We must understand that the source of our life is from God, and we can do nothing apart from him. We may have a relationship with Him, but be trying to establish our lives apart from Him. One may not have relationship with him, and try to live a life of satisfaction without Him. John 15:1-17 reminds us that it is impossible to have true life without that relationship, because He is the true vine. This can only come about as we understand that we need to CHOOSE to abide in that vine. No vine, no life, no life no peace, no peace, no joy. The manifestation of that life is seen in a willingness not only to love Bod but also to love each other. While this is a command, we do it not because we have to, we do it because it is our privilege. Just as we cannot control our physical life, we cannot control our Spiritual life. We are not alive spiritually because we are better than anyone else, we are alive spiritually because we have been made apart of the kingdom of God through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, based on the Work … READ MORE

n John 15:6-17 we see the secret of abounding in Christ. Here Jesus starts in verse 6 Jesus starts with the uselessness of the branch that is no longer attached to the vine. Thee is a notable change here in the Lord’s pronouns. Up to this point He has been using first and second person pronouns (I, me, ye), Now he uses third person pronouns (He, them, and they). Here the severed branches are carefully distinguished from the real ones. Judas was a severed branch, He had an attachment to the cause but not to the Christ. He is representative of those who attach themselves to the truth but who are alien to Christ. In verses 7-8 we se the tragedy of being severed with the triumph of abiding. These verses are not an unconditional guarantee that any child of God can make any demand and have instantly from God whatever they want. The key to getting what we want is wanting what He wants. To have Christ’s words abiding in us means more than merely memorizing them. It means meditating on them until our conscious natures are impregnated with them until they become a vital part of us, so … READ MORE

The imagery of the vine is ancient, as the Old Testament portrays Israel as God’s vine. But Israel proved to be a fruitless, unfaithful vine, and their apostasy made it disqualified as the channel for God’s blessing. Those blessings now come only from union with Jesus Christ, the true vine. Theologically, the point of John 15:1-5 is that Jesus displaces Israel as the focus of God’s plan of salvation. The implication is that faith in Jesus becomes the decisive characteristic for membership among God’s people. The point of this analogy is not to define the relationship of the father to the Son, but to emphasize the Father’s care for the vine and the branches. There are many who have a false profession of faith, the evidence lies in whether or not shoes professing ranches bear fruit (Galatians 5:22-23). Knowing the truth, Orthodoxy, is not proof of salvation, proof of salvation comes manifesting the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. The lack of love in the church today, is a reflection of the worldliness and carnality of the Christians who comprise it. We need to examine our lives and see if we have life, and fruit, and if the source … READ MORE