Think for a moment about a grapevine. The vine provides life to the entire plant. Under the ground, the vine pushes its roots deep down into the soil and then delivers all the nutrients and water it needs to sustain life. Just as our veins carry life-giving blood throughout our bodies, so the stalk brings life-giving nutrients to its branches. Without the stalk, there is no life.
The same is true for us in a spiritual sense. Jesus is the vine that gives us eternal life and each individual Christian is a branch of that vine. Just as fruit and branches of the vine receive their nutrients from the vine, so the branches of Christ, receive their nutrients from their Vine. If we are connected to the vine, then we ought to bear fruit.
Jesus is the vine that gives us eternal life and each Christian is a branch of that vine. If we are connected to the vine, then we ought to bear fruit.
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While the grapevine receives nutrients from the soil, we get our nutrients come from the Word of God. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The Word that John is talking about is Jesus. So what John was saying is “In the beginning was Jesus and Jesus was with God and Jesus was God.” There is another place in the Bible that begins with “In the beginning…” Yes, Genesis 1:1. So in that beginning – Jesus was. Jesus has always been actively involved with our world – from its beginning and He still is today.
Staying Connected
Because we are connected to the vine, we ought to bear fruit. We can only stay connected to the vine by reading the Word of God – the Bible, and by communicating with God through prayer. Remember John called him the Word that was God. In Matthew 4:4 Jesus said: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Jesus said in John 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”
Jesus still speaks today and He does so through His Word and His Word is life. If we are not in God’s Word every day, then we are not going to have a good connection to the Vine. We’re still part of the Vine, but the connection is loose so we’re not getting the nutrients we need to be healthy, fruit-bearing branches.
Are You Bearing Fruit?
Healthy branches, that are well connected to the vine, will bear fruit – and not just any fruit. It will only bear the fruit that belongs to the vine. We do not go to an apple tree to pick oranges. Nor does the grapevine deliver pumpkins. You also can’t have a vine that produces both grapes and pumpkins. The vine will either produce grapes or pumpkins – but you can’t have both from the same vine.
A healthy branch doesn’t just produce a little bit of fruit. Jesus says in John 15:5 that because we are connect to Him we will produce much fruit. Not the tiny, shriveled up fruit. It produces the best fruit. The better connected to the Vine, the more fruit it will produce.
Maybe today you’re producing some fruit, but you wouldn’t say its an over abundant fruit. If so, how connected are you to the Vine? Are you reading God’s Word and meditating on it? Do you research it? Are you spending time in prayer? How often do you go to church? Are you part of a small group? Some times our connection to the Vine gets some interference, causing a weak connection. That interference can come from social media, TV, friends, family members, or co-workers. If you have interference, how can you prune it out and get a strong connection back to the Vine?
Branches produce the fruit that uniquely belongs to the vine.
Being connected to the Jesus Vine means we produce spiritual fruit. It is a fruit that is uniquely produced from the Jesus Vine. The Jesus Vine only produces Jesus fruit. In other words, we can’t produce the fruit of being connected to Him and the fruit of being connected to Satan. If you actively, willfully and persistently produce Satan fruit, then you better see if you’re actually connected to the Jesus Vine. You might just be tangled up in the vine because your parents or spouse is connected to the vine and you might not be connected at all. So if you’re continually and willfully producing the fruit of Satan – check out your connection. Chances are you’re connected to Satan and not to Jesus at all.
A healthy branch produces spiritual fruit.
The result of being connected to Jesus is that we produce spiritual fruit. The Bible calls this fruit the “Fruits of the Spirit.” Galatians 5:22-23 names these fruits as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. So while we can’t have both Jesus fruit and Satan fruit, we can have lots of different kinds of Jesus fruit. Being connected to Jesus doesn’t mean we just have love – or we just have peace – or we just have patience… We can have all the fruits of the Spirit and lots of them (I think I typically run short of that one called patience! I think it might need a little – or a lot of – fertilizer!)
Being connected to Jesus means we produce spiritual fruit that is a product of being connected to Him and can only come from Him. These fruits are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control.
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Image, for a moment, if our lives were full of the fruits of the Spirit because we are well grafted to the Jesus Vine? Would our world look differently?
Healthy branches should produce more healthy branches
Healthy branches should be producing more healthy branches. As Christians, we are to lead others to Christ. In Mark 16:15-16, Jesus commanded us to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every nation. Perhaps God has called you to be a missionary or a pastor or to some other ministry. Or for someone else, it could mean being a small group leader or children’s Sunday school teacher. Another person might find it means telling a co-worker about Jesus, or a friend, or the waitress at your favorite restaurant, or your child’s soccer coach. The point is, we are all called to tell someone about Jesus.
Every time we bring someone to Christ and they accept Him as Savior, Jesus grafts them into the Vine. In John 15:16, Jesus said that He chose and appointed us to go and bear fruit. How many people will miss out on eternal life and spend eternity in hell we because we did not bring others to the Vine?
We are called to tell someone about Jesus. Jesus chose and appointed us to go and bear fruit. If we do not obey, then how many people will miss out on eternal life and spend eternity in hell?
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What does your branch reveal to the world about the vine you are connected to? Are you a branch connected to Jesus or Satan? Does the world see a branch producing much fruit or just a little bit of fruit? Are you a branch that are leading others to find the life-giving Jesus Vine?
#IamtheVine #youarethebrances #befruitbearing #John
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If not, come join us as we read the Bible through in one year. Each day we post the scripture reading along with links to read it online.
Have you learned this week’s memory verse?
Lamentations 3:22-23
Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!
Do you serve in ministry? Great! The self-care blogs are here for you.
In this series of blogs, we breakdown why people in ministry need to practice self care. We explain the differences between stress, burnout, and compassion fatigue. Drawing from both psychology and Biblical principles, we teach self-care to keep ministry servants serving. Whether you are a pastor, missionary, small group leader, worship pastor, nursery worker, facility/maintenance staff, religious non-profit staff, or any other ministry staff, self-care is crucial to you continuing the work God’s called you to do.
If you can relate to this, then take some time to read our self care blogs.
Test your Bible smarts and see if you can answer our trivia questions. We post a trivia question every other day and the correct answer on the next day. Stop by the trivia page and grab a question or two and see if your friends and family can answer it.
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What’s Inside God, Love and Marshmallow Wars?
This book includes 365 daily activities and takes you on a guided journey through Biblical principles about Godly marriage that you can then apply to your marriage, as well as helping you talk through concepts that can help you develop a solid relationship. Inside you will find simple, quick activities that include:
- Scripture to memorize and meditate on
- Conversation Starters
- Concepts from the Bible on Godly marriages
- Romance Builders
- Relationship Builders
- Personal reflections
- Date ideas
- Group date ideas for you and other Christian couples
Available in hardback, paperback and ebook from Westbow Press Bookstore, Christian Book Distributors, Amazon, and Barnes & Nobel. Click the icons below to purchase from your preferred bookstore. Now also available at WalMart online.
Join the community of couples on Facebook who are committed to intentionally growing their marriage and learning how to have a marriage that honors God. Here you can post photos of the different activities as you do them, ask questions of other couples, share how God is using this book to strengthen your marriage, and grow with other Christian couples. We’ll see you in the community.
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(Due to COVID-19, we are only tentatively booking speaking engagements for events after September 2020 based on the recommendations as issued by the CDC and our government officials.)
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