John 15:“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3 You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. 5 “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. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
My wife and I were doing a Bible Study on the above verses, and we could not explain away the direct words from Jesus when It comes to where our power comes from. That power is in the vine, which has all we need to produce the fruit that glorifies the Father. There is one kicker that is very important, and the following verse describes the kicker. 5 “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. There seem to be a lot of people who allow their thinking to get skewed by false teachings, and the influence of a lost and dying world can overwhelm our thinking about the power we have as believers. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked, and allowing our thinking to believe we have the power to control our every move is mocking God. Why? Because we are lifeless without the power of the vine. God takes excellent care of the branches, and His awesome power gives us perfect wisdom, direction, and the power to live both. We are not trying to deconstruct our faith because we rely on Him to construct our faith and make us strong.
We can become useless if we rely on our own power, and within that uselessness is a constant desire to draw closer to God, but we ignore it. If you will just heed the message from Jesus where He says in Matthew 7:7 “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. EVERYONE? EVERYONE!!
This power is available to all if we will just ask, seek, and knock and God will take care of the rest because He is our vine and our source of that very power to grow in our faith and grow in our walk with God. Don't ever believe that God saves you and then says, "Figure the rest out on your own!" My Father, Abba Father, draws me to His Word, and therein, I find the source of power in my walk. You need to watch out for one thing when this all happens, and your power is turned on. You will experience God in such a real way that it changes the way you look at your faith and your walk with God. You will find yourself less patient with "nominal" Christians. This is not to say you are better, but you are definitely different in your thinking about this whole Christian thing. I call this "living in the flow" of the Holy Spirit of God and the Word of God just stimulates this kind of faith, this kind of living. You may need to seek out like-minded believers, or you may get frustrated and want to quit trying. Satan knows that when these vine people get the power from on high, then the results will be the most active faith walk possible. NO EXCUSES, NONE NEEDED!
This makes getting into the right church fellowship so important because the worst thing that can happen to your faith walk is to be around people who are NOT like-minded. This life and fellowship that God builds is necessary to allow you to not only grow in your faith but explode in your personal walk. When this kind of fellowship is made into a church, "the gates of hell cannot hold it back!" Do you see how all of this fits together? If we are out of line, then the fit is not possible. But when we get aligned with each other in a true church fellowship, "the sky is the limit!" Here is what Paul wrote to the church in Philippi in Philippians 2:2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.
All of the above is possible, but we must be connected to our power source and that power source is the vine, Because Our Power is in the Vine. The impossibility of lives being changed is replaced with "all can come to Jesus, and they will." Just believe and live that belief. Mark 10:27 Looking at them, Jesus *said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.” I happen to believe in the Word of God, and it directly points us to believe that the vine is our life. He's alive!!
Today's Message,
David Warren
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