I AM the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. John 15:5.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
My first Words to mankind were words of Blessing—an empowerment to bear MUCH fruit. Genesis 1:28. And in Jesus, I told you and showed you how to be fruitful. John 15:5. From the beginning, I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain forever. John 15:16; 1 Corinthians 3:11-13.
And in this Life Lesson we come to another “I AM” revelation of Jesus: “I AM the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5. And doing nothing, like the man in the parable My Son told who buried his talent and never put it to use, that is, he neglected the gift he had received from My manifold grace which was entrusted to him for the benefit of all, produces nothing. Do not receive My grace in vain, it is there to empower you with My own strength and life to produce fruit. The fruit of the Spirit manifested in the world through, in, and with you. You become a fruitful expression of My grace, of My very self, which is manifested in Jesus, Christ in you, your hope of Glory.
Jesus likens Himself to a vine and you to a branch on that vine. And He completes the image by adding Me as the vinedresser and the vineyard owner. John 15:1; Mark 12:1-9. And I add a definition of the basic characteristics of the fruit produced by and in you when you are attached to the vine, that is, the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23.
Jesus said He told you these things to share His joy with you so that your joy could be full and complete. John 15:11. Do you see why? Everyone from the smallest child to the elderly wants to be busy about something. Why? It is a desire to be fruitful. To live a life of productive purpose. If you are not, you simply waste away, like the withered branch, cut from the vine, that is not producing any fruit. A life without fruit is boring and frustrating. Do you know why? First words set the course of existence. And when I created mankind, the first word to you from Me was that I BLESSED you to be fruitful. You are in My image and according to My likeness, and Jesus told you I am at work until now and He is at work as well. And how do I work? By My Word, My Word is living and WORKING, it created all, upholds all, and sustains all. Hebrews 4:12, Hebrews 1:3. I sent My Word to heal you, to deliver you, and to prosper you by making you fruitful in goodness and good works. Even as a child, Jesus was about My works, about My affairs.
And knowing about the abiding life should bring you great joy. It is your guarantee of a fruitful life, for the branch produces the fruit of the vine. Yes, there is cause for rejoicing here for the anointing lifts the burden and destroys the yoke. The branch does not work to produce the blossom and the fruit, its “work” is to attach to and remain in the vine, for without being attached to the vine it will wither and die with no fruit and no hope of living an abundant life. Jesus explained that, “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned.” John 15:6. So the answer is to work to enter My rest, which can be likened to abiding in the vine, Jesus bore witness to this, saying, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.” John 15:4. But if you do abide in Him, you bear much fruit, and prove to be My disciples. John 15:8.
How do you abide? Jesus gives you the answer, you abide in Me when you abide (remain, continue, dwell) in My Word and My Word remains (abides, continues, dwells) in you. John 15:7. In other words, My Word is top priority in directing every area of your life. You think, speak, ponder, hear, and read My Word until it walks with you to direct your path, sleeps with you to counsel you in the night and give you sweet sleep, and awakens you with a Word that will rouse you and give grace to you and those who hear it. Proverbs 6:20-22; Isaiah 50:4; Ephesians 4:29. It is what I call the process of renewing your mind from your old ways of thinking which were hostile to My Word to the new mindset of the Spirit, who will guide you to all truth and lead you in the way you should go. It involves taking down imaginations and all thoughts contrary to what I tell you in My Word. It especially has to do with driving out fear and anxiety. My Son gave you His peace and commanded you not to let your hearts be troubled or afraid. John 14:27. He would not have commanded this if it was not possible for you to do this. But remember you have My Holy Spirit living in you as your counselor and He can help you in this if you will seek His help and guidance. He is at your side to pull the helm with you. Romans 8:26.
When you bear much fruit it proves you are a disciple. Jesus defined disciple for you and it is one who abides (remains, continues, dwells) in His Word. And if you do that you know the truth and the truth sets you free. Attached yet free, for attachment is empowerment. You attach into the vine and branch out to bear fruit in the world.
The branch attached into the vine is a picture of a believer receiving My grace. Grace is My divine life flowing into you so that you become a partaker of My divine nature and you become empowered with skill for your assignments and favor in all you undertake. My grace in you produces all you need for life and godliness. It is the life of the vine flowing in to quicken the branches, to make them fruitful and strong, with leaves that do not fade, full of sap and very green even in old age.
The more of My Word you have in your heart, the more fruitful you will become. And the characteristics of your fruit are those of the sap of the vine—of the Holy Spirit who flows My resurrection life and power into your spirit, soul, and body making you complete, completing the good work I have begun in you as the vinedresser and owner of the vineyard, for every branch that does not bear fruit I raise up from the ground (airó: to raise, take up, lift, to raise from the ground, take up, to raise upward, elevate, lift up) and those that bear fruit I cleanse (purge, prune) to bear more fruit. John 15:2. I am always seeking to take you to higher levels of life, more fruit to much fruit, fruit that endures for all to partake down the generations. David’s psalms are still producing fruit in souls who read, sing, and declare them.
This wonderful promise of a fruitful life is there for you to take by faith. Apply yourself to abiding in My Word no matter what trial or test you face, stay in My rest and let nothing pull you out. Remember My servant Paul? A raging storm, a shipwreck, and a snake bite did not move him from My rest. And the result? Much fruit. The entire crew and the people of the island of Malta heard the good news and believed in Jesus, with all who came to Paul healed and set free by My power in him. Fruitful. Much fruit. He could have given up and been bitter about the trials but he was not. He did not question that storm hit; he overcame it. Quitting was not in Paul’s vocabulary once he had a taste of My grace. My grace was sufficient for him to overcome all. He knew he could do nothing without Me but he knew he could do all things in Jesus who strengthened him. The branch on the vine receiving the grace of the vine.
And what are the characteristics of the fruit of the vine? The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control and all these form together as one fruit. And the wonderful thing is the power comes from the life of the vine but the fruit is produced on the branch. The power is Mine but the fruit is yours. You will eat the fruit of your handiwork and so will those who are with you. Let your light shine before people so they may see the goodness in your actions and give praise to My glory—My goodness, My presence, My power, and My beauty in those who are attached to the vine of Christ.
Do not live a wasted, withered, useless, idle life. You do not have to do so. The vine is so easy to attach to, but once attached it depends on the diligence you apply to hold fast to My Word. You are in the world but you should not be of the world. And by that I means you must not let yourself be walking only according to the flesh (what you detect by your five physical senses limited to the circumstances before you) but according to the spirit, which is walking by faith in My Word so that you see beyond the physical circumstances. In other words, that you look to see My solution rather than just looking at the problem. When there is illness or pain, you look past it to the LORD your healer and the scriptures on healing and you receive those as your guide to the outcome. And these words will bear fruit in your life and the lives of those you pray over and share My Word with.
And thank Me and praise Me for the result before you see it manifest, for it is already yours in your heavenly account in Christ Jesus, you access it by thanksgiving. Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. Colossians 2:6-7.
If you are bearing fruit and staying attached you will be stable and no longer be like immature children tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, you are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ. Ephesians 4:14-15. You can become skillful in exercising your faith and using the spiritual weapons of warfare available to you in My Word by My grace. Established in Christ you are established in righteousness and far from oppression, Isaiah 54:14, My own righteousness through Him, 2 Corinthians 5:21, and the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who cultivate peace. James 3:18. To abide you must keep yourself in peace for great peace have those who love My Word and nothing causes them to stumble. Psalm 119:165. Perfect peace have those whose minds are stayed on Me for I am your everlasting rock. Isaiah 26:3-4.
You can do nothing without Me, not even breathe, but everything with Me by grace through faith. Attach and live the life that is life indeed. Attachment and living in the bounds of My Word is freedom and unlimited life. Attach and branch out.
If you could only realize what an enormous opportunity I give you freely in Jesus you would be so eager to take Him as your Lord and attach with all your might to Him. And you would be overflowing with gratitude at so great a salvation. By receiving Him as your Lord and Savior, I seal you in Him and you can live your life through Him. And He is perfect. You receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness and reign in life through Him. He becomes your life and I make Him wisdom to you, and righteousness and redemption and sanctification. The best thing you can do with your life is attach to Jesus, the worst thing you can do with your life is to reject Him. Be a friend to yourself by becoming best friends with Jesus, those who attach to Him as disciples He calls “friends.” John 15:14-17. Act in your own best interest by giving your life over to Jesus as a branch upon the vine and bear much fruit that remains. And you will have a beautiful life here and hereafter.
And how is this foreshadowed in the Tabernacle of Moses? It is the action of the High Priest, he went in to the Holy of Holies to offer the blood of the lamb for the people and then came out to tell the people the good news of forgiveness and to teach them My Law. And now you do the same, you come into My throne of grace with your great High Priest Jesus to receive mercy and find grace to help right when needed and go out with Jesus to share it with My people. And even better, you stay attached to the vine who is sitting at My right hand in the Holy of Holies in Heaven and you the branches trail into the world where you bear the fruit of the vine in the world, you are bringing Heaven to earth for the Kingdom of God is within you.
Stay attached. You never disconnect anymore than a branch can keep working and producing if it disconnects from the vine, it cannot, it does not work on its own but derives its life from its source. You can do nothing without Me. You work from your connection. You never disconnect or you cannot produce fruit. It flows from the connection. Not from disconnection.
Direction comes from connection, not from afar or from disconnection. The vine and the branch must stay connected to produce fruit. You do not go into My presence, pray, and then go out into the world to work disconnected from Me, that is, apart from Me. You stay abiding in My presence as you go. I never leave you or forsake you. I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS. And that was another “I AM” revelation of Jesus.
I love you. Draw close to Me and I will draw close to you. Abide in Me and I abide in you. If you abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. And that is another promise of the abiding life. And the works Jesus did you will do and greater because He is with Me and whatever you ask in His Name, He will do. How? By sending you the power to produce the fruit of the promise.