Song: Mountain to Valley

Artist: Bread & Wine

5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.

John 15:5-8

Disciples

Jesus is at it again. Like yesterday, the command is simple: Remain. Abide.

He’s the vine, we’re the branches. It’s organic dependence. He’s the source of life. Anything of life that we have – it derives from Him. Stay connected, he says. Remain.

But Jesus doesn’t leave us there. He refuses to let us off the hook with some sort of navel-gazing discipleship. In the next few verses, Jesus teases out what “remaining” looks like. How do we remain? Do all that I command.

Discipleship is sinew and bone. Discipleship is flesh.

Disciples bear fruit.

Which brings me to tomatoes.

& Tomatoes

My mom loves tomatoes. A lot. In fact, she’s been known to smuggle home-grown tomatoes into a restaurant, discreetly produce them from her purse, and replace whatever imitation-tomato slice may have accompanied her meal – with the good stuff.

Good fruit. We like good fruit.

Jesus says when we bear fruit, good fruit, it brings glory to God. Apparently, He likes good fruit, too. The home-grown kind. No substitutes. Nothing artificial. The kind that grows in the soil of Jesus’ words – so full of His words that it changes the way we pray (v 7). Prayers so rooted in the words and will of Jesus that God grants them! Talk about fruitfulness!

It’s an interesting picture of true discipleship. The words of Jesus so saturating the disciple’s life that obedience to Jesus becomes the most natural thing in the world. And that kind of obedience produces fruit. Good fruit. Like home-grown tomatoes. And God loves tomatoes!

John 8:31–So Jesus was saying to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you abide in My word[continually obeying My teachings and living in accordance with them, then] you are truly My disciples.

This is a powerful statement that Jesus makes to the Jews who claimed to believe in Him.  Jesus may have known the belief of the Jews was shallow.  So He challenges their belief in what it means to follow Him and tries to deepen their understanding.

I love how Jesus is constantly challenging us as believers!  To go deeper. To grow.  To challenge what it means to follow Him.

We can’t stay in one place. Jesus is telling us to obey, remain faithful, and abide in the teaching of Christ.

I believe Jesus does this to us today.  He wants us to deeper understand what it means to follow Him.

And what a challenge it is!!

The NLT says “remain faithful to my teachings.”

Faithful is a powerful word.  Abide. True to the teachings and ways of Christ. This is what Jesus is calling us as followers to do, to live.

Pride says, “I don’t need to change.  I am fine right where I am.”

Humility not only admits when we are wrong but also that we have room to grow.  And I believe we as followers of Christ always need to be growing!

Know. We can’t do and remain if we don’t know the Word of God.  That is where true knowledge begins.

John 8:32— “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

DO.  As disciples and followers of Jesus, we don’t just know it, but we live it.  We act and live according to the words of Jesus.

This is a disciple.

And the reward and blessings of living according to His Word and His ways are immense.

We are free from bondage and the penalty of sin to liberty!

Tenney words this progression well:

Basically, this implies a progression from ignorance to knowledge, from error to truth, and from slavery to liberty!!

What a Lord we have!  In following Him, abiding in Him, and living it, we find freedom!

Freedom is priceless and where it is present almost any kind of life is enjoyable. When it is absent life can never be enjoyed; it can only be endured.  A.W. Tozer

As we go today and the rest of this week, what areas is Jesus challenging you to grow In?

Also, if you start to feel down, remember the freedom we have because of Jesus!!

Have a great day!!

Song: Oh How I Need You

Artist: All Sons & Daughters

Windows

Do not judge others, and you will not be judged.  For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.

Matthew 7:1-2

Don’t judge. It’s often touted as an excuse for relativism. You do your thing. I’ll do mine. No judgment here. But it has to mean something other than never judge. Scripture repeatedly (even Jesus himself, later in this very passage!) encourages disciples to use discernment – to evaluate the rightness and wrongness of things – to make value judgments.

So what is Jesus aiming at here?

It’s a kind of judgmental, fault-finding attitude – that’s often blind to our own faults.

And that’s the rub. Judgment feels good – because we’re always looking at others, laying the best in ourselves alongside the worst in others. We feel better about our position – in relation to others. We’re comfortable in here, looking out the window at others to point out their flaws.

Mirrors

But then Jesus adds: the way you judge is the way you’ll be judged. It sounds a bit like something he says just a few verses earlier:  If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.

God forgives those who forgive, and he condemns (judges) those who condemn. In both cases, the motivation for our acts of mercy or judgment is rooted in how our heavenly Father treats us. These verses suggest that the orienting relationship in a disciple’s life is God-ward first.

And that means mirrors, as well as windows. Notice how Jesus continues:

“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend,‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.

Matthew 7:3-5

Today, before you look out the window, take some time to look in the mirror. Remember God’s mercy (and withholding of judgment!) in your life because of the work of Christ in you. And then? See how that changes the view out the window.

BE RECONCILED

Matthew 5:23-25– “So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, 24 leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.  “When you are on the way to court with your adversary, settle your differences quickly. Otherwise, your accuser may hand you over to the judge, who will hand you over to an officer, and you will be thrown into prison.

Reconciliation. Forgiveness. A cornerstone of the Christian faith.

Can you imagine life without reconciliation with God?  How awful and hopeless.

Thankfully, God sent His Son and reconciled us to Himself through His Son!

Romans 5:10–For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, it is much more certain, having been reconciled, that we will be saved [from the consequences of sin] by His life [that is, we will be saved because Christ lives today].

In the command of Christ in Matthew 5, we are told to reconcile with those who may have something against us.

The Message says: “If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come back and work things out with God.”

Immediately.  How often do we excuse away what God is telling us?  We wait.  And then we forget.  And then we don’t do what we should have done.  You get the picture?

We are to initiate reconciliation with others, whether or not we are the one harmed or the one doing the harming. Notice the verse is not concerned with the other person, but with you.  It is not a matter of our rights.

The true mark of the saint is that he can waive his own rights and obey the Lord Jesus.  Oswald Chambers

How often do we make the excuse that we would have initiated the conversation but we weren’t in the wrong?

Whether we are angry at them or we have harmed them, we are to take steps to reconcile the situation.

Paul writes in Romans 12:18–“Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.”

It comes down to our obedience to the voice of God.  If God is telling us to do something, are we willing to do it even if it might make us feel uncomfortable?

We can sweep it under the carpet and feel fine about it.  Or we can be obedient to the voice of God who cares about every minute detail of our life.

Remember, God knows what’s best for each and every one of us.  He knows what can happen when we don’t reconcile a situation.  There can be anger and bitterness on either party, and that is bad for any relationship.

So, the next time you are quiet before God, ask Him if there is anyone that has a grudge against you, and if there is anyone you need to reconcile a situation with.

Ask Him what the steps are to take care of the situation, and do it!

The power of reconciliation and forgiveness is amazing!