John 15

This passage paints a beautiful picture of how the Holy God is so careful and detailed as He prunes the bad things out of us, as though we are precious plants in His garden. We are the branches that extend from Jesus the vine.

John 15:2
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. 

God will steer us towards things that will help us grow and mature. He will eliminate things in our life that distracts or takes us further away from Him. We are watered and He permits the growth and production of fruit in our walk with Him.

We are already clean when we accepted the Gospel into our hearts and dedicated our heart and soul to God. It's ok if we stumble, we're human and so sin is naturally a part of us. The best part is that God looks past that when we realize that what we did was wrong and displeasing to the Lord. We are seen as righteous in God's eyes because of the ransom that Jesus paid for us.

John 15:4
Remain in me, and I will 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 need to find my satisfaction, my everything, my joy, my all in Jesus. He is the one who blessed me with breath in my lungs and an intellect and spirit to carry out His will in me.

John 15:8
This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

When you bear fruit in your labour, then you know that God was the one who provided and sustained you.

John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

Love is not just words or emotions. It includes service and is ultimately sacrificial. The greatest act of love that mankind has ever seen or heard of is Jesus dying a shameful death on the cross, bearing the wrath of God upon Him for all your sins... all my sins as well. He didn't complain, and did this act for everyone, for those who loved and hated him. If you were in a similar situation can you do the same thing? Do you truly love? We will never be able to show or obtain perfect love, but we have already had a glimpse of it and we can model our forms love upon that.

The Christian walk is never easy. In other places around the world people may get persecuted, abused, or arrested at the mention of Jesus. I am fortunate to be in a country that allows free worship of the Living God so it really is a blessing that I need to use to its maximum potential: to share and proclaim His name without fear of judgment.