Abide In Me.

Bible reading

John 15:1-8 (Amplified Bible)

¹I AM the True Vine, and My Father is the Vinedresser.

²Any branch in Me that does not bear fruit [that stops bearing] He cuts away (trims off, takes away); and He cleanses and repeatedly prunes every branch that continues to bear fruit, to make it bear more and richer and more excellent fruit.

³You are cleansed and pruned already, because of the word which I have given you [the teachings I have discussed with you].

⁴Dwell in Me, and I will dwell in you. [Live in Me, and I will live in you.] Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself without abiding in (being vitally united to) the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me.

⁵I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.

⁶If a person does not dwell in Me, he is thrown out like a [broken-off] branch, and withers; such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, and they are burned.

⁷If you live in Me [abide vitally united to Me] and My words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.

⁸When you bear (produce) much fruit, My Father is honored and glorified, and you show and prove yourselves to be true followers of Mine.

Jesus speaking of Himself in John chapters 15:1, said, “I am the true grapevine and my Father is the Gardner”. In other words, He was saying that there are FALSE and TRUE VINE existing side by side but He is the true vine and that God the Father is the Gardner of the true vine.

He went further in verse 2 by saying, ”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” Who cuts off and prunes the Vine? Then again the answer is the Gardner, who is the Father, the Lord God Almighty. Beloved let us examine spiritually what this statement means. The Father cuts off every branch that does not bear fruits. That is, if you are part of the branch already and you are not bearing or yielding any fruit you will be cut off by the Gardner, who looks after the true Vine. The Spiritual implication is that every branch of the Vine is expected to bear fruit and if you do not bear fruit you will be cut off. On the other hand, the branches bearing fruits are pruned by the Gardner so that they will bear more and more fruits. Child of God our spiritual race does not start and ends with being born again. Being born again is only the beginning!

In John 15:4, He said, “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.” Here Jesus is using the simple truth everybody knows to explain the reason why every believer must remain in Him. The branch of any tree cannot bear fruit except if it is receiving nutrients from the tree. You must make conscious effort to remain in Jesus so that you can bear fruits. There is no room for backsliding for any Christian who wants to bear fruits. If you severe yourself from the Lord Jesus you will dry up and wither. To receive the nutrients needed to bear fruit you must stay put with the Lord Jesus, the true Vine.

Emphasizing further, He said in verse 5-6, “Yes I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruits. 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.” Beloved the power to operate, to deliver, to win souls, to pray, and to overcome is only in Him. There is no other. Every other source is fake and as such emanates from the false vine and the pit of hell. Abide in Him so that you will operate in His power and glory.

In verse 7, He restated His desire for every believer to abide in Him. He said, “If ye abide in me, and my words in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” That is a blank cheque for you. Child of God, the Son of God is saying to you, if you abide in me and live in obedience to my words and command, you can ask for or about anything and it shall be given to you. He is saying if you delight yourself in Me, I will give the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4). Nothing shall by any means be impossible to you. That is what Jesus meant when He said, “you shall bear fruit.”

Beloved, He is the way the truth and the life (John 14:6).If you abide in Jesus and in His words and teachings you are abiding in the way. The only that leads to Heaven. If you abide in Jesus you are abiding in the truth. He is the Truth, the only truth to freedom. If you remain in Jesus and obey His commands you are abiding in life, one and only eternal life.

Deciding otherwise is abiding in the false vine whose way leads to eternal death.