LIVING THE FRUITFUL LIFE by Eddie Lawrence Text: John 15:1 “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. 9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. It is verse 5 that I desire to focus on for this teaching. I see in it, three perspectives of the life we are to live as Christians. Let me share these three with you and comment on each of them. 1. THE CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE Focus – I abide in Christ. John 15:5 “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. -This is meditative, peace filling, love soaking, presence awareness reality of your Christianity. -This enables us to fulfill our destiny and live out of our true identity because we truly believe and see ourselves in Him. Tips on developing a more contemplative life: A. Attention – Give him your undivided attention. When you center your life on his life, then you get more of the measure that he provides to you for everything you face in life. Illus- We are all sitting in this auditorium together right now. But if you are day dreaming, you don’t have a clue as to what is going on or being said right now. Likewise, your position is that you are “in Christ” but if you are giving him your attention, you will not know what is happening—what he is saying, what he wants you to receive, what he wants you to do. B. Affection – Love him from your heart. Give him your affection. A man can be in the same place with his wife and hear what she is saying, yet never experience what he could, if he shared his heart’s affections with her. In a similar way, it is being vulnerable and expressive from the heart level in our relation with the Lord that we begin to understand what is truly in his heart toward us. Isn’t it amazing that he says he wants us to abide (dwell, remain, hang out together with) him? C. Availability – You can pay attention, and express your affections, but you were created to also walk in a willful obedience toward the Lord. He says in the verses, if you keep commandments, you will abide in my love. He loves you no matter what, but if you want his love to manifest in your life and impact others, you have to be available to do what he asks. This leads us to the next major point I want to talk about….. 2. THE DEMONSTRATIVE LIFE Focus – Christ abides in me. John 15:5 “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. -This is the Christ in you, Holy Spirit led, gifts flowing, power releasing, kingdom advancing reality of your Christianity. -This enables us to fulfill our destiny and live out of our identity because we truly understand and believe that He is in us. - Obedience is required to remain in the place of love. -Paul wrote, “I can do all things through Christ who is my strength!” There is a doing that flows out of our being. There is a power that is to flow out of our position in Christ. He said, “Without him we can do nothing.” The life and power has to come from him as our life and source. 3. THE PRODUCTIVE LIFE Focus – In this union with Christ, fruit is produced. John 15:5 “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. - This is the character expressing, influence expanding, sphere shaping, evidence producing, fruit bearing reality of your Christianity. - This is the result of being grounded in knowing He lives in us and we live in Him. -The fruit here is the manifestation of Christ in our lives and the lives of others. The abiding in him and he in us results in an outflow of his nature and character through us. If what we are manifesting is not compatible with who Christ is, then we are not being fed from the right root system. -This is the life God has called us to live and in Romans 8:29 we are told that Father’s end result that He purposed ahead of time is that we be conformed into the image of Christ. The abiding life and the indwelling of his life are both necessary to fully express Christ to this world. LIVING THE FRUITFUL LIFE by Eddie Lawrence Text: John 15:1 “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. 9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. It is verse 5 that I desire to focus on for this teaching. I see in it, three perspectives of the life we are to live as Christians. Let me share these three with you and comment on each of them. 1. THE CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE Focus – I abide in Christ. John 15:5 “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. -This is meditative, peace filling, love soaking, presence awareness reality of your Christianity. -This enables us to fulfill our destiny and live out of our true identity because we truly believe and see ourselves in Him. Tips on developing a more contemplative life: A. Attention – Give him your undivided attention. When you center your life on his life, then you get more of the measure that he provides to you for everything you face in life. Illus- We are all sitting in this auditorium together right now. But if you are day dreaming, you don’t have a clue as to what is going on or being said right now. Likewise, your position is that you are “in Christ” but if you are giving him your attention, you will not know what is happening—what he is saying, what he wants you to receive, what he wants you to do. B. Affection – Love him from your heart. Give him your affection. A man can be in the same place with his wife and hear what she is saying, yet never experience what he could, if he shared his heart’s affections with her. In a similar way, it is being vulnerable and expressive from the heart level in our relation with the Lord that we begin to understand what is truly in his heart toward us. Isn’t it amazing that he says he wants us to abide (dwell, remain, hang out together with) him? C. Availability – You can pay attention, and express your affections, but you were created to also walk in a willful obedience toward the Lord. He says in the verses, if you keep commandments, you will abide in my love. He loves you no matter what, but if you want his love to manifest in your life and impact others, you have to be available to do what he asks. This leads us to the next major point I want to talk about….. 2. THE DEMONSTRATIVE LIFE Focus – Christ abides in me. John 15:5 “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. -This is the Christ in you, Holy Spirit led, gifts flowing, power releasing, kingdom advancing reality of your Christianity. -This enables us to fulfill our destiny and live out of our identity because we truly understand and believe that He is in us. - Obedience is required to remain in the place of love. -Paul wrote, “I can do all things through Christ who is my strength!” There is a doing that flows out of our being. There is a power that is to flow out of our position in Christ. He said, “Without him we can do nothing.” The life and power has to come from him as our life and source. 3. THE PRODUCTIVE LIFE Focus – In this union with Christ, fruit is produced. John 15:5 “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. - This is the character expressing, influence expanding, sphere shaping, evidence producing, fruit bearing reality of your Christianity. - This is the result of being grounded in knowing He lives in us and we live in Him. -The fruit here is the manifestation of Christ in our lives and the lives of others. The abiding in him and he in us results in an outflow of his nature and character through us. If what we are manifesting is not compatible with who Christ is, then we are not being fed from the right root system. -This is the life God has called us to live and in Romans 8:29 we are told that Father’s end result that He purposed ahead of time is that we be conformed into the image of Christ. The abiding life and the indwelling of his life are both necessary to fully express Christ to this world.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Jul 2013 18:23:53 +0000
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