Fruit and Results

Gardening is an art, just ask someone who does not have a green thumb.  While it may be an art, it is also a learned craft and one that takes a lot of work, dedication and loving care.  You might see a neighbor leaning over a flower bed and wonder why his yard produces such beautiful blooms while yours looks too pitiful to point to.  What is the difference?  Could be lots of things, but a couple of the more obvious ones would be water and sunshine and pruning.

Water and sunshine are no brainers, but pruning?  Isn't that cutting some of the plant off and throwing it away?  Ouch, that sounds harsh.

He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. (John 15:2)  

Flowers are meant for us to enjoy, to look at and feel blessed with a colorful treat for the eye.  Ask a gardener what his secret to his successful crop is and he might tell you that  we will thin out the bed by plucking up any shoots that do not look promising; those that are not growing and taking the shape they should.

The scripture of the Vine and the Branches is about the Master Gardener, Jesus, and how He wants to teach us how to bear fruit, how to be the best we can be.  We must be close to Him.  

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)

John 15:1-12

Genesis 3:1-11

We all know the story of Adam and Eve with the serpent. It’s difficult to imagine how Eve could possibly have found credibility in a slithering snake.  The Lord had offered them the most beautiful gift they could ever receive, but they didn't know what they didn't know.

God is our ultimate source of life and fulfillment. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command, they demonstrated a lack of trust that brought separation from God and therefore, death.

Verse 4-5: “You will surely not die,” the serpent said to the woman.” 

         For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Though the couple did not physically die, they lost the blessing of paradise, recognized their nakedness in shame, and ultimately hid from the Source of Life, who sustained them. This is the spiritual death that sin brings.

Verses 9-10: Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord

God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid

          from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

Though Adam and Eve disobeyed and mistrusted the Lord, He wasn't content to let them be lost to Him forever. He sought them out, calling Adam’s name. “Where are you?” God knew, of course. But Adam and his wife were being held accountable. How had it come to this? Where did they stand with the Lord? What would happen next?

We too, must ask the question. Where do we stand in the eyes of The Great I AM?

In the book of John, Jesus reminds us:

John 6:35  I AM the bread of life…    
John 8:12  I AM the light of the world… 
John 10:7  I AM the gate for the sheep…   
John 10:11 I AM the good shepherd…  
John 11:25 I AM the resurrection and the life…      
John 14:6   I AM the way and the truth and the life...
John 15:5   I AM the vine; you are the branches...                                                                                                                                                                        

Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, God has made a way for our relationship with Him to be reconciled and restored. Are you going to work on that? I AM!

Read/Listen to Genesis 3:1-11

Branches of belief!

"... consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.  You will say then, ‘Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.’  Granted.  But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith.”  Romans 11:18b-20a

A man once said to me, “I have a hard time accepting the idea that God will only let me into heaven if I believe a certain thing or a certain way.  So I live my entire life and, at the end, it all comes down to whether or not I believe something to be true?  I want to believe, because I’ve seen big changes in believers’ lives, but I have a hard time accepting that.”

The man’s honesty was refreshing and I completely understood his skepticism.  For if “belief” is simply acknowledging that something is true, I think he has hit on something.  Mere acquiescence to the truth of a matter, however sincere, seems to be of little significance.  James gave voice to it this way: “You believe that there is one God.  Good!  Even the demons believe that - and shudder. (James 2:19)”

But faith in Jesus is not like that.  Biblical belief is more than a nod in agreement.  Much more ...

First, it is not good enough to simply believe in something; the object of our belief must be true in itself.  Let’s use Paul’s example of a root and its branches.  If we were to graft branches into a dead root, the branches would also die, quickly, regardless of the depth of our conviction while we went about the grafting.  Our belief would have been misplaced and therefore hopeless.  If the root were alive, however, its branches – be they natural or grafted – would also live; whether we were supremely confident or uneasy and anxious, the branches would “share in the nourishing sap of the olive root” and thrive.  Paramount is not the size of our faith, but the validity of that in which we place it.

Upon finding that which is true – a root with life in itself – real belief reaches far beyond simple assent.  (“Yep, that root’s alive, all right!”)  Faith embraces truth with arms of action.  Jesus Christ is that living “root” and he invites us to be grafted in to himself.  We RSVP in the affirmative by confessing that we branches cannot survive on our own or by any other means, and entrusting our very lives to him who is able to sustain us forever.  That is our action of belief: relinquishing our self-righteousness for his righteousness, our kingship for his kingship, our will for his will, our lives for his life in us.  Faith reaches far beyond an academic nod to truth; by it, we entrust our dying lives to the one who can sustain us forever.

May we, then, always hold on to the hope that is true, never misplacing our belief, but remaining ever-trusting in Jesus, who has life in himself.  And living freely in this certainty, may we be graced with opportunities to tell other “wild olive shoots” about the root that sustains us. 

He always has room for more.

[Today’s daily Bible reading is Romans 11:17-24.  For added context, verses 11-16 are also included in the following links.  For NIV, click here.  For The Message, click here.]

John 15: 1-17

Empowered By God’s Grace

John 15:1 Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.”

John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches.”

John 15:9 “As the Father has loved me, so I loved you. Now remain in my love”

John 15:10 “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in His love.”

John 15:17 “This is my command: Love each other.”

1 Corinthians 13:13 “And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

We have heard that once we hit bottom the only place to look is up. Perhaps this is a somewhat non-biblical way of pointing people to the Lord. It suggests that when all else fails and there is no hope left, one might as well go for the last resort and look to God. In many ways this seems like such a backward approach, but for some, it may be the only way they can let God in.

This is pruning to the max! Created by God, we are an extension of Him. We truly are the branches. For some of us, being stripped of all we think is valuable to the point of breaking is the pruning we require to wake us up to God’s Love. It does not have to be this way, but for some, it is the only way. When we see others in this position, what do we do?  I hope we love them, pray for them with a deliberate heart, and are there for them no matter what. That is God’s command; “Love each other.” It does not say love others when they are nice to you, or when they give to you what you desire, He says; “Love each other.”

It is easy to love those who show us love and behave in a way that pleases us, but there are many others who need our love and the love of the Lord who do not appear to deserve it. As they are being pruned, they seem to want to take us down with them. We are to be strong, and LOVE THEM. We are empowered by God’s grace and it is by offering God’s Grace to others that we truly live.

Read/Listen to John 15:1-17

Luke 13:18-21

When Jesus walked the earth, he often used parables to teach. Those lessons of life are available to us today, within His word. These parables hold within them important messages for us that are not always easy to understand. The parable of the mustard seed and the yeast is brief. When I read it I see Jesus contemplating just how to verbalize his thoughts. Thinking deeply about his word choice, and making a visual in his head before he begins speaking. “Then Jesus asked, What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches.”

In Mark 4:30-32 the parable of the mustard seed is again mentioned. At the end of it however, Mark writes “With many similar parables, Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.” How awesome would that have been to be one of those who Jesus clarified his parables to! They often hold messages we do not see, because our understanding of God’s kingdom is like a mustard seed, so very small. It has the potential however, to grow into something bigger than we know, larger and richer than our brains can wrap around. Even as devoted Christ followers we are still unable to fathom what is to come….but we still try, and as we do, we grow and sprout branches.

Click here to view entire passage