My favorite verse has always been John 15:5. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” A couple of verses before this Jesus explains how, as the gardener, God will prune any branch that is not bearing fruit (John 15:2). Putting these verses together, I can answer most “why God” questions that come up in my life. If I find myself going through trials, it may be because I am not connected to the vine (Jesus). It is impossible to bear fruit while away from Jesus. If I search myself, and find that I am connected to the Vine, then it must be that I am being pruned by the Gardener (God). If this is the case, then I should be thankful for the trials, because I will grow even more fruitful after the trials are over. (Ask me or Teri about waiting over a year for our house to sell, after having surrendered our finances to God.)
These verses have even more meaning to me after the message a couple weeks ago (3/2/14). You know those times when you drive home and think “Man… Rob was talking directly to me”? Well, Rob was talking directly to me. Rob taught on John 15:1-17, and I sat up excited to hear my favorite verses. Then Rob gave the example of telling his kids to clean their room. In the example the kids go from talking about cleaning their room to getting a tattoo that said “clean your room”, but never actually cleaned their room. The last thing that the dad (or our Dad) wants to hear is “Dad, I got a tattoo about cleaning my room”! He wants action, not an empty show. It just so happens that I do have a tattoo that says “John 15:5”. No really. It literally says “John 15:5”. There’s no way around it. Rob was talking directly to me. I need to stop putting on a show, and give action to God.
{If you missed this message, or would like to listen to it again, you can download it here.}
These verses have even more meaning to me after the message a couple weeks ago (3/2/14). You know those times when you drive home and think “Man… Rob was talking directly to me”? Well, Rob was talking directly to me. Rob taught on John 15:1-17, and I sat up excited to hear my favorite verses. Then Rob gave the example of telling his kids to clean their room. In the example the kids go from talking about cleaning their room to getting a tattoo that said “clean your room”, but never actually cleaned their room. The last thing that the dad (or our Dad) wants to hear is “Dad, I got a tattoo about cleaning my room”! He wants action, not an empty show. It just so happens that I do have a tattoo that says “John 15:5”. No really. It literally says “John 15:5”. There’s no way around it. Rob was talking directly to me. I need to stop putting on a show, and give action to God.
{If you missed this message, or would like to listen to it again, you can download it here.}