I am Part of the True Vine:
The Giver of Life
John 15:1, 5
“‘I am the true
grapevine, and my Father is the gardener…Yes, I am the vine; you are the
branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For
apart from me you can do nothing.’”
I am a Child of God. What an amazing, wonderful
statement. My status as a Child of God had nothing to do with how good I was,
my nationality, race, creed, nor status in life. I am a Child of God because He
loves me. 2 Timothy 1:9 says, “For God
saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we
deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of
time--to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.”
Our Heavenly Father, before
the beginning of time, knew we would fail Him, yet He still created us. He knew
we would rebel against Him, yet He sent His Son to die for us. No greater love. Our Heavenly Father
didn’t stop working after He created us. He has and will continue working in
our lives, desiring the intimate relationship He created us for.
Our Heavenly Father is the
gardener in our lives. He prepares, grafts, and harvests our mission in life.
As a loving gardener, He waters our lives with the Living Water, Himself (John
4:14). He gives us all of the nutrients we need in our lives to glorify Him as
we remain in His Son.
Jesus is the True Vine. If
you have given your life to Jesus Christ, God the Father has grafted you into
Jesus. You are now part of His Son. Think about it for a moment. You are one
with the Giver of Life. You are no longer alone in your struggles. You are no
longer alone as you serve the Creator of the Universe. He will never leave you
nor forsake you. You are part of the Son. You are one with Jesus Christ.
Jesus proclaimed, “‘Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches.
Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from
me you can do nothing (John 15:5).’” It is not about my ability, but my
availability. My mission in life, my purpose in life, is to remain in the Son.
Jesus is the One who will be doing the work in my life, reflecting His love to
the world around me. I only need to
remain in Him. It’s all about having an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.
When my focus is on Jesus, I will glorify the Father. Why? Because the fruit I
will produce is Jesus, Himself. I will be the Light of the World. I will
reflect the Fruit of the Spirit in my life.
The sap that flows through
The Vine is the Holy Spirit, Himself. Earlier in the same conversation, Jesus
promised His disciples, and He promises us as well, that He will ask our
Heavenly Father to indwell us with the Holy Spirit. John 14:15-17a: “‘If you love me, obey my commandments. And
I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never
leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth.’”
When our desire is to have an
intimate relationship with our Savior, the Holy Spirit will flow through our lives, producing His Fruit for all
to see. Andrew Murray once said that the Fruit of the Spirit is the
Nine-Fold-Excellency of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Fruit of the Spirit is
the characteristics of Jesus. You cannot take any of them away, and Jesus still be
God. You cannot add any to the Fruit of the Spirit, and Jesus still be God. The
Fruit of the Spirit is the perfect reflection of Jesus.
Galatians 5:22-23: “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of
fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
and self-control. There is no law against these things!”
Jesus called us to be His
Light. He called us to be His reflection to the world. We will accomplish that
when Jesus is the One people see in our lives. We will accomplish that when we are
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
The Father has prepared and
is sustaining us. He has grafted us into His Son. The Holy Spirit is flowing through our lives, producing fruit that
reflects the Son of God to those around us. We are only asked to remain in
Jesus. We are to become one with our Savior. We are to become a reflection of the
True Vine so others may see The Giver of
Life in our lives.
Meditate on This Truth
2 Corinthians 3:18
“So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the
glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like [Jesus]
as we are changed into his glorious image.”
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