Thursday, October 7, 2021

John 15 Devotions by Stephen Taylor

John 15:1,2

“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 either getting cut on or cut out. Which one is up to you. We aren’t required or expected to clean ourselves up before Christ draws us to Himself. But after we are in Him, then we are called to become more like Him, thus producing fruit that is pleasing to Him and beneficial to those around us. We produce this fruit through our actions; no actions, no fruit.

 

But I believe that your heart also has to be in the right place to produce this fruit. If we are doing the right thing for the wrong reasons, then are we honoring Christ or ourselves? Here’s an example: I give you something so that everyone around me will applaud me and think I’m a great guy – no fruit. But if the Lord lays something on my heart to do for you, and I do it in secret to honor and obey Him, then that is fruit that is pleasing to the Lord and beneficial to you.

 

Sometimes, even when we are producing fruit, we need to get pruned so that we can produce more. It isn’t a punishment but actually a blessing that the Lord would take the time to refine us to help make us more productive in Him, that He would cut out the dead in us to make more room for the life He wants to put in us and produce through us! We have been grafted into the True Vine, but will we produce His fruit?

 

John 15:4-6 – “Remain in me, as I also 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 you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire, and burned.”

 

God bless! I love you all, but the Lord loves you eternally more! Glory, honor, and praise now and forever to Papa God, Jesus Christ the True Vine, and the Holy Spirit who leads us daily!

 

 

John 15:1,2

"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."

We are either being cut on or cut off! These verses and those that come after it speak of branches either producing fruit or being cut off. We are the branches – not the entire world but His people.

Jesus says He is the true vine, which leads me to believe there is a false vine as well. The false vine is the flesh, this world, and the enemy, which is what we belonged to before Christ set us free and grafted us into Himself, the true vine (Romans 11:17). That being said, how scary a thought it is to be cut off from the true vine! To no longer be connected to Him but cut off and thrown away (John 15:6).

Jesus is extremely specific in this section about how we produce fruit, not how much but how and through Whom. Only by being connected to Him can we produce this fruit. We must stay connected to the true vine to produce the true fruit! How do we do this? Some practical ways are reading and obeying the Bible, praying, fasting, worshiping, serving, sacrificing, and even desiring Him more than the world. All these things will lead to a deeper relationship with Him, and the deeper we are in Him, the more fruit we will produce.

No one likes to be pruned, but the alternative is even worse. So today, will we let the greatest Gardener cultivate us into who He has called us to be, or will we continue to steal the nutrients from the vine and refuse to produce the fruit He requires?

John 15:3-5- "You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also 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 you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

God bless! I love you all, but His love prunes us! Glory, honor, and praise now and forever to Papa God, Jesus Christ our King, and the Holy Spirit!

 

John 15:1,2

"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.”

The branches in these verses stand for believers. They are in Him, but are they producing of Him? Jesus says that for the one who is in Him, there are but two outcomes, to be cut on and produce more fruit or to be fruitless and be cut off. He does not name a third option. We can be sure He is talking about believers and not just people of the world because only a redeemed child of God can produce the fruit God desires. The fallen world and faulty flesh cannot produce Kingdom fruit but only through the power and person of the Holy Spirit.

This does not mean we are saved by works, for we are saved by grace through faith in Christ. But saved people are supposed to do the works of the Father and not the flesh. I believe the fruit Jesus talks about has a few different applications 1) fruit in keeping with repentance, 2) fruit of the Spirit, and 3) thoughts, words, and deeds that point to us being new creations in Christ with new hearts! The fruits that He seeks are evidence of our life in Him. They cannot be faked for very long, nor can they be sustained on our own. We need His help! But that's why He says to remain in Him, and He will remain in us. It is only through Him that we may stand firm and produce His fruit till the end.

One last thing: Jesus says, “I am the true vine,” which tells me there is a false vine out there. We must be alert and aware, knowing our King and His Word in order to discern the true vine over the perverted one!

Ephesians 2:8,9- For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

God bless! I love you all, but His love feeds and nourishes us as a vine does a branch! Glory, honor, and praise now and forever to Papa God, Jesus Christ our King, and the Holy Spirit!



John 15:12

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”

Christ’s command is straightforward, and yet I miss it so often. I try to love people by my standards and not by His. I can get so easily off course, thinking that if I’m loving in the ways that seem good to me, then they must be good for you. Sometimes this may be true, because if I’m loving you the way Christ loves me, then I’m walking in obedience to His command, and thus, it would be a correct type of love. But if I’m loving you in the way or by the standard that I deem right, then I’m missing the mark and walking in the flesh and not the Spirit.

Christ’s love was not passive, nor was it just a feel-good emotion. There were times Christ corrected people in love, rebuked them even. This isn’t to say His love is harsh or unyielding but that there comes a time when each one needs the correction of our God. Too often, we can get in the way of what God is trying to do in our lives or the lives of those around us by trying to love in our understanding and our own ability. We think we are doing well and right, but in reality, we aren’t following Christ at all; we are following our feelings, emotions, or our own understandings. Forgive me, Lord, when I lean on my love-standard and not Yours!

Thanks be to God who gives us the victory in Christ Jesus! He is patient with us, willing to work on us and with us to accomplish His great will. How great our God is to not only tell what the standard is but live it for us to see. We can look at the life of Christ recorded in the Bible and get a perfect example of what our love should look like! And, of course, we can’t live up to the standard that was set without His help; that’s another beautiful and powerful gift the Holy Spirit gives us, the ability to walk upright before our God. He gives us the strength to say no to the flesh and yes to His will. He gives us the power to honor God and serve Him! Thank You, Jesus, for not only making a way home for us but making a way for the Spirit to come to us now!

2 Corinthians 3:17- Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

Galatians 5:16- So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

God bless! I love you all, but His love is the standard! Praise, glory, and honor both now and forevermore to Papa God, Jesus Christ our King, and the Holy Spirit!

 

John 15:12

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”

How are we doing with this today? The command is simple enough (love each other), but the standard at which we are to love is the highest standard ever set; it is the standard of Christ’s love. This is not a fleeting or faulty love, nor is it based on emotion or circumstance, but rather it is based upon the unwavering and unchanging character of our God. If it wasn’t possible for us to attain it, then Christ wouldn’t have commanded it, but since He did, we know that it is possible in and through Him.

There has been a certain situation in my life recently that has revealed just how far I am from this standard. The Lord has revealed selfishness, pride, and a lack of love on my part for those around me. Oh Lord, how far I am from the standard You set and how much I despise the sin in my life. I am grateful for the Lord’s revelation and correction but how I wish I hadn’t sinned this way. He is merciful and mighty, forgiving my trespass and calling me deeper into Him.

This morning during prayer, after this revelation of my sin, He showed me something. I saw in my mind’s eye two people walking hand in hand. One was just a boy, and the other was the Son of God. He reminded me that it’s a journey, and He is faithful, willing to take me by the hand and lead me all the days of my life. I’m just a child in desperate need of my God, and He is faithful to His own. Thank You, Jesus, for Your faithful correction and unmatched forgiveness. You fill my cup much fuller than I deserve.

Hebrews 12:5,6- And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastens everyone He accepts as His son.”

God bless! I love you all, but His love leads us by the hand each day! Praise, glory, and honor both now and forever to Papa God, Jesus Christ our King, and the Holy Spirit!

 

 

 

 

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