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(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.” Yesterday I shared five golden nuggets from this passage, but there is much more gold in it, so I feel led to go back and do a little more mining.
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. You are connected to the “life” of God. Jesus characterized Himself as the vine and we as the branches. It is obvious that the branches cannot live without the vine. What might be less obvious is that the life of the vine flows through (literally), the branches. Yesterday I wrote, “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.” In one of his later letters the Apostle John wrote, “This is the testimony in essence: God gave us eternal life; the life is in his Son. So, whoever has the Son, has life; whoever rejects the Son, rejects life” (1 John 5:11,12). The life of God, which is expressed in scripture as the Greek word zoe, is the life that flows from the vine through the branches. When you are Born-Again and the Holy Spirit takes up residence IN you, you are directly connected to God Himself and His life, His zoe, flows through you. It comes TO you (affecting divine change), and it then flows THROUGH you (affecting divine change).
2. The point of our life is to allow His life to flow through us. While it is true that God’s life flows through us after we are Born-Again, it is also true that His life will only flow through us to the extent that we allow it. The problem for most of us is that we have to much of “us” in the way. The more we die to self, the more God’s life, His zoe, will be manifested in and through us.
3. An intimate relationship with God produces sweatless abundance. Jesus said, “When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant.” The Father does not just want you to produce fruit. The Bible is clear that God wants you to produce much fruit, an abundance of fruit, and He wants your fruit to remain. This type of fruitful, productive and abundant life can only come as a result of an intimate relationship with the Father, through the Son, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit. However, the good news is that you don’t really have to work hard to make it happen. The closer you get to God the more fruit you will produce and our text says that the production will be “organic.” This means that it will come naturally. Prospering in God in every area of your life, is not effortless, but it should be sweatless. It comes as a result of dying to self and allowing God’s zoe to flow through you.
Closing Confession: Father, I thank you for helping me get to the point where I experience sweatless abundance by your grace. I don’t deserve the life You destined me to have. I could never earn all You have done for me. I am not worthy of Your profuse favor and blessing. However, You have chosen to freely bless me by Your undeserved grace and for that I will forever be thankful. I am the branch, You are the vine, and Your life giving power, Your zoe, has come TO me, to change me, and it now flows THROUGH me, to impact the lives of others. The point of my life is now to simply allow Your life to flow through me. It is Your life, flowing through me, that will change the world. And I know I need to die to self in order to allow Your life to flow freely. There was a point in my life when I was Born-Again, but there was still too much of “me” in the way, and people could not see You in me. By faith I declare that I get to the point where people clearly see You in me every day, in every way. This way my intimate relationship with You produces much fruit, in every area of my life, and I experience divine prosperity. I am a prosperous man/woman. I live the life You want me to live. I enjoy Your best in every area of my life. It is not effortless, but it is sweatless. I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
