Issue 1412 – Abiding – April 3, 2024
The strange-looking green and white thing in today’s image is a grape in flower. Yes, grapes do flower (as do all fruits); we just don’t tend to notice them.
When I was a child, we enjoyed picking the fruit of the wild grape and eating it. I don’t know why we enjoyed them as the fruit tended to be very tart and small.
Perhaps it was as much the adventure of “living off the land” as anything else.
The people of Jesus’ day would have been much more familiar with that image than most of us are today. There were many vineyards in that part of the world, and people visited them regularly. They would have readily understood Jesus when He said,
“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. John 15:1-11
If Jesus’ audience, like the grape blossoms, were to detach from the vine, they would not fulfill their potential; they would not be all that they could become.
I look at the lives around me. So many don’t know the source of life, Christ. Wherever they are in life, unless they get grafted back into the vine, they will never be all God desires. Their destiny is to be one of wasted potential and eternal suffering.
As believers, our hope, strength, and very lives are tied to the vine. Our purpose is to bear fruit.
That fruit comes in many forms. Partly, it is growing in Christlikeness and learning to truly love and forgive one another. Partly, it is seeking others who are not attached to the vine and encouraging them to get grafted in.
We can’t do the grafting; only God’s Holy Spirit can do that, but He allows us to participate in the process. Something is exciting about seeing someone out there without Christ being grafted in by His grace and growing to be more like Him.
Allow the gardener to prune and shape you as you stay attached to the vine. He knows what will bring out the most fruit in your life.
Until next time, may you be richly blessed.
Be blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word
Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone)
Never let the enemy tell you that you are worthless or insignificant. Your value in God’s eyes is so great that it was worth dying for. You are a blessing to the world. You are so precious to God that his plan for heaven will not be complete without you.
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the English Standard Version (ESV)