Abiding in the Vine

John 15:4-6 (New King James Version)

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.

It would seem that anyone reading this verse would understand what Jesus is saying for it is one of the plainest and most direct of all the words He spoke. However many people have failed to make the spiritual connection or to understand the tremendous implications that these words have upon their Christian life. The mistake most people make is to judge their spiritual life by natural standards and this will almost always result in misinterpretation either of the Word of God or of their spiritual progress.
Let me illustrate; A baby calf is born and if it's mother were to die in giving birth the calf would also die in a short while if no substitute mother were around to nurse him or protect him from predators. After a few minutes if the calf doesn't get to his feet the mother will begin to nudge him and urge him to try. If he is healthy he will succeed and almost immediately will begin to nurse. Natural progression takes over and in only a few days the calf begins to venture off and play with other calves or to explore his world but mother is keeping a close eye on him. In only a few months the calf is now strong and may weigh as much as 600 pounds and his diet has changed from mothers milk exclusively to foraging on anything that looks good. Do you know that cows have been found to have strange objects like barbed wire and baling twine in their stomach? On their own cows can get into a lot of trouble and sheep even more so. God's people are referred to as sheep and for good reason for without a shepherd to guard their every move they would not last very long on their own. This is natural progression in a world that is ruled by the destroyer. Now if this 600 pound juvenile cow were to continue with mother and get his nourishment only by nursing on her, he would be protected from many dangers because everything would be filtered through mother. However this would appear ridiculous to his peers and even his mother would tire and begin to push him away.

This is where the analogy begins to break down when compared to the spiritual.
The above quoted scripture states that Jesus is the vine and we are the branches.
When we are born again we are an extension of that vine and our life blood comes from that vine and that must never change or we are as good as dead. Yet in real life most converts act just like the newborn calf. This new life is great and the milk is so good but very soon we begin to feel stronger and want to explore our surroundings. This would be fine if we were to seek God's direction before doing so but most often we see the bright sunlight and green pastures and go bounding off without even a glance over our shoulder or consulting with our God. The same goes for ministry. Most often people feel love for God because of what He has done for them and want to do something for Him in return which is indeed good motivation but unless what they set out to do is by direction from God it is a waste of time and does not have His blessing. Psalm 127:1
Unless the LORD builds the house,They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain.

Let's return to the topic of the Vine. I challenge you to disprove the words spoken here. go out to your shed and get a pair of pruning shears and go find the nearest tree or bush you can find and cut off a branch from it. then just let the branch lay on the ground and see what happens to it. Go back in a few days and you will find it all dried up and if it had any fruit on it the fruit is rotted. Can that branch now by itself do anything except decay and return to the earth? The words of Jesus were not mere words or simple comparissons to give us a basic idea of trying to live for Him but instead are vital and literal illustrations that describe a most amazing grace. Most people are only aware of one kind of grace and if you were to ask them to describe grace they might say it is "unmerited favor" and they would be correct but falling far short of understanding the fullness of Grace. There really are 2 kinds of grace, first the grace that erases all our sin and leaves a clean slate, Praise God for that but that is only the beginning, then some would say that grace will forgive any sin that I committ in the future and again they are correct but still not understanding the fullness of grace. The fullness of Grace will keep you from sinning in the future and make your life one of utter joy and blessing to God and to your fellow man. Throughout history man's efforts to obey God and please God have been a miserable failure and God said the first covenant wasn't working so He gave us a better covenant and to explain that covenant in brief it is this "Abide in my Son and let His words abide in you, stay vitally attached as to the vine, surrender everything to Him and He will do it all". He and only He knows the fullness of God's requirements and only He is able to fulfill them. Even the ability to abide must come from Him and that is the hardest point to get across to anyone because to do otherwise is a work of the flesh. Any effort on our part robs Jesus of glory and is not acceptable to God. If in your Christian walk you use terms like "I try to do right" or " I try to read my bible regularly" then you are missing the mark. What you must do is ask Jesus to give you a hunger for His Word, Give you a desire to please Him that is greater than any other desire" and then trust Him that He will do that very thing. You must ask Him to establish that attachement to the vine so that His vital life can flow into you, this is not possible for man but with God all things are possible. It is a little understood concept that it is God that works in you to will and to do His good pleasure but we must not only come to understand that but to yeild to it fully in order to fulfill His righteous requirements. If we attempt to do it and have any apparent success we become prideful and judgemental of others who are not as strong or determined but if we recognize that the Spirit if God is working in us and not only accomplishing good things but we find our flesh being kept under subjection and we know that it is not by our own effort it is amazingly humbling and our love for the Lord will grow to great heights. In my early years as a Christian I often heard the words "practice the presence of the Lord" and I tried that and as long as I continually reminded myself it sort of worked because I thought about things whether my actions would please God or not but it required constant effort. That is a classic case of walking in the flesh. What I am talking about here is establishing a relationship with the Master that is so keen and constant that you have a continual natural awareness that He is in you and prompting your thoughts. It becomes as natural as talking with your best friend. It is about being yeilded in all things and loving it. You say well I just don't have that kind of desire, No because that kind of desire is not natural. Our natural desire is to ignore that God even exists. You must ask for this kind of desire and He will bestow it on you. You say I don't have time to spend with Him. Well just ask Him to provide that time, He will bestow it on you. How? You may very well find yourself requiring less sleep than usual. You may find that you become sleepy much earlier at night and instead of staying up and watching television until late you will go to bed early and get up earlier and presto, you have an extra hour or two all alone with Jesus, the Holy Spirit and your Bible. Take this time, talk to Him lots and tell Him all your problems and don't ask Him to help you overcome them but to take them from you for His glory. How many Christians are still bound by addictions? He's the deliverer not the Helper> But you say doesn't the Gospel of John call the Holy Spirit the Helper? Yes it does but the Helper is sent to reveal Jesus to us and then in us. When Jesus is fully revealed to us, He can be formed in us and He does it all which is the fullness of His ministry to the saints and this is how God gets glory. My favorite scripture verse is 2 Peter 1:3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue
Look carefully at what is said here, Everything is provided for us that we could possibly need for life and for Godliness and it says that it comes by His divine power but you must take notice of the means by which it comes. It comes by knowledge of Him. Not effort, not through visualization of His presence, not by asking WWJD (what would Jesus do?) which is definitly a work of the flesh and made lots of money for the purveyors of Christian flim flam trinkets. It is intimate knowledge that is only gained by spending precious time with the One Who hold your future in His hands.

This is all for now. May The God of all grace open your eyes to see and your heart to receive of His marvelous grace.
I would be happy to come and share these great truths with any small group or church that would desire a closer walk with the Master.
john Martin
justjohn@eoni.com

Unloved?