Friday, February 20, 2015

The Parable of the Vine and Branches





Good afternoon Mighty Warriors, I hope y'all had a great and blessed week! So todays blog is going to be on the parable of the vine and the branches. So I am not going to post the entire verse as it is very long but I am going to post parts of the scripture that we are going to look at today. Hear the Word of the Lord.

“I am the true Vine. My Father is the One Who cares for the Vine. He takes away any branch in Me that does not give fruit. Any branch that gives fruit, He cuts it back so it will give more fruit. You are made clean by the words I have spoken to you. Get your life from Me and I will live in you. No branch can give fruit by itself. It has to get life from the vine. You are able to give fruit only when you have life from Me. I am the Vine and you are the branches. Get your life from Me. Then I will live in you and you will give much fruit. You can do nothing without Me. 
This is the Word of God. So let me ask you this, when you read this passage what comes to mind? This entire gospel on the vine and the branches is all about who you are becoming as this makes it all about the Glory of God. In this story who is the vine? JESUS! WE are the branches! This scripture is about growing and sharing but also becoming ONE with Christ! In the book Ezekial it talks about how he takes out our heart of stone and gives us a heart of flesh. If we abide in Christ he will remain with us. What this means is that we need to look to Christ in Every moment of our lives good or bad. We are completely helpless-He is completely able in ALL things, It says in scripture that Christ prunes us so that we can continue to bear god fruit. 
I want to tell you a story that my friend Jay told me. 
"Before Christ rescued me I had terrible road rage. I would get frustrated in traffic especially in winter driving. My fruit basket of patience, self-control, peace on and on is deficient. So God gifts me with winter weather and challenged driving (pruning) which gives  me the opportunity to grow in him. I become more like him as he prunes me to help me grow my faith in him." So through this blog I pray that you learn that you are the branches and to learn how to bear good fruit. When God has rescued you and you are joined with Jesus one WILL BEAR FRUIT! There is no such thing as a person grafted into Christ where you do not see the fruit of Him who lives in a person. Galations 5:22-26
Amen? 
I want to end with a song called Closer by Hillsong and I think this song really connects with todays blog because it talks about how WE the church find belonging in Christ and how we want to be closer and closer to Him! Enjoy!
Closer-Hillsong
Have a wonderful and blessed week Mighty Warriors!
~MM