Thursday July 7, 2016
*BRANCH*
*
DEFINITION *
Member; bough; limb; offshoot; descendant.
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*SCRIPTURE*
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.
John 15:1-2.
I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he
bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
John 15:5.
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*KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE*
Jesus uses the illustration in John 15 of the grape vine and the branches
to depict the believer’s relationship with Christ. Jesus is the vine and
the branches are all those who claim to be believers in Jesus. God is the
cultivator who cares for the branches to enable them to be fruitful.
In verse two of chapter 15 Jesus speaks of two kinds of branches. There are
those who bear fruit and those that do not. The branches that do not bear
fruit are useless. Jesus compares the believer that does not bear fruit to
the unfruitful branches of the grape vine that are dead. The gardener gets
rid of the dead wood so that the living fruit bearing branches will bear
fruit.
The dead branches depict Christians that are not living a Christ filled
life, because they never really genuinely believed in Jesus. They will be
cut off and face their reward on judgement day.
Just as the gardener prunes a branch to make it more productive, Jesus
prunes a believer. He removes all of the things in the believer’s life that
will hinder the fruit bearing of the believer. He cuts away sin and
hindrances that would drain the spiritual strength of the believer.
The stronger a branch is attached to the vine the more nourishment a branch
is able to draw from the vine and the more fruit it bears.
In Galatians 5:22 the apostle Paul lists for us the fruits of love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control. These are all fruit produced in the life of those who are
true believers in Jesus.
In John 15:15 Jesus puts emphasis on abiding in Him which means to remain
or stay around. The believer who abides in Jesus recognizes that apart from
Jesus, he or she can do nothing. It is only by abiding in Jesus that a
believer can be fruitful. We urge you to let Jesus work in you to prune you
daily so that you can live a life that is fruitful and honors Him.
This requires that you study God’s Word and spend time in prayer talking to
Him, and seek His will for your life. Then the Holy Spirit will work in
your heart to prune away all the things that hinder you from bearing fruit
for the Lord.
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*LEARNING*
Our memory verse for this week is found in Colossians 3:13.
Bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a
complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you must also do.
*
PRAYER*
As a branch attached to You as a child of God, help me to be willing to be
continually pruned by You. May the pruning You do in my life make me a
fruit-bearing child that honors and glorifies Your name.