The True Vine

“I AM THE TRUE VINE…”

John 15 reads:

¹I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

 ²Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

 ³Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

 ⁴Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

 ⁵I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Without Him we can do nothing. I have found myself at times in my life when I have been working for the Lord to be absolutely exhausted. I would feel like no matter how much I would rest I couldn’t catch up and would get further and further behind. God revealed to me that I was not hooked up to the vine – His vine. I was trying to do it all on my own. I was trying to make it happen and “earn” God’s love and salvation. It wasn’t until I let that go and realized that I can’t do anything to make God love me MORE that I finally felt some relief.

Several times over the past few weeks, the phrase “hooking up to the vine” has been mentioned in the prayer meetings at our church. It is amazing the difference that floods in to the room. It’s not that God becomes any more present – He was already present. It’s that we become connected to Him – connected to the true vine.

We are called to bear much fruit. John 5:6-8

⁶If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

 ⁷If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

 ⁸Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

Are you bearing fruit? We are living in a spiritual malnourished generation. We want God to be there at our every beck and call, but we refuse to build a relationship with him and connect to His vine and produce His fruit. The fruit of the spirit is no mystery. If you spend time with God it shows. If you pray it will show. If you fast it will show. If you stay connected to Him IT SHOWS.

I have been guilty of treating the fruit of the spirit like the latest diet fad, but I don’t want to live like that anymore. Life is too short to spend it being miserable. We are running out of time. God is trying to wake up His people because something big is coming and if we aren’t ready then who will be ready? The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

The true vine of God will give you everything you need. It is like a spiritual I.V. that restores and revitalizes. Staying connected to that vine is essential if you want to live in this fruitless day and age. Staying connected to this vine is essential if you want to live at all. There is no life outside of Him. The only thing outside of him is darkness and it is only getting darker.

We are called to love. John 5:9-17:

⁹As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

 ¹⁰If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

 ¹¹These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

 ¹²This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

 ¹³Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

 ¹⁴Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

 ¹⁵Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

 ¹⁶Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

 ¹⁷These things I command you, that ye love one another.

God = love so God’s people should = loving people. It’s like a mathematical equation! Haha There is no luke warm when it comes to love. You either love or you don’t. It is plain and simple. We are called to love one another and there is no clause to that statement. The bible does not say we are called to love one another UNLESS that person got on you nerves that day or hurt your feelings. It does not say we are called to love EXCEPT if that person is in the wrong and deserves to pay for those wrongs. We are called to love our ENEMIES! There is no person that we are not supposed to show love. Friends, enemies, family, strangers…LOVE them!

If the world hates you then you are doing something right! John 5:18-25

¹⁸If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

 ¹⁹If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

 ²⁰Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

 ²¹But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.

 ²²If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.

 ²³He that hateth me hateth my Father also.

 ²⁴If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.

 ²⁵But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.

What this means to me is that they hated Jesus for no reason. He did nothing, but teach, strengthen, help, restore, encourage, and heal on this Earth. He opened blind eyes, unlocked deaf ears, gave to the poor, showed love to the cast down, ministered to the heart of every single person that ever came in touch with Him – sometimes He didn’t even have to say a word. He was innocent and undeserving, but they hated Him. They will hate us because we are like Him. They will hate us because they are ignorant and know no better. They will hate us because it is in God’s plan just like it was in His plan for Jesus to be the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. We were always meant to be His people.

He will give us a Comforter. John 5:26-27:

 ²⁶But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

 ²⁷And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.

The Comforter is with us. God’s Spirit living inside of us, guiding us, teaching us, comforting us. When you receive God’s spirit you have received God as a part of you. He never leaves, but you can choose to stop listening to Him. You can choose to turn your back on Him and detach yourself from His vine. The choice is yours.

He never promised us that this life would be easy. When He said that His yoke is easy and His burden is light it did not mean that we would have a life full of total relaxation and comfort. I interpret that verse to mean that if we are hooked up to the one TRUE vine then the work will never be too hard. If we are hooked up to the one TRUE vine then He will always make a way of escape for us. If we are hooked up to the one TRUE vine then we can rest assured that we have a future in Him.

He promised that he is coming back for His people. He will harvest His vineyard some day soon. So I ask you people of God – are you connected?