Part of the Vine.

And can it be that thou my God should die for me? What a thought – the God of the universe, Creator of all has made a way forward that He himself should, in a mysterious way die for me and for you personally. What a thought, what an amazing truth?

“It is really impossible for you to grasp the full dynamics of that statement because My ways are so much higher than your ways, My thoughts than your thoughts but the facts are there and the specifics of a great event which was fired by My love for My creation, for you and all who read this blog. An event which demonstrates more graphically in image that in word that if I should be prepared to die for you – how much more will I give you all things you need and most of all My love which is inseparable from Me. Take that in every moment of the day and let it continually transform you.”

John’s story continues into one of the best-known chapters in the bible. The chapter on the vine and the branches. Let past familiarity not rob you of the insight into this astonishing bit of teaching. Read John 15:1-11. Although the scene has changed to some time later, the flow of teaching continues from the previous chapter. John is putting together a number of stories which are aimed at encouraging the reader to understand the benefits and dynamics of having a relationship with God the Father through Jesus, the Son.

One of the reasons this passage is so well-known is that it is relatively easy to understand the point of Jesus’s teaching. Read it through and meditate on it, especially as it applies to you. While it is easy to understand it is not always obeyed completely. The message is clear: God wants us to produce fruit. Fruit are the signs of a good relationship with Him. But fruit will only grow on a branch that is healthy and well-fed. Whose responsibility is it that this should happen? Well God desires to bring His side of the deal. He wants a healthy branch, yet it behoves each one of the branches to make use of all that the Vine offers and starts with the instruction to abide or remain in Jesus. A continued state of close fellowship.

God cannot feed the branch if it does not stay connected to the vine, drawing sustenance from it. How do we do that? Well that is what relationship is about. There are many facets. We need to feed on His word, and relate to Him by speaking to Him in prayer. Then there is a constant sense of obedience and surrender to His will. There is interaction with others in the kingdom family. Teaching and fellowship both in the church and elsewhere. If we do not participate and draw from these and the many other ways that God provides we will dry up and produce only shrivelled and sour fruit of self pity, complaining and bitterness.

God is always busy in the lives of the branches. He uses His painful pruning shears to cut off the dead wood of our branch lives. We don’t always see it that way but in everything that happens to us He is busy and often pruning away those areas which stop us from producing fruit. Like in agriculture, when a branch has been pruned it gathers new vitality and produces a greater abundance of fruit. While the immediate experience may be uncomfortable or even painful the harvest of fruit that is produced thereafter makes it really worthwhile.

The question we should all ask ourselves is: am I so closely bound to the Vine that I am producing fruit which honours Him and goes towards the building of His kingdom? What is stopping me from truly feeding effectively from Him? The ultimate repeated instruction is “abide (or remain) in Me”. That is a minute by minute state of close connection with the Father through the Son, a connection which is demonstrated by obedience. 15:10.

Then, most importantly, he returns to the earlier statement when He was introducing the concept of a relationship with the True God through Jesus the Son in John 14:14. That this close relationship with the Father gives you the privilege of asking anything in Jesus’s name and He promises that it will be given you 15:7. This promise is part of the privilege of having a real relationship, one of a branch remaining and depending on the Vine. But notice it is contingent on remaining in the vine. Its aim is to help you produce fruit for the glory of God. And by that to show that you are His disciples. We cannot demonstrate true discipleship and God’s ongoing love without this dynamic. It is an amazing promise, often misunderstood because it is not read and understood in the context of the whole passage.

Friends, why don’t you read this passage again and allow your mind and imagination to run as you ask Jesus to speak to you through it. Let it become part of your thought process and flow into your mind as you apply what you are hearing.

God bless till next week.