Scripture for the week: John 15:1-8
Quote for the week: “…apart from me you can do nothing.”
“I am the vine; you are the branches.” This passage is one of the most quoted and favored from the book of John. It is a beautiful description of our relationship with our Savior. What can be any closer than a vine and its branches? The description is one of Life giving life. The important thing for us to see in our lives today is that it is Jesus giving life; it is the original Life that continues as the life of the believer, not the believer as the beneficiary, but the conduit. Yes, we do benefit as a child of the King, but it is a benefit of HIS power and HIS life working in us, not us usurping HIS power or strength.
What is the action Jesus has told the disciples over and over again in the last few chapters? To have faith in Him and to love Him. These are the responsibilities of the chosen. Place yourself in the arms of Jesus, and trust Him for your life. Even as a branch cannot live without the vine, the believer cannot live without Christ. If we look even closer it shows us that the VINE is the source and the daily substance of life. Without the vine, the branch has no value. Too often we believe the vine is there to give us branches some value. Not so. It is there because it (the vine) is our value and our life. Remember the context of this: Jesus has been talking to the disciples for some time now, with the cross looming closer. Just prior to this, He made the following comment in John 14:10, “Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.” It is the same with us and the Son…Jesus is LIVING IN US and doing HIS work. We are simply the branch from which HE produces fruit. We are the vessels of His holy power; we are NOT the power. He lives in us and works through us so that the Father is glorified. Today, allow Jesus to do His work in your life, let the vine work through your life.
Prayer for the week: Jesus, thank you for your full and complete salvation. Thank you for the daily power you deliver to me. Today I rest in your arms.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
John 15:1-8 (NIV)
