He Is The Vine, I Am A Branch

He is the vine and I am a branch that produces good wine and brings joy and fulfillment to my life and to those I am called to minister to. What about you ?? Are you a fruit producing vine that is pruned to perfection ?? Or have you become slothful and wasteful of what He has given you ?? Search your heart, see if there is something you need to rid yourself of. God the Father is a vine-grower whose intention is to produce good wine. God the Father plants a vine, that vine is Jesus, Our Lord. That vine, like all grapevines, is composed of roots, stalk, branches, leaves, and ultimately, grapes We are the branches; we have been made a part of this vine through our being born again, which brings us into relationship with Jesus. If we remain in relationship with Christ, we will produce fruit. If our relationship in Christ is healthy as He intends, we will produce grapes abundantly, those grapes will be full of juice. At the right time, those grapes which we produce will be harvested and pressed. Their abundant juice will ferment into good wine which will, as Scripture says of wine, bring joy to the heart – not only our heart - but the hearts of others .So, according to this metaphor, God our Father is the origin of the good wine which is holiness and human perfection. Jesus His Son is the vine which the Father plants. We are the branches which the vine produces by its internal power. Drawing from the vitality of the vine, we branches produce grapes, meaning the good works of virtue, filled with the juice of human accomplishment and perfection. Following our natural inclination as a vine follows its vegetable tendency, we will produce more shoots and leaves than are necessary for a good grape harvest. So the Father will come with his pruning hook or knife and cut away that which He doesn't want, so as to direct our vitality into the clusters of grapes that He does want. This pruning may be frustrating and painful, but it is necessary to make us really productive and not just good to look at. Then comes the harvest, the cutting of the clusters, the pressing of the grapes in a wine press, the collecting of the juice in containers, and then the fermentation into wine, which is what the Divine Vine grower has intended all along. Let us try to remain closely, intimately incorporated into the Vine which is Jesus our Lord, so that He may produce in us what His Father wants, and we may bear the fruit of virtue and become authentic disciples of Our Lord. This is what He intends for us, to be a producer of abundant fruit for the Kingdom.

John 15, v 5b is my Signature signing on my e-mails, "Without Me You Can Do Nothing !" I also have a cluster of grapes on my business cards, these are to remind me that I can do nothing without Him that has any lasting good and I should be producing fruit,(souls) for the Kingdom. I believe that these souls will be the crowns I will cast at Jesus feet on judgement day. Are you a Branch that is secure to the Vine ? Are you producing an abundance of fruit for the Kingdom ?

We can have ALL the riches that this world has to offer, but in the end these will be only fodder for the fire. If you are not securely attached to the Vine I urge you to be a diligent seeker of Jesus, He will help you to become a strong branch that will produce much fruit.

Until next time, "Keep Your Eyes On Jesus, He Has All The Answers !!"