Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
“I am the vine and you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5
Thought of the Day- The 15th chapter of the gospel of John is one of my favorite chapters in the whole bible. Jesus is using an analogy of His day when most people worked the land to earn a living. In this case, in using a Vineyard analogy, Jesus is letting us know that He is the Vine and we are the branches-which means apart from him we can do nothing. Branches produce grapes simply because they are attached to the Vine. They don’t need to struggle or strain or strive to produce fruit, they just need to remain connected to the power source and the fruit becomes abundant on the branch..
So how does this analogy relate to us? We must abide and stay “connected” to Jesus like a branch needs to stay connected to a Vine in order to become abundant and produce much fruit in our lives. In order for us to bear an abundance of fruit for God’s kingdom, pruning will be required from time to time. Pruning can be a painful experience in the short term, but in the long term it prepares the branches (us) for a much larger and more abundant harvest later. Pruning removes parts that are dead or dying to encourage new growth to develop. We are in need of pruning on a continual basis in our walk with the Lord, but we must remember that it is being done so that we can produce even more fruit in the future. How does God prune us? He cuts away the parts of our lives that drain precious time and energy on less than ideal pursuits. He works in each life uniquely to prune that branch in the way that it needs to be pruned. Our busyness on things that don’t really matter and only serve to distract us will be removed. In their place, an abundance of fruit that comes from abiding in Him will come to be harvested..
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