I just loved what Sean said in his sermon last night about us being the branches and NOT the Vine. If we look at John 15 it is very clear that Jesus is the vine and not us. But we do like to act like we are the vine most days. We forget so easily that we have to be connected to the true Vine in order to bear fruit. We love in the flesh to bear fruit, but they never last. We have to "make our home" in Jesus, that is the only way we can bear lasting fruit. God can only work with us if we are connected to the vine. If we are the vine God will have to cut us down if we don't bear fruit, but since Jesus is the vine and we are the branches, God can trim us back, cut off the wayward branches (those things in our lives that don't contribute to us bearing lasting fruit).
I watched a Joyce Meyer dvd some time back and she said the following, 'THE WAY I SEE IT, you pruned if you do and you pruned if you don't" and i just loved that, it is so true. If we are starting out with God, God starts pruning away all the junk in our lives to help us bear fruit. If God sees that God got someone God can work with, God starts pruning us, so we can bear even better fruit.
I guess like so many things in our lives, we just need to let God be God and in this case Let Jesus be the true vine and we just need to get on with bearing more excellent fruit in God. Leave all the heavy lifting to God, let God take care of being the VINE and we can just be the branches! In John 15 v 5 it is very clear WHO the true Vine is, it couldn’t be more simple – I AM THE VINE AND YOU ARE THE BRANCHES……Lord Help us to stop acting like we are the vine, but help us to be the branches. Lord help us to allow You to trim us, to cut away at the junk in our lives and Lord help us to except the things we can’t change but allow You to God in our lives. We want to bear excellent fruit for You and attract people to the gospel through the way we reflect Christ. In Jesus name we Pray, Amen
The Vine and the Branches
1-3 "I am the Real Vine and my Parent is the Farmer. God cuts off every branch of me that doesn't bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing God prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken.
4"Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can't bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can't bear fruit unless you are joined with me.
5-8"I am the Vine, you are the branches.
