Tag: Vine

John 15:5-6 (NKJV) says, ” ‘I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.’ “

My faith in Jesus Christ is the core of my existence. I’m not boasting here. I’m just revealing that I am in a constant mode of prayer – a conscious all-day-long conversation with God. Though I love Bible study and serving in women’s ministries in my church, God doesn’t let me believe that these things form the core of my existence. He has to remind me that they are not. But, that He is.

God will often nudge me to recall that the frenetic busyness of life can easily stunt my spiritual growth. He cautions me that I can traffic in God’s truth, but not be affected by it. I can be prepared for a Bible study discussion without ever partaking in the Word. I can be diligent about reading scripture without allowing it to absorb into my heart and transform me from the inside out.

The Tree Theme comes to mind because branches can be attached to the tree, but dead and in need of being cut off (serving no purpose). Dead branches that are not drawing any sustenance anymore, not bearing fruit. It’s a picture of not being affected. In a recent counseling class I took called Dynamics of Biblical Change, I learned about a model of heart change called the Three Tree Diagram. In the picture there are three trees – one that bears fruit, one that represents the Cross (on which Christ accomplished redemption for believers), and one that is shriveled, empty of fruit, and lacking in sturdy roots.

In the Three Tree Diagram, the good and bad circumstances of life beat down on us (depicted by the sun) and we respond based upon the motives and desires of our hearts. Either we pour out thorny, self-centered responses or we pour out gracious responses that have been shaped by the Holy Spirit through the Cross Tree. I like the visual image of roots reaching down deeper for the power source of the Cross Tree on the “plus” side of the diagram, only to be made stronger and well-nourished so that supernatural fruit-bearing is the result.

What is really reflective of a transformed heart is the spiritual fruit (anti-thorny responses) that flow out of the life of a true partaker rather than a starver, the life of an absorber rather than an abstainer, the life of an all-in-er rather than a boycotter. When I contemplate the great gift of Jesus to conquer sin and death on the Cross through the power of His resurrection, I’m ashamed to not be a partaker, absorber, all-in-er, bearing minimal if any spiritual fruit.

Lord, please prevent me from being a starver, abstainer, boycotter. Do whatever Your Spirit desires in my life to make me changed and fruitful. I hate being thorny, judgmental, rude, self-seeking, prideful, and lazy. Don’t let me stay this way. Conform me into the image of Your Son, the True Vine. Make me a fruitful branch. Apart from You I am a dying branch. Affect me. Grip my heart. Strengthen the connection between me and You. Make my roots stretch down deep. Don’t let me starve with busyness. Attach me to You.

Psalm 1:2-3 (NKJV) says, “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.”