Jesus Revealed Pt. 14 - Why Do They Hate Me?Sample

I AM the True Vine  

Thoughts on the Passage

Jesus leaves the Passover meal – and leads them into this vineyard on His way to Gethsemane. It is such a powerful picture of finding our salvation in Jesus and finding our fruitfulness in Jesus. 

Abide in Jesus…

This is the last “I AM” statement from Jesus in this book. I AM the true vine.

This passage gives us so much. Take time and just read it carefully.
-- The Father removes non-producing branches.
-- The Father trims fruit- bearing branches.
-- The Father trims branches so that they become very productive.
-- Fruitfulness comes because we are attached to the vine.
-- Unfruitfulness has serious consequences.
-- Abiding in Jesus and His word – we can ask anything from Him.
-- Abiding in Jesus – means we abide in His love.
-- Abiding in His love – we keep the commandments of Jesus.

This passage covers everything we need to live a life of blessing. Blessings come from abiding in the Vine, abiding in His love, and letting the Father tend and trim us to be fruitful.

Application

Take a moment to ask God how fruitful your life has been. Ask God what is needed to make your life more fruitful? Are you willing to pay the price to be more fruitful?

Abiding means to love what God loves – what Jesus loves. What flows through the heart of Jesus flows into and through us. That is what makes a branch fruitful. What commands of God do we struggle with obeying? Let’s ask God for help in loving these commands so that we become branches that feed freely from the vine.

Time to Pray

Father, You are the Vinedresser and I ask that You reveal to me what You see in me today. Are there too many leaves and not enough fruit? Trim the leaves that take too much of my time and energy. Am I restricting the flow of blessing from the Vine? Am I struggling with loving Your commands? Show me that Your commands are not burdensome, but they are life-giving and they enable blessings and fruitfulness. I want to love every command the way Jesus loved them. Show me where I treat Your commands carelessly. Then show me how to love them. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.