Abiding in the Vine. Good Morning!

 

Abiding in the Vine.

Jesus said apart from Me you can do nothing. If you remain in Me and My words remain in you in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples.

In The Pruning, © poem by laurette laster.

When I was a bud beginning to grow,

What I was to become, did You already know?

When I was a blossom adorning this tree,

did You see what I was destined to be?

Now on to grow and to become mature,

this is going to take some time, and that is for sure.

During maturing is where I’ll become tender and sweet,

while young, before ripening, dry, bitter, and incomplete.

As we abide in The Vine, there is precious work taking place that isn’t noticeable each day. Often we cannot see or measure the internal work and the growing that is taking place. However in order to become nutritious and useful to the body of Christ we must abide in The Vine, patiently.

I think about new Christians or babes in Christ, as I watch my peach tree. My husband, Greg and I, did a drastic pruning to our old peach tree, this past winter. The tree is an older peach tree, that had not been properly pruned for several seasons. After pruning we were concerned for our tree. We listened to a master gardener, and followed his advice on how to prune older peach trees. He said you will think you are killing the tree, but you are actually reviving the tree. Greg and I, discussed how as we watched over our tree, this is so like God, and how He watches over us. He watches carefully over us as He prunes away the unnecessary branches that are hindering our work, so that we may bear much fruit.

I watch these new buds, blossoms, and now fruit, and think about when I was a babe in Christ, and new in my call from The Lord. After an intense pruning, and some study I thought I knew a lot about the kingdom of God and my call. I was ready and willing and sure it was going to happen very fast. I didn’t see all the work (internal work) that had to take place. I didn’t see how that in the abiding, I was becoming what Our Lord Jesus, desired, not what I thought I should be.  I realize how without abiding, we are just like these small unripe peaches. If we are picked to soon we will not have any meat with which to nourish others. It takes time to abide in ‘The Vine’ and bear fruit. It may require a drastic pruning so that we may bear much fruit. There is a promise to those of us who abide, that we should show we are disciples. This is to God’s glory. My prayer is that we will not grow weary in well doing, for we shall reap in due season, if we continue to abide.                           Thank you for listening with me.