My blogs are too long for this site!!

[Slammie]

I'm not sure why I thought pruning would be easy, but when I used to read John 15 when Jesus tells us that "I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 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." (John 15:1-2 NLT), I never heard "pain". I tended to think of it more like a haircut – the dead ends come off and it feels great, and unless the hairdresser cuts your ear, there isn't any pain. A quick in and out and you're better than ever. A few months ago, I was struggling once again with staying put. Every Saturday night for months, something would come over me and I would suddenly want to do anything BUT go to church the next day. All these excuses would be in my head. That I was tired, that I wanted a break, that I had been to bible study two times the week before and so the people who hadn't were the ones that needed to go hear a sermon – not me – because I had put in my time already. Or my personal favorite, that someone was annoyed or angry with me (paranoid side coming out!) because I must have done or said something that week to make someone upset so it would be better for everyone if I didn't go. One of those nights, after complaining to everyone (not so sure my friends are as grateful for text messaging as I am!) and asking everyone else what I should do first before I even thought of asking God for help. I had calmed down enough to sit still and pray for a moment. I knew I was supposed to read John. Now, I hadn't read John for probably a year, and I'm not necessarily one of those people who can fire off where particular stories or passages are in the bible. I know a general location and I can usually find things reasonably quickly thumbing through the pages. That night, I started reading and got thru Chapter 14 with no revelation, no insight, and honestly fell asleep thinking that I had heard wrong. The next morning, I did skip church. I found out later that the subject matter of that mornings sermon would have done me a lot of good to hear. I had to work that afternoon and although I don't particularly remember, I probably spent my time at work sulking and angry with myself. Thinking that I had finally done it and I might as well give up and run away because I had just proven that I was no better than I had been in the past. That I was just as flaky and unwilling to submit, to put God first, as I ever had been. That night, I again heard that John was what I was needing to read, and I am so thankful that I picked up my Bible that night. I started reading Chapter 15, and immediately knew why I had been directed to the Gospel. As I once again read those words Jesus spoke so long ago, I knew it was a lesson He was wanting me to hear now. "I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 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. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. 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. 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. 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. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father. I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father's commandment and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn't confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn't choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for using my name. This is my command: Love each other." John, chapter 15 NLT "Remain" shows in that passage 10 times, and that struck me right between the eyes that night. The word used here by Jesus was "menõ" translated is the New Living Translation as "remain" but also meaning "stay" or "abide". Jesus doesn't just talk about remaining as a passive act. I don't believe he used the word 10 times in a few sentences as an accident. When we choose to stay, choose to follow Him, He brings about the fruit, the changes that we are powerless to do on our own. It's also not a one-sided choice. When we remain in Him, He promises to remain in us. He's already chosen us. The greatest love story in the universe has already chosen us, chosen me. I don't have to be the strong one that holds on to him through my own strength. Jesus, being the grapevine, is the one that provides the strength, the nutrients that hold life. The branches don't carry the nutrients to themselves, they can't hold themselves up, but it's the strength of the vine holding it all and linking it all together. I don't have to be strong. I don't have to produce fruit on my own. I can't wait until I have everything all together and then come to the Lord, believing that I have something to offer Him in that moment. It's after I call out to Him, that my life can produce anything truly good.

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