Daily Challenge 2/3: THE VINEDRESSER ___________________________________________ Jesus tells us in the Book of John that John 15:1-8 I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. This passage shows us many important concepts every Christians should live knowing that may apply to different places in our life. In this passage we learn that Jesus 1) is the true Vine, meaning in Him we have life when we live constantly connected to and as the branches of Him. 2) We learn that the Father has the power to take whatever is holding us back in life and cast it away (v.2), and when we are Abiding and living in the vine, He only makes us better--more like Him. The process of the Father pruning us is both the most trying and the most fulfilling times as a Christian. Pruning as a vinedresser involves two things, first the vinedresser sees the faults and the dying nature of the plant (maybe even in different parts), and second He clips them and removes them from the plant so that it may grow and thrive longer. Note that this is different than being cast out (if we are not bearing good fruit), but rather this process of pruning is what grows the Christian in a way that makes God always be reflected. Just as a vinedresser prunes His plants, when we allow God to prune us, we are allowing Him to make us complete and whole, and God will always be reflected through it--whether we notice it or not. When we give up anything in our lives that is not bearing the fruit of God- TO God, when we give up struggles, pains, hurts, or anything that is holding us back and submit to God and allow Him to prune us we become the reflection of Christ. My prayer is that we will not be hesitant to allow God to prune us. It may hurt, but from it, there is always life, and life abundantly (John 10:10). I challenge you today to allow God access to every aspect of your life so that He will prune, form, and make you more like Himself. ___________________________________________ Extra Reading: John 14:19-31/15:1-17 ___________________________________________
Posted on: Mon, 03 Feb 2014 12:44:47 +0000