THE VINE AND A BRANCH
Monday – March 2, 2020, Adar 6, 5780
Greetings precious saints of God and welcome back to this engaging and course correcting Bible Study of the Book of John. Our course is corrected only if we have ears to hear, that is we choose to not just hear but focus and allow the Holy Spirit to impart revelation knowledge of what is being said. Once we have received it, we choose to believe it, speak it, and walk in it by faith. The featured picture today is of a Texas sunset and came to me by way of a dedicated police officer in Texas who is also a wonderful man and friend. If you are reading this on Facebook please take a moment to hit the “love” and “share” buttons to give us feedback and to expand the reach of this Ministry. God is so good my friends. Now, let’s turn our attention to our Bible Study for today by first reading our primary text aloud.
John 15:5-8 (KJV)
5 I 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.
6 If 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.
7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
This passage of Scripture that we are now exploring with the help of the Holy Spirit is commonly mentioned and quoted in part. It is common to hear a Christian refer to Jesus as the vine and us as a branch on that vine. Jesus is using a visual that all of them there and us today can have a visual of in our imaginations. I suspect we are all familiar with the process of pruning flowers, fruit trees, and our vegetable gardens. The purpose of the pruning is to increase the yield, the number of flowers, fruit, or vegetables. We remove the non-producing branches and thereby increase the flow of water and nutrients to the remaining branches. These natural examples of the spiritual Truths have limitations but they serve the purpose of giving us a place to start in our common understanding. In the spiritual realm regarding Jesus as the vine and each of us as a branch, the flow is not regulated by Jesus (the Vine), but by us, and pruning off a non-producing branch does not automatically increase flow to the remaining branches. If you will imagine a pipe between God and yourself and imagine two spickets (faucet, regulator) one as the pipe leaves God and one as it enters each of us. The spicket on God’s end is regulated by the spicket on our end. The flow from God to us is regulated by our level of faith in Him and love (agape) for Him and others.
Jesus tells us plainly that He is the “true vine” and the Father is the One working the ground, the vineyard in this case. A branch on any plant is distinct from the tree or vine but is intimately connected. We commonly see in Scripture that we are “in Christ Jesus” just as a branch is in a vine or tree. A branch cannot exist or function independent of the vine (tree) however the vine or tree can exist apart from a branch. Of course, with a natural vine or tree, the branch has no choice in the matter however we as the children of God do have a choice as to whether we will connect to the true vine (Jesus) and if we will choose to be productive or not. Will we stay connected to our source of life, eternal life, abundant life, life as God knows life or will we fall for the lies (deceptions) of the devil. The traditions of men, the doctrines of devils, laziness or slackness, and our own lusts will cause us to be unproductive having little to no fruit. We can bring forth good fruit or bad, which have we chosen? The fruit we produce arises from the meditations of our heart.
Luke 6:43-46 (KJV)
43 For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
44 For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.
45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
What are we thinking about, and what are we talking about? Why are we surprised by bad or evil fruit when the meditations of our heart and the words of our mouth are hostile to the Word of God? The meditations (thoughts) of our hearts changes our brain anatomy and chemistry and consequently the whole body either for good or bad. The words that we speak in which we have faith (believe) be they good or bad will yield a harvest. Are we staying with the true vine in our thoughts and words or have we switched to a false vine?
Until our next publication, as a Bible Teacher and Prophetic Voice I speak this blessing over each and every one of you, receive it, believe it, and speak over yourself and your family by faith in Jesus name! Quit asking God to bless you, you are already blessed, you have the Blessing, give Him something to do by the words of your mouth. Once you know the will of God, decree the thing (Job 22:28, Isaiah 45:11, Mark 11:23). (The Blessing is the Holy Spirit) We have left God way to long with nothing to do in our lives.
Numbers 6:24-26 (AMP)
24 The Lord bless you and watch, guard, and keep you;
25 The Lord make His face to shine upon and enlighten you and be gracious (kind, merciful, and giving favor) to you;
26 The Lord lift up His [approving] countenance upon you and give you peace (tranquility of heart and life continually).
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
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