(Read John 15:1-8)
This morning we continue our series “Grace that is Simply Amazing” by continuing to teach on “Minimizing Your Humanity and Maximizing Your Divinity.” After studying our way through John chapters 5, 6, 8, and 12, we took our time getting through chapter 14. This morning we cross over into chapter 15 as we continue to flow in this vein.
Jesus said, “I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn’t bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken.
Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me.
I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples” (John 15:1-8 Message Bible).
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. It is the Father’s intent that you produce fruit in the earth. You are not just here to suck in and blow out air. You are here to make a divine impact while you are in the land of the living. The secret to making the greatest impact is dying to sin and self and allowing God to live through you.
2. Jesus likened us to a branch connected to a vine. We are the branch, the Father is the vine, and the branch cannot produce fruit unless it is connected to the vine. Therefore, our lives will not be fruitful — making the divine impact the Father birthed us to make — unless we are connected to and reliant upon the Father. The more we lose ourselves in Christ, the more we find the life He destined for us to have, and the greater the impact we can make, because it will be God making the impact through us.
3. A branch is lifeless and useless once it is disconnected from the vine. This is a picture of us, if we choose to live our lives without God.
4. Pruning is painful, but it is part of the process. No vine can reach its max potential without pruning. It may not always feel good, but you need to be pruned in order to produce max fruit.
5. A productive and fruitful branch is really just an extension of the vine and it becomes the conduit through which the life-producing power of the vine is manifested. The Father is in heaven and you are in the earth. He wants to impact and influence the earth, and He wants to do it through you. He lives in you, you are connected to Him through the Holy Spirit, and His power is realized and manifested in the earth when you allow yourself to become the conduit through which His life-giving power can flow.
Closing Confession: Father, I thank You for taking the time to teach me Your Word. You are the vine and I am a branch. As a branch, I cannot do anything without You. The only power in a branch is the life-giving power that flows to it from the vine. Apart from You I am lifeless and useless. However, connected to You I can do all things. You are the vine that provides me divine life and I am the branch that produces fruit in the earth because of it. I am not the source of the divine life or power, but I am surely a conduit of it. I surrender myself to You and You flow through me. I die to me, and You live through me. I provide You the mouth to talk, legs to walk and hands to touch in the earth, and You provide me the words, direction and power. It is Your will that I produce much fruit. In order to do so, I know I will need to be pruned from time to time. The pruning process may be painful, but it is useful and necessary. So Father, I say to You, prune me as much as You see fit. I want the things in my life that are not pleasing to You to be cut away, so that I can be the thriving, healthy and life-producing branch that You want me to be. You want to impact the people of the world, and the systems of the world, and You want to do it through me. By faith I declare that You do. I minimize me so that You can maximize You through me. I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
