"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." John 15: 1-8
It strikes me how this passage says that every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, so it will be more fruitful. Even today, I'm feeling Him prune me...and quite frankly, I'm not a fan of the feel of those pruning shears. I do know that He wants me to learn from this, to be more fruitful in the future and to lean into the Vine for strength. But it doesn't mean that everyday is easy!
Reflect on what it means for you to “abide in” Jesus. (Other translations say “remain in me” or “live in me.”) What can you do today to be intimately
connected to Jesus? Read the passage one more time, pray that God will help
you to understand what it means to abide in Him today.
Steph, I see you awoke in the middle of the night probably thinking about your hosting duties today :) Thanks for taking the time to post something for us, Melany and I are both getting a lot out of it!
ReplyDeleteWhen I read the passage what immediately comes to mind is one of my earlier posts when I mentioned the "tyranny of the urgent". As a woman who plays many roles (wife, mother of 4, CFO, daughter, sister, friend, MOPS steering, volunteer, etc) sometimes the sheer number of things I have to do gets overwhelming, especially because I want to do each thing well and I begin responding to the "tyranny of the urgent" .
"Ironically" when I get the busiest and start feeling overcome is when I find I am "least" abiding in him because I have become a slave to my tasks and trying to do it all in myself. Coincidence? I think not. The days when I consciously strive to be close to him and have made the time (especially early in the day) to focus on opening up my hands and asking him to work in me are always the days that I am more peaceful no matter how long my to-do list is. I seem to get more done - and better - and quicker - on those days. I give more grace to those around me who are not "cooperating" with my "agenda" :), and I am more flexible.
I have been "pruned" pretty hard this last 12 months and as a result, have grown in a couple of areas in which I always felt I could not succeed. It wasn't until I gave it all up to Him, "abiding in Him", that I began to experience some victory. It is such a simple concept but one I think that we all struggle with, maybe our entire lives. We give it up to Him, then we take it back... then we give it up, then we take it back. I really do want the benefits of pruning, but not always the growing pains that go along with it! If I can only keep the end result in mind, of me being a Princess in His Kingdom who bears lush fruit and blesses others, that makes those growing pains worth it.