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

John 15: 1-17

I Am The True Vine

The authors of the bible did not use these analogies by accident. God’s word spoken through them clearly illustrates how nature works in much the same way as man.

Last fall I received a call from my adult daughter, inquiring if she had pruned the young bushes in her front yard properly. The shrubs were nothing to look at to begin with, rather scraggly and weak looking. I inquired, “How did you do it?” “Well,” she hesitated, “I used a clipper and cut all the branches down about the same length.” “How much did you leave above the ground?” was my reply. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe an inch,” was her quiet come back. I could tell by her voice she thought she may have gone a bit too far for these young perennials to make it through a rough Midwest winter, but I encouraged her. I shared that I don’t generally cut mine back quite that far, yet a good pruning can often be just what it takes for them to come back better than ever. I believe my optimism left her with a bit of hope for new sprouts in the spring.

She recently sent a picture of her severely pruned shrubs on my phone, and to her delight and mine, though they are much smaller than last year, they are thriving. Perhaps the severe blow they survived helped them somehow realize their vulnerability, and push back through the dirt despite the odds, to show my daughter their true beauty and worth.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”  John 15: 1-2 “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain on the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” John 15:4 Though our God is much more deliberate about which of our branches is cut off, which ones are pruned, and to what depth than my daughter was, the truth is;

All created by God, we are an extension of him. We are empowered by God’s grace and it is by remaining in him and offering God’s Grace to others that we truly live. This passage ends with  “Love Each Other.”

Read/Listen to John 15:1-17

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