Monday, January 29, 2018

 

 
 
 
Devotional for Monday, January 29, 2018
“Bearing Richer and Finer Fruit In Our Life”

 

 

 

by Dona Hake
 
John 15:1-8   Amplified Bible
Jesus Is the Vine—Followers Are Branches

15 “[a]I am the true Vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.   2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that continues to bear fruit, He [repeatedly] prunes, so that it will bear more fruit [even richer and finer fruit]. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have given you [the teachings which I have discussed with you]. 4 Remain in Me, and I [will remain] in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself without remaining in the vine, neither can you [bear fruit, producing evidence of your faith] unless you remain in Me. 5 [b]I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him bears much fruit, for [otherwise] apart from Me [that is, cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.”
 
What a beautiful scripture to keep fresh in our hearts. Without Him we accomplish not one thing, yet in Him we can do all things! Whether we are trying to do things for Him or the things that involve our daily accomplishments, it would do us good to remind ourselves that we are pulling ALL of our strength and wisdom from His resources. He IS the Vine and we ARE the branches, let us abide in Him that we stand and grow in the nourishment of Jesus, the life giving Vine.
 
Today I ask you, are you abiding in Him? Another way of asking this would be are you connected to Him? My friend, this is where our life give power is going to come from. Everything that we need to get through another day comes from the power and nourishment of the Living Vine, Jesus Christ.
 
Now let us look at being branches on His Vine. Fruitful branches are true believers who by their living union with Christ produce much fruit. In the second part of chapter 15 verse two, it says “…He [repeatedly] prunes, so that it will bear more fruit [even richer and finer fruit]…”One may cringe at this word ~prune~. I want to emphasize at this point that pruning is a very good thing, and our Heavenly Father knows that well. He knows how to keep our walk productive and fruitful for His glory and purposes. To prune is to rid or clear of anything superfluous or undesirable. It is the cutting of undesired twigs and branches. The word superfluous is when something is more than sufficient or required and unnecessary or needless.
 
Our rest and joy can come from knowing that His pruning will always promote growth in us. I’m going to say that again, pruning WILL ALWAYS promote growth in us! Our Lord knows the appropriate time, and He knows exactly what we need pruned from our life. Today I encourage you to meditate on being submissive to the pruning that your Lord desires to do in you that He can continue to bear even richer and finer fruit in your life. This is all for His glory in order that His perfect will be accomplished in you.