I Am the Vine

-

"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing." - (Jn. 15:5, NASB)

A brief excerpt from yesterday's message.

   There is one main, overarching theme in this passage of Scripture: Jesus is our source! Everything else in this passage flows from that thought. He is the vine, not we ourselves. We sometimes think, or at least act, as though we have the capacity to bear fruit by sheer strength and determination, but it is just not possible. We are the branches. The branch receives its nourishment from the vine itself, and the health of the branch is directly linked to both the health of the vine and the strength of its connection. As the vine, Jesus is perfect, so there is no problem there. The problem comes in our connection with the vine. The stronger connection we have, the more of His life flows in and through us. I am not talking about improving on salvation. We cannot do anything further to be saved, or to be connected to Him, for we are saved by grace through faith, period!  Jesus said, "…abide in Me and I in him…" This speaks of relationship. If we are going to be spiritually healthy and fruitful, we must maintain a strong connection with Jesus. Through reading and studying Scripture, prayer, connecting to and involving ourselves in a local church, we learn to strengthen that relationship connection with our LORD. In doing so, we ensure that His life will continually flow into ours.
   One final thought. Jesus said, "apart from Me you can do nothing." When Jesus says "nothing" does He mean we literally can do "nothing" apart from Him? Absolutely! In Colossians Paul writes, "in (Jesus) all things hold together." (1:17, NASB) If it were not for the grace of God sustaining our every breath, our meager existence would cease. I breathe because the LORD holds me together and allows me to breathe. Therefore, there is nothing in this life that I can take credit for. Any thought, word or deed is because of Jesus. To Him alone belongs all glory. Without Him, we can do nothing, but through Him we can all things!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Don't Waste Your Pain

-
Image
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction... - 2 Corinthians 1:3-9    Affliction (pain and suffering) is an inevitable, unavoidable, and repeatable part of life. None of us are exempt. While  we would all like to avoid affliction, the truth is that pain and affliction  serve a greater purpose , whether it comes from our own choices, the ordinary course of life, an attack of spiritual forces, or from God Himself.  Richard Cecil is noted as saying, "God's way of answering the Christian's prayer for more patience, experience, hope, and love often is to put him into the furnace of affliction.” Even  though we cannot avoid affliction, we can use it for the glory of God. That’s right. Your pain can be used to glorify God. How do we do this?    First, we need to learn to receive God's comfort. Much like in life, some folks are better at letting others "in" th
Read more

Dependent Upon God

-
Image
Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Tell the sons of Israel to turn back and camp..." Exodus 14:1    Have you ever stopped and considered why God led the Israelites to freedom by taking them through the desert? Really, think about the process for a moment. He led them out of the slavery for a day or two, then told them to turn back towards the city of their captivity, next to the sea, and make camp. This lead to their being trapped. Then He led them to a place with with plenty of water, but it was undrinkable. Not too long after that, when all their food provisions were depleted, He led them to a place where there was no food or water for themselves or their livestock. Why would God be so cruel? Well, if you know the rest of the story, then you may already know the answer. They were never trapped, for God parted the waters, allowing them safe passage through the sea and drowning their enemies. The undrinkable water was made drinkable, and they were provided food
Read more

Biblical Apprenticeship

-
Image
"...Go therefore and make disciples... ” - (Matt. 28:18-20)   The Greek word mathetai is the term we usually translate as disciple, and it expresses the idea of "student" or "pupil". To me, the best understanding today of the biblical principle of disciples is apprentices. Think about it, in a typical apprenticeship a new generation of practitioners are prepared with on-the-job training and often some accompanying classroom work and reading.  Apprenticeships typically last 3 to 6 years, and generally involve four steps:     (1)  Commitment - At this level the apprentice makes the commitment to stay the course by receiving the education and training necessary to become the “journeyman”.       (2) Classroom - At this phase, the apprentice receives the information necessary to understand and work within the sphere of labor.      (3) Training - At this phase, the apprentice begins to put the information they have learned into practice. First by wat
Read more