him we can do nothing. Be thankful that He is pruning you. God wants us to produce good fruits. He wants us to connect with Jesus Christ and his work on the cross, because apart from Him we can do nothing for the Kingdom. The message of the cross and forgiveness…message of the cross and fruitfulness…the message of the cross and the flesh of our foliage, the message of the cross and His friendship is clear. We must be plugged into the power of His life and here connect in love with each other. As friends at the cross, as branches on the trellis, we must stay connected to Jesus. God wants us to be yoked to His Kingdom work. He wants us to be connected to the work He gave us all in the garden. And here is the revelation: our point of view, the story of our lives, and the reason for our love, and the unity of God all converge in this revolutionary organism of conversion that is the Body of Christ. Friends, get up and walk with God transformed.
Pray God’s truths be empowered by the Holy Spirit in us. Pray that the authority of Jesus be nurtured in us to complement the strength and gifts we have been given. Pray we are honest about our prayers so that they reflect what we believe. Pray we realize that we cannot ignore the obvious needs of others and still have the right to pray to God effectively about our own needs. Pray that God bless us so that we can be a blessing. Pray we realize that we cannot out give or out produce God. Pray we understand the purpose of God answering the prayers. Pray we are fruitful in a natural and revealed way. Pray we follow the example of Christ. Pray we abide in the Word. Pray we abide in love. Pray we abide in the abundant joy of Jesus. Pray we wake up and get up to a new life in a new body that is beliefful.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 