Hello Friends! I have honestly spent my every waken moment today studying John 15:1-8. I was asked earlier this morning, by my one of our Members, if I thought that my accident was the result of Gods discipline. That is an excellent question and I replied to him with this: To be honest with you I really dont know. Lets take a look at Job for a minute. Was all his suffering for discipline or was it for blessing. Satan asked Gods permission to have at Job and God granted his request. To answer the question, all his suffering was to glorify God and it all was for blessing. Am I like Job? I dont know. All I can tell you is that I love our Lord and I am in tune with Him more than I have ever been. I do know that I was in tune with Him before all this happened. All I know is that God is getting glory from my suffering now and I am happy that He is pleased even though it has been very rough. Because of this question I found it necessary to study for the answer and I believe I have come much closer. God doesn’t purposefully cause bad things to happen like cancer, paralysis, diabetes, MS, Spina Bifida, ect. Yet every trial you face is an opportunity to let him work in your life for abundance. If you invite Him into your circumstances, He will keep His promise to work everything together for your good. (Romans 8:28) I feel like my vine was broken by accident or it could have been the work of the same force that tested Job who knows. Either way I will continue to glorify Him and produce abundant fruit. These are my notes from my study today and I am posting them for your good and his glory! Most of my notes come from Bruce Wilkinsons book Secrets from the Vine: _____________________________________________________________________ “Friends, you may be going through a time of wounding right now just like me. If you are, take heart because your heart is being set to God’s and there is no saving work apart from pain. Your life will produce so much more fruit from it all. Fruit that you probably won’t even see or know about. Just remember what I have learned these many years: Apart from Him, you can do nothing. But in Him, with His life sap flowing through your branch and leaves, you have strength for everything. He said so! And somehow, the result of all that cutting and wounding, grafting, and healing will be fruit beyond what you have ever produced or imagined.” Joni Eareckson Tada John 15:1-8 ~ 1 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 is the heart of Jesus’ final message to His disciples on the night He was betrayed. By dusk the following day, Jesus would be stretched out on a cross, His body stripped and pierced, His life painfully and slowly going away. He wanted every follower for generations to come to know exactly how to live an over flowing life and understand what God would do to make it happen. For those whom God loves, He grafts. Definition of Grafting: Grafting involves uniting two living organisms by biological bonding. In viticulture, grafting is the joining of the scion (the aerial, fruit-bearing part) on to the rootstock (the root system). Grafting can be performed using budding techniques in particular the well-known T-bud and Chip-bud ones. Top grafting or field grafting means renewing a grafting operation on a plant which has already been grafted, either bench-grafted prior to planting, or grafted in the field. Top-grafting generally aims at modifying the grape variety of an established and productive vine. Grafted and top grafted plants require proper care and maintenance throughout the plants growing season. However, the overall results are excellent, and only one crop is lost in modifying the grape varieties in a plot. By comparison, restructuring by uprooting and replanting would require new trellising, several unproductive years, and produce young wines for another 10 to 12 years. “Too many Christians are standing in the shadows of that vineyard. Like Jesus’ disciples, they have discovered that following Jesus has turned out far differently than they expected. They feel confused and disillusioned – maybe even betrayed by God. What you don’t understand is what God wants from you is a fruitful harvest for Him! He has been working all along in your life to bring that about. This is God’s plan to keep His children flourishing physically, emotionally and spiritually. 1) Jesus is the vine ~ The vine is actually a trunk of the plant that grows out of the ground. The keepers of the vineyard keep that trunk about waist height or thirty six inches tall. The vine ends in a large knot from which branches grow in either direction along the trellis. 2) The Father is the vinedresser ~ He is the keeper of the vineyard. His job is to get as much as he can from His plants. 3) You are the branches ~ The branches are the focus of the vinedresser because they produce fruit. They are tied to a trellis to provide maximum amount of sunshine, and to allow full access for tending. The vinedresser lovingly cultivates each branch so that it will bear as much fruit as possible. The branches get pruned, from time to time. Bruce Meg Wilkienson’s Book Secrets of The Vine explains everything in his book ~ “Fruit represents good works – a thought, attitude, or action of ours that God values that glorifies Him. The fruit from your life is how God receives His due honor here on earth. That is why Jesus declares, “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit” John 15:8. You bear inner fruit when you allow God to nurture in you a new, Christ like quality: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” Galatians 5:22. You bear outward fruit when you allow God to work through you to bring Him glory. “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” 2 Corinthians 9:8. Whether you chopping wood for a widow, taking care of an ill neighbor, or spending a lifetime as a missionary in the jungle, outward fruit appears when your motive is to bring God glory. How important and valuable is fruit bearing, then? Jesus says, “I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain” John 15:16. Fruit is your only permanent deposit in heaven! It is the main earthly reason you were saved. Paul told Christians they were “created in Christ Jesus for good works” Ephesians 2:10. Our dreams, like the disciples, are always too small. We are here to fulfill God’s dream – that we will bring Him glory through a remarkably abundant life. That is how we find our greatest personal fulfillment, now and for eternity. For the vineyard to really produce, the branches have to respond to the attentions of the vinedresser. All branches do not respond alike. Every branch is unique, and when harvest day arrives, each will have produced a different-sized crop. There are four different kind of branches. Each of us are a branch that is producing a clearly defined level; of abundance 1) Branch 1 ~ Not very encouraging. Some branches do not bear a single grape. “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit” John 15:2. 2) Branch 2 ~ Jesus describes this branch as one that “bears fruit” John 15:2. 3) Branch 3 ~ Jesus illustration of this branch is that it bears “more fruit” John 15:2 4) Branch 4 ~ Jesus’ description of this branch is that it “bears much fruit” John 15:5 The Father wants more fruit from us so much that He actively tends our lives so we will keep moving up from a barren to a productive branch, to fill an empty to overflowing basket. We were created to bear fruit, more fruit…and still more fruit! Let me ask you, how much fruit do you see in your life today? In a conversation with a vinedresser he met Wilkerson found out through a conversation with a vinedresser how he does things and it may explain what happens to the branch that does not produce fruit: He stresses that the vinedresser wants each and every branch to be fruitful. Vinedresser: New branches have a natural tendency to trail down and grow along the ground. But they dont bear fruit down there. When branches grow along the ground, the leaves get coated in dust. When it rains, they get muddy and mildewed. The branch becomes sick and useless. Wilkinson: What do you do? Cut it off and throw it away? Vinedresser: Oh, no! The branch is much to valuable for that. We go through the vineyard with a bucket of water looking for those branches. We lift them up and wash them off. Then we wrap them around the trellis or tie them up. Pretty soon theyre thriving. This is the understanding Jesus wants us to have because it is what the disciples and everyone else of that day would have understood. No one then would have accepted the idea of discarding an entire branch and neither should we. Pruning, on the other hand, is a different matter, and it is likewise understood to be loving discipline, not disposal. The First Secret of the Vine: If your life consistently bears no fruit, God will intervene to discipline you. Discipline hurts! Discipline is what happens when our loving Father steps in to lift us away from our own destructive and unfruitful pursuits. “As a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you” Deuteronomy 8:5. Does discipline feel good? No. Maybe that is why we spend so much time trying to avoid it or pretending like it is not there. God is just taking measures to correct as a vinedresser takes the necessary measures to correct a wayward branch. Does discipline feel good to the Father? No. Is disciple the way of committed love? Absolutely! A key text for our understanding of how Karen God seeks to clean us up is found in Hebrews: 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6 For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.” Hebrews 12:5-6 We learn important principles from this verse: 1) God is the source of our discipline. 2) He disciplines all believers. 3) He always acts out of love. God always disciplines those who bear no fruit. When we let sin block our ability to bear fruit, God intervenes. He will discipline very gently at first and if you ignore Him, He lovingly raises the stakes. If you are wondering whether you are in a season of discipline, ask yourself these questions: • Can I look back over my walk with God and see very clearly that a sinful behavior I used to be caught up in is no longer an issue? • Are there any thoughts, attitudes, or habits that used to dominate your life, but don’t anymore? If you answered yes, you’re moving forward with God. If you can’t, your branch is probably not bearing fruit and you are undoubtedly being disciplined. There are degrees of discipline God uses to get us moving forward. If we look again at the verses from Hebrews 12, we find three degrees of intervention. • Degree 1 ~ Rebuke – “My son, do not be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him” (V.5). A rebuke is a verbal warning. This degree is a result of your poor choices. This is the most common form of discipline. • Degree 2 ~ Chasten – “For whom the Lord loves He chastens” (v.5). Chastening is something you feel as emotional anxiety, emotional discord, frustration, or distress. Hat used to bring you doesn’t anymore. Your pressures increase at work, at home, in your health or finances. If rebuke didn’t work then maybe some very unpleasant feel will. • Degree 3 ~ Scourge – “And scourge every son whom He receives” (v.6). To scourge is to whip, to inflict punishment. It is the same word the Gospels use to describe what the Romans did to Jesus just before they crucified Him. Not pretty. “God whispers through pleasure, but shouts through pain. Sometimes our Father has to shout!” C.S. Lewis What Stops Good People From Cleaning Up Their Act? Do you recognize yourself in any of these misguided voices? • “The pain and negative circumstances in my life are the results of natural consequences or fate. They’re not connected to my choices.” • “If God does discipline me somehow, it would probably be a one-time deal. He’s much too forgiving to impose escalating consequences or to intentionally cause me pain just to motivate me to stop sinning.” • “Let’s be honest. The enjoyment I get from my so called sin outweighs any spiritual benefit I’d get from stopping. And anyway, my sins aren’t really hurting anybody.” • “I simply can’t help myself. This problem goes back to my childhood. So why wouldn’t God extend grace rather than impose discipline?” • “Just because I sin doesn’t mean that I can’t do something for God. Hey, God uses crooked sticks. We can’t all be like Billy Graham, you know.” • It’s not a sin. It’s just weakness, part of my personality, something I struggle with.” If you recognize yourself in any of these misconceptions, do you see what you are really saying? My sin doesn’t have any consequences God won’t pursue this. I like my sin too much to quit. I’ve convinced myself that I can’t quit. My sin won’t diminish my effectiveness. And finally, my problem isn’t even a sin. The longer you stay in discipline, the more you are asking God to turn up the intensity of His corrective actions. Turn wholeheartedly away from the sin or sins that have kept you from thriving and your branches from being empty. He Bible word for this unforgettable, hope filled change of direction is repentance. Repentance is turning away from the sin that ails you to the bounty God promises you. Responding to God’s discipline brings us immediate benefits. When we allow discipline to train us, we not only escape our sin, but we also grow in maturity. We have seen how God intervenes in our lives when our branch is bare because of sin. But what does He do when the branch of our life looks pretty good – like that gorgeous vine rambling down a fence line – yet our branch still has plenty of room left for more harvest? After Jesus told His disciples how the Vinedresser cares for the barren branch, He reached for a branch that showed rampant growth, but produced only a few clusters of grapes. “Every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” (John 15:2) God’s strategy for coaxing a greater harvest out of His branches is not the one you and I would prefer. His plan is to prune, which means to thin, to reduce, to cut off. As unthinkable as it sounds, the Vinedresser secret for more is…less! The Second Secret of the Vine: If your life bears some fruit, God will intervene to prune you. God’s purpose for you is to cut away immature commitments and lesser priorities to make room for even greater abundance for His glory. It is explained like this: Because of the grape’s tendency to grow so vigorously, a lot of wood must be cut away each year. Grapevines can become so dense that the sun cannot reach into the area where the fruit should form. Left to itself, a grape plant will always favor new growth over more grapes. The result? From a distance, luxurious growth, an impressive achievement. Up close, an underwhelming harvest. That is why a vinedresser cuts away unnecessary shoots, no matter how vigorous, because a vineyard’s only purpose is…grapes. For a Christian, rampant growth represents all those preoccupations and priorities in our lives that, while not wrong, are keeping us from more significant ministry for God. Without pruning, growing Christians will only be able to live up to a fraction of their potential. Are you praying for God’s superabundant blessings and pleading that He will make you more like His Son? If the answer is “yes”, then you are asking for the shears. Pruning is how God answers your prayers that your life will please Him more and have a greater impact for eternity. He must cut away parts of our lives that rain precious time and energy from what’s truly important. If disciplining is about sin, pruning is about self. In pruning, God asks you to let go of things that keep you from His kingdom purposes and your ultimate good. Pruning is how God changes the picture of your life from a branch that is almost empty to a branch that’s starting to fill. The Testing Of Faith: In mature pruning, the pruning will intensify as God’s shears cut closer to the core of who you are. God isn’t trying to take away; He’s faithfully at work to make room to add strength, productivity, and spiritual power in your life. His goal is to bring you closer to the “perfect and complete” image of Christ. Tests of faith are various trials and hardships that invite you to surrender something of great value to God even if you have every right not to. You will feel assaulted or stretched by circumstances, but not distant from God; tried by Him, but not judged or guilty. A psalmist described the refining experience…and the priceless result. “For You, Oh God, tested us; You refined us like silver…But you brought us to a place of abundance.” Psalm 66:10,12 God doesn’t purposefully cause bad things to happen like cancer, paralysis, diabetes, ect. Yet every trial you face is an opportunity to let him work in your life for abundance. If you invite Him into your circumstances, He will keep His promise to work everything together for your good. (Romans 8:28) Consider the many trials Paul endured. Then consider the incredible size of Paul’s harvest. It’s impossible to even measure, isn’t it? Paul’s branch is still yielding fruit today! Tell Me Where It Hurts: Where does it hurt? When God is pruning you, you hurt somewhere in particular. The pain comes from the point where His shears are snipping something away. Jesus’ final remarks in the vineyard, He turned the disciples’ away from activity altogether. “Abide in Me, and I in you,” He says. Then He directs the disciples attention down the branch-trimmed and tied along the trellis and already swelling with the promise of the harvest to come. “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” “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.” After discipline to remove sin, after pruning to change priorities…Abide in Me! The Third Secret of the Vine: If your life bears a lot of fruit, God will invite you to abide more deeply with Him. His purpose is not that you will do more for Him, but that you will choose to be more with Him. Only by abiding can you enjoy the most rewarding friendship with God and experience the greatest abundance for His glory. To abide means to remain, to stay closely connected, to settle in for the long term. Within six verses in John 15, Jesus says abide ten times. Abide in Me!
Posted on: Sun, 09 Mar 2014 02:09:28 +0000
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