The True and Fruitful Vine

UV 1677/10000 The True and Fruitful Vine
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
John 15 v 5
The Lord abides in the midst of those who choose to abide in Him. Without the connection with the vine the branches are useless. With the connection or grafting onto the vine of Jesus, we are useful and fruitful. A vine or fruit tree does not enjoy its own fruit. But as human beings, we can enjoy our internal as well as external fruit. With Him, we are heroes. Without Him, we are zeroes. Without Him we can do nothing. With Him we can do all things. He empowers us, anoints us, enables us, delivers us, strengthens us, perfects us, purifies us. He is the one omnipotent person who makes us omni-competent. We need to cling or cleave to Jesus. He is the true Vine bearing eternal fruit that will never perish. We need to live in Him, live with Him and live for Him. St Paul wrote, “ For me to live is Christ, to die is gain.” It meant that in his thoughts, actions, goals and words, he attempted and achieved a complete identification with Jesus. As much as he was disconnected with Jesus when he was Saul, he was connected with Him after the encounter on the road to Damascus. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, the Life and the Resurrection. It implies that He is the way to eternal life, the way of eternal life, the way to everything good and useful in life. When we abide in Him, we need to abide in truth and righteousness. When we abide in Him, His resurrection power works in us. The reason the Lord allows us to go through deadly challenges in our lives is to prove, demonstrate and manifest the reality of His resurrection power.

When we abide in Him, we abide in His Word. We give priority to feed of His Word daily, constantly and frequently. When we abide in Him, we obey His commandments and believe His promises. When we abide in Him, we give no room to fears, doubts and negative thoughts and words. When we abide in Him, we abide in the Holy Spirit and bear abundantly the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control. When we abide in Him, we use the gifts of the Spirit increasingly. When we abide in Him, we imitate Him in all things. When we abide in Him, we feel safe and joyful. When we abide in Him, we listen to His wise counsel. When we abide in Him, we experience and witness supernatural signs and wonders. When we abide in Him, we are always thankful and worshipful. When we abide in Him, we live in fellowship and oneness with other believers. When we abide in Him, He will cause us to flourish.

When we abide in Him, He is the wall that surrounds us on all sides. The Jews to this day turn to the Wailing Wall to mourn and pray. Jesus is the wall we turn to and pray all the time joyfully. Just as the walls of our homes surround us on all sides, so also Jesus surrounds us on all sides and at all times. Our life has many branches or aspects. The Lord will bless all the different dimensions of our lives. People who know about dog training understand that one of the most important commands a dog is trained to obey is "stay" where the dog just goes down on its haunches puts its paws forward and remains still in a sign of complete obedience and surrender. As humans we need to practice the spiritual equivalent of this command to abide or to stay in Jesus.

Prateep V Philip