LEARNING DAILY

 

John 15:1-2, 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 bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.  Jesus

 

The verses of John 15 about the true vine are a parable where Jesus describes Himself as the true vine and those who have become His disciples are the branches; Jesus is the source of all life. The branches bear fruit by remaining attached to Him. God is the One who takes care of the branches who are either fruit-bearing or barren. The ones who are barren may look like the other branches but because they are not producing fruit, they show they are different. God expects all the branches to bear fruit – righteousness, justice, forgiveness, and loving others are among His expectations.

 

The emphasis for today’s page of the blog is on the pruning. Those branches that bear fruit are those who have life in them because they endure in their faith and love for the Lord Jesus Christ. The Father prunes them in order for them to be more fruitful. In other words, “He removes from their lives anything that diverts or hinders the vital life-flow of Christ in them. The fruit is the quality of Christian character that brings glory to God through their character and witness” (LSSB).   The branches cannot bear fruit on their own, they must remain connected to the vine.

 

When one accepts Jesus Christ into his/her heart or is “born-again”, he/she receives eternal life and the power to remain in Christ or the vine. The Believer must then accept the responsibility of salvation and remain in Christ. Verse 4 states, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” As Believers, we have life as long as His life flows through us. How do we do that? We keep God’s Word continually in our hearts and minds, so it becomes our guide in everything we do and speak. We must individually make prayer and time spent with God our priority, a habit, in order to receive strength from Him. Obviously, our lives must reflect living as He has commanded and live because of our love for Him. We must love others. I hear often at our church, “Love God, love others” (Dr. Ed Newton). Our responsibility is to live our lives clean by reading/studying His Word and by resisting all sin and yielding to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

 

The narrow way is often written about on the pages of this blog. Each of us realize that this walk is often difficult; Jesus told us that this way would be difficult. I believe there is an important principle to realize in this. The saving relationship between Jesus Christ and Believers is that it is never based only on a past decision or experience. Instead, it is a relationship where Christ lives in Believers and guides and shares His life with them. The meaning of this is very significant. Verse 4 tells me the responsibility of remaining in Christ is the responsibility of each Believer – the power to do so was given to each Believer at the time Jesus Christ was asked into their heart. As Believers remains in Christ, He continues to live within them, and we experience tremendous joy and bear fruit for Him.

 

From now on DJSB will be used to note information or quotes from the David Jeremiah Study Bible and LSSB will refer to information and quotes from the Life in the Spirit Study Bible.