The branch only does what comes naturally. Do blossoms put any effort into pollinating? No, they wait for the God of Heaven to also take care of the pollinating. There's not any effort. They simply bear the blossoms, and the pollination takes place through God's working upon that flower---through His Own way, whether it means the pollination being carried by bees, the wind, or something else. The plant still grows perfectly normal, and doesn't put any effort into the process. We must accept God's simple lesson, and get over the notion that environment affects our ability to bear fruit.
One person asked, "What if wind, a storm, cold, or some other abnormal situation comes along? How would that affect fruit-bearing? Fruit-bearing would undoubtedly be affected to some degree, but I don't exactly know how to relate to that, nor do I think we have to factor in all abnormalities in order to use it as a practical illustration, because the illustration is still true: God is still responsible for the fruit-bearing!
Please note that the abiding here is more than sitting down and doing nothing physiologically. Don't get the idea that you can only sit in a pew at church, and then go home and sit in a rocker before the fireplace.
Waiting--abiding, trusting--is a condition of the emotions. Intellectually I accept Christ, but to abide there is all about the emotions--which is where the real problem actually takes place.
The Lord doesn't prune until there is fruit. Let me repeat that" The Lord doesn't prune until there is fruit! If He were to start pruning before there were any fruit, it would hurt. And we might react and say, "I'm through with this!" But when there is fruit, He prunes, and then there is more fruit. And then He prunes more. I can hear someone saying, "But that's not what I wanted. I don't want any more of this stuff that hurts!" But God keeps pruning, and finally there is much fruit. And all of it comes while I am abiding. So the individual who abides is not only abiding in moments of ease, but also abiding through trials and perplexities.
So we come back to the same thing: Our environment has nothing to do with our fruit-bearing or with our abiding. We abide simply and completely and wholly in spite of the environment. We get back to this fact repeatedly, because we make so many excuses for lack of fruit on account of the environment we live in or because of the particular situations we find ourselves in. Even in the case of tornado-like trials, God takes responsibility for the perplexities and trials that seem to come from outside factors. We come up with these excuses for not bearing fruit. And remember, when we talk of bearing fruit we are talking about the fruit of the Spirit" love, joy and peace, etc. (Galatians 5:22,23), and therefore are coming up with excuses for not bearing the character of Christ; excuses for why you don't see Christ' character in my life, and excuses for why I don't see His character in your life.
Wow! that was a long lesson to digest. It's better to go over it again and again until we can grasp it. Don't forget to pray and ask God to lead in your thoughts and study. It is most important that we have His help in all Spiritual things. Please be blessed as you read these lessons. Like I have. I did not understand the Vine and the branch verses until I took the time to read about it and ask God to help me to abide in Him. Grandma Joan
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