A Review of What We Have Been Learning - Part 25

This is just a short review of what we have learned so far.

We have been considering the precious counsel that Jesus gave His disciples just before He went to His death.  This was in effect His last will and testament, and He gave it after leaving the upper room and before He entered the Garden of Gethsemane.  He couldn't have had much time to talk with them, at most a couple of hours.

Coming upon a beautiful vine that was shimmering in the moonlight, and which the Jews took as an apt symbol of themselves as a people and nation, Jesus surprised the disciples by saying, "I am the True Vine."  It must have been hard for them to hear and shocking that the very Person the Jewish people were rejecting was identifying Himself as the True Vine.

We find the conversation recorded in John 15.  Jesus first pointed out that He was the True Vine and His Father was the Husbandman.  In verse two, He told the disciples that unfruitful branches would be taken away, but branches bearing fruit would be purged that they might bear more fruit.

In verse three, He revealed that cleansing would come by way of His word:  "Ye are clean through the word that I have spoken unto you."In studying this verse, we learned that cleansing only comes through the Word of God.  We also learned that the Word revealed from Genesis to Revelation points to one thing, and that is Christ!  Jesus said, "You search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of Me."  John 5:39.

Let's read John 15:4 & 5

"Abide in Me and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in Me.  I am the Vine, ye are the branches:  He that abideth in Me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing."

Aren't you glad that Jesus is our example?  And the Word  does the pruning.  I would not like to be in the hands of any earthly king or priest or anyone as far as that goes.  It would be scary indeed, but knowing we are in the hands of a loving God should thrill us through and through, simply because He is a loving God and the Word  means us no harm in any way.  The Word only prunes that we bring forth more fruit such as love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such, there is no law.  Now, do you see anything in the list of the fruits that you wouldn't want?  I don't, and I am pretty sure that those of you reading this would love to have a character with these fruits shining brightly to all those around us.  So the answer is: let us be abiding day by day and let God's Word show us what needs taken out of our life and  see that we have these fruits in our life.  It is nothing we can do except abide in Christ's presence continually and by this I mean, spend time in His Word, and be able by doing this to talk to Him personally all through the day and we will see what God can do in a willing human being that trusts in Him.  I love these lessons, they are so simple but so hard to surrender all our preconceived ideas about doing it all ourselves, when Christ is there to enable us to do anything that He asks us to do which will be letting our fruits shine out of our life and win others to Jesus.  My greatest desire!  Is it yours?  Grandma Joan