I am the Vine

I am the Vine

Today, I pray that Father God will open your hearts and minds to receive His Word about what our relationship with him should look like. I will be reflecting on one of the famously used metaphors of Jesus being the vine and of us being the branches of the vine. Let us read John 15 :1-11.

““I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. 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. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be My disciples. As the Father has loved Me, so have I 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. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (ESV)

 

The word “abide” is an old English word which means “to lodge, to dwell, to remain, to endure.” If we consider a branch on a vine, it is very securely lodged, or fixed onto, or connected to the main stem and it cannot be broken off without tearing it at the joint or cutting it off with a sharp implement. That stem is what gives life to the branch. Once the branch is removed it dies rather rapidly. It first becomes limp and then it dies. It is of no value to the vine or to those who may expect it to bear fruit….in fact, even in immediate death, it is not even good enough for firewood. It will have to dry out completely to become fuel for a fire.

 

What do we have to offer when we lodge ourselves to the life-giving vine? Nothing. But what we receive is God our Father, Jesus our Saviour and the Holy Spirit our counsellor, all abiding in us. All of that for no cost on our part at all – only to lodge, or connect, or fix ourselves onto the vine and surrender our fruit bearing to the vine itself.

 

Consider the following:

• A branch grows through its connection with the vine, and we grow spiritually because of our relationship with Christ.
• A branch is nothing apart from the vine, and we can do nothing of God-glorifying value apart from Him.
• A branch draws strength from the vine, and we become spiritually strong through our relationship with Him.

Christ tells us that He is the Vine and the Father is the vinedresser. What does the vine dresser do?

• He prunes the fruit bearing branches to make them bear more fruit. More pruning, more fruitfulness.
  • There will be times in our lives when we will experience pain and sorrow as it seems that things are being taken from us or changing without valid reason – and this happens sometimes when things are going so well. If we abide in Him, we will realise that our fruit bearing is being pruned that we might bear even more abundant fruit. The pain of change is essential for our personal growth as fruit-bearing children of God.
• He removes the fruitless branches, and they are thrown away to dry and then to be burned.
  • We will often find that our lives will go through periods of dryness, when our passion for something peters out and we change direction. Instead of feeling guilty, or confused, or frustrated, we need to understand the concept of pruning and that that which dies, is removed so that new growth can take place. We need to be patient as we wait for the new growth.

The branches that abide in the vine are blessed, they grow and bear fruit, and the Father lovingly tends them. He, through the Holy Spirit, is always present with them, guiding the branches and tendrils to the best positions for maximum production. A branch does not come to the vine, receive life from it, and then leave again; the branch remains and becomes progressively stronger – going from a green and easily bruised shoot to a hard, woody, sturdy and tough-to-be-broken branch.

From this relationship of abiding and pruning, fruit will be borne. No branch is able to produce fruit if it is not attached to the vine. A strong branch or a beautiful branch, or even the best branch – if it is cut off from the vine, it is a useless branch. It does not matter how talented or gifted you are, if you are not in an abiding relationship with Jesus, those gifts and talents will not bring glory to God. We need to allow ourselves to be pruned of everything that stands in the way of our abiding relationship with Jesus – all sin, pride and self-sufficiency need to be surrendered to that pruning shear. This will allow new energy to flow through the vine and into your branch and life will take on new meaning and purpose.

Our fruit is not outward success; it is not the sensational glitz, and glamour, and fame that the world looks for. Let us look briefly at what the fruit really is that we can expect to have growing from our branch.

The fruit would be:

Christlike character. Galatians 5:22-23, describes this as being love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. None of these can be produced by self-effort. They grow naturally out of an abiding relationship with Jesus Christ.

Thankful praise to God – the fruit of worship regardless of our circumstances.

A spirit of Generosity will manifest in our lives. This fruit reveals a spirit of love for those in need whether it be money, or time, or service, etc. and it would be steeped in the divine energy of the vine flowing through us.

Purity in conduct. As Christians we strive to be holy in our behaviour, to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects (even when there is no-one to see it), bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

Caring about the spiritual health of others’ Souls. The way to be effective in leading people to Christ is by abiding in Christ. Your relationship with Jesus Christ speaks louder than any words you may utter and often leads to opportunities to share your faith.

 

There are several passages in Scripture that refer to the fruit of the Spirit – they are not separate from each other, like apples and pears, but rather they are like a bunch of grapes – all from the same source and dependant upon each other to be the product expected from the vine. We do not get individual grapes from the vine. The fruit of the vine comes in bunches – a set or collection of grapes known to be the fruit of the vine.

God gives an incredible promise to those who abide: “ If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ” (John 15:7).

The promise of answered prayer is reserved only for those who abide in the true Vine. Does this mean that we can take any shopping list to God and he will just pay for whatever is in that shopping trolley? I don’t believe so. I believe that if we are truly abiding within the Vine, within His word, then our prayers will align themselves to the will of God and to the purposes He has for us. Scripture teaches us too, that God does not honour the prayers that come from selfish motives –

Turn my heart toward Your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Psalm 119:36

Then He called the crowd to Him along with His disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me.” Mark 8:34

When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. James 4:3

I would like to suggest that these verses do not only refer to MONEY.

If we have His words (ALL SCRIPTURE) abiding in us, then we must hide it in our hearts, and commit ourselves to knowing and obeying it. Everything in our lives should be governed by what Christ has revealed.

In John 14:14, we read “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” Praying in His name is not merely adding “in Jesus’ name” to the end of a prayer. It means praying for that which is consistent with the words and will of Christ. The Christian who abides in Christ and is controlled by His Word is not going to ask anything against God’s will. We want what God wants, then we are guaranteed an answer to our prayer. Too many times our prayers focus on trying to persuade God to want what we want.

A quick aside : It is a well-known sentiment within the church that ALL prayer is answered. God either says Yes, or He says No, or He says Wait, not now. Why is it then, that as Christians we only thank God for answered prayer when it appears that He has done as we have asked or should I dare say, when He has done what we have told Him to do? We should be thanking Him for answered prayer, even when He has said NO. When we do that, then we are truly acknowledging Him as Lord of our lives and surrendering our will to His will.

Jesus says, “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” God wants us to be consumed with joy, regardless of our circumstances. Churches are made up of broken people, sinners – people who are hurt, anxious, depressed, bitter, discontented, complaining. But, God has designed the Christian life for our joy. If we can just learn to ABIDE in Him. His life will run through our branches and we will be able to overcome all our weaknesses with His joy. In this will HE be glorified. In this we will have abundant life.

When we do not abide, or when we separate ourselves from the vine, we grow confused as to His leading, we struggle in our prayer lives, we lose our joy and peace and we find ourselves striving in our own strength. Sin, doesn’t separate us from the love of God, but it does separate us from being infused with the power and love and joy of God to do effective, God-honouring ministry.

Romans 8:1 says, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” If we abide in Him we cannot be removed, we cannot be cut off, and we need not fear judgement. Our position is secure.

“Abide in Me, and I will abide in you.” – How awesome is that? I urge you to choose to abide in Him – surrender all to His life-giving promise.

May we live lives filled with His power and love, bearing abundant fruit as our offering of thanksgiving to Him.