The One Thing
Personal Update (context)
I am writing this sitting in my office in Boise, Idaho. I recently drove my wife two kids and a dog from Valdosta, Georgia to Boise, Idaho. The trip took 9 days and was definitely memorable. There are positive and negative memories. There was quite a bit of stress at times, but also joy and awe. Plans fell apart and things fell into place. Through it all, I was reminded that God is in control, and I am not able to do it all on my own. I was also reminded that God has surrounded me with people who love Him and He is able to use them to bless me, much like He is able to use me to bless those around me.
As my plans fell apart God revealed to me the heart of my new church family and reminded me that He is my provider.
It is so good to be reminded that I am not alone and that I am surrounded by people who want to help and see me succeed. I praise God for the privilege of belonging to a community that actively loves and cares offers to help in times of need. This is the type of behavior that God requires of His followers, this behavior is a sign of the working of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of those who love God.
As I was traveling and feeling a bit overwhelmed, I was reading John 15 and thinking about the key to ultimate success. I like to simplify things and John 15 highlights ultimate truths about life that go a long way in helping me figure out what to prioritize in life and how to navigate everyday events and major decisions.
I believe I found one thing that I can focus on, and everything else falls into place.
The True Vine
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
- John 15:1 NKJV
Jesus has been speaking about His relationship with the Father (check out my posts on John 14, One Way, If You Had Known Me, Lessons I’m Learning). Now Jesus illustrates their work as one of a vine and a vinedresser. As we read on we will see how Jesus and the Father work together to cause us to be fruitful in all we do for His honor and glory.
Judgment!
Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
- John 15:2 NKJV
The Father, behaving like a vinedresser in this illustration, brings judgment for the purpose of increasing productivity, health, and wellbeing. The Father removes branches that are not bearing fruit. This seems harsh at first, but let’s think about this together. In on a vine, extra branches that are not producing fruit simply get in the way, taking up resources and making less effective the production of fruit. This view of God may seem harsh. Maybe you wish to interpret this portion of the passage differently, and if you have a different interpretation please feel free to express it in the comment session below this post (I would be interested in reading it). The Father is described as working as a judge but His actions are very intentional. In order for the vine to bear fruit, unproductive branches must be removed. I’ll talk more about the removal of unproductive branches later on.
The Father/Vinedresser does not only remove unproductive branches but also prunes productive branches. So even the branches that are producing fruit are not left in their comfort zone. The Father sees and takes appropriate actions with all the branches. To prune means to cut away what is unwanted or superfluous. The cutting away and removal don’t always feel great. I believe that most often we don’t want to let go of things, especially things that have been a part of our lives, of who we are for a long time. But if it is for the purpose of bearing more fruit in the future, we should be willing to allow the father to remove from our lives that which is holding us back.
I would argue that the struggle in the life of those who love God and accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior is not the challenge of accomplishing some great feat, but rather the struggle of allowing God to shape their lives, to remove things that are unwanted of superfluous. Are you willing to allow God to remove from your life that which is holding you back from bearing fruit? Think of the pruning process as optimization.
In the pruning process, God is unlocking your full potential. Do you trust the process?
I feel the need to highlight something that might feel rather obvious to many of you. Please note that the Father is the One who does both the removal of the unproductive branches and the pruning of the productive branches. In other words, God has not called you to remove or prune others, this is not a spiritual gift given to believers, but rather a work Jesus identifies as belonging to the Father.
Clean
You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
- John 15:3 NKJV
What’s going on here? Is this a random verse in the middle of Jesus’ teaching? How does this verse relate to its context? The word translated as “clean” here is καθαρός (katharos) and it means clean or pure, physically, in a Levitical sense, or ethically. Interestingly the word translated as “prunes” in verse two is καθαίρω (kathairō) and it means to cleanse, of filth impurity, etc. It also means “to prune trees and vines from useless shoots” (Strong’s Definition). In English, these two words seem to be completely unrelated, but in the original Greek they are closely related, the pruning is related to cleansing and the fact that Jesus’ disciples are described as “clean” means they have been “pruned” because of the word of Jesus, which is really the word of God (John 14:24).
Even though Jesus describes the Father as being the One who prunes or cleanses the branches that bear fruit, here Jesus links being clean to receiving His word. I take this to mean that the word of God plays a crucial role in the cleansing of our lives. The way I see it, as I am exposed to the word of God the Holy Spirit works in my life, and in that process, God makes me more and more like Jesus.
According to the Bible, what should be more present in my life? What should be absent from my life?
Remain
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
- John 15:3 NKJV
Here is the heart of the matter. This “remaining,” “abiding,” or “dwelling” is one of the key themes John has been emphasizing in John 14-15. Basically, just as the Father abides/dwells in Jesus (John 14:10) and the Holy Spirit would abide in them (John 14:17), so they are commanded as His disciples to abide in the Vine. (Borchert, G. L. (2002). John 12–21 (Vol. 25B, p. 142). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
A branch is not a self-contained entity, and neither is the Christian disciple. And as a branch separated from the supply of nourishment cannot produce fruit, neither can the Christian. Fruit bearing for the disciple is totally dependent on a direct connection to Jesus. Attachment to Jesus or abiding in him is, therefore, the sine quo non of Christian discipleship.
- Borchert, G. L. (2002). John 12–21 (Vol. 25B, p. 142). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
This verse stresses the absolute connection between bearing fruit and abiding in the Vine. Failure to abide in the Vine will always lead to failure in fruit bearing. Independence of the branches from the Vine (disciples from Jesus) will always cause the branch to become fruitless. The message Jesus has for His followers could not be more clear, remaining in Him is a clear prerequisite to acceptable discipleship (bearing fruit).
This brings me back to a point I touched on earlier, the branches that did not bear fruit and were being removed perhaps were being removed because they had already lost their connection with the Vine. They were hanging out around the vine, near the vine, but not intimately connected, not receiving nourishment and power. Like the throng that surrounded Jesus but did not have a meaningful connection with Him. The complete removal of the fruitless branches was simply the last step in a process that was slowly taking place over time.
Once again for those in the back!
“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.
- John 15:5 NKJV
In case you missed what Jesus was trying to say, you can do nothing without Him! Verse 5 may seem redundant and repetitive to us, but Jesus was highlighting the importance of this basic truth. The message is simply, remain in Jesus and you will bear much fruit. You do not do this on your own, Jesus also abides in you as you abide in Him and He causes you to bear the fruit. I love this! I love this because it takes the pressure of bearing fruit out of my hands. I do not bear fruit by trying really hard. I don’t bear fruit by paying a lot of money. I don’t bear fruit through some gimmick or marketing strategy. the only way I can bear fruit for the honor and glory of God is by abiding in Jesus.
I love the idea of abiding. Striving takes effort, going on a journey, achieving, climbing, pushing, all take effort and determination, but Jesus asks us to abide, to remain. How hard can it be to remain or dwell in Jesus? It should not be that hard, at least it would not seem so. Except that we live in an environment that is constantly pulling us away from Jesus. So it takes a conscious effort to remain in Jesus. In other words, if we do nothing, we will naturally drift away from Jesus. Just like any relationship, communication and time are key.
In order to remain in Jesus, we must invest time and effort into the relationship. Abiding in Jesus means talking to Him, this means praying (without ceasing 1 Thessalonians 5:17). This also means studying the Bible since it contains the words of Jesus. As we make time for prayer and Bible study we find ourselves abiding in Jesus, and as we do so He causes us to bear fruit. As we bear fruit the Father prunes us, removes things that hinder us from being more fruitful, and as a result, we bear even more fruit!
THE ONE THING you have to focus on is remaining in Jesus.
When you remain in Jesus, He takes care of everything else. You just need to make sure you don’t quit, make sure you don’t walk away. Jesus will cause you to bear fruit, He wants you to bear fruit!
What if I don’t want to?
What if I don’t want to have anything to do with Jesus? What if I have no desire to bear fruit? What if I just reject God’s love and Jesus’ desire to abide with me and just want to do my own thing?
God allows us to make our choice. We are free to walk away from Jesus if we so choose. Just turn on the news and you will see all the pain and suffering caused by men and women who reject God and His plans. The fruits that we bear reveal that we walk with Jesus, the fruit we bear causes us to reflect the character of God, in other words, our life begins to resemble the life of Jesus.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
- Galatians 5:22-24 ESV
By contrast, by rejecting Jesus we live lives controlled by our own sinful impulses and desires. There are only two options. There is no neutral ground. God will not allow suffering to continue forever on this planet so eventually, He will have to deal with those who do not wish to live a life of love and service.
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.
- John 15:6 NKJV
No one is forced to abide in Jesus, but those who do not want to abide in Jesus will not get a chance to enjoy the eternal life He makes available to those who love Him. Notice here that the ones who are destroyed are not destroyed because they were not good enough. They were destroyed because they did not want to abide in Jesus. Please take note of this. It is not that they were trying but did not bear enough fruit. It is not that they failed to be good enough. It is not that they did score enough “points” in some way. It is simply that they did not abide in Jesus. All we need to focus on is abiding in Jesus, in other words, just don’t walk away from Him, but rather keep Him as a priority!
But wait, there’s more!
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
- John 15:7 NKJV
What do you think of this verse? Pretty incredible right? If we abide in Jesus and His words abide in us we can ask what we desire and it will be done for us! That’s unbelievable! Here is my understanding of what this verse means. When we abide in Jesus and He abides in us we begin to desire what He desires for us. So when we ask what we desire, we will be asking what He desires and it will be done for us!
When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
- James 4:3 NIV
Many times we do not have our prayers answered with a “yes” because we ask selfishly. I believe that prayer is not so much about bending God’s will to our own but rather about joining Him and asking according to His will. Even Jesus, while here on earth understood this.
He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
- Matthew 26:39 NKJV
Here is a quote I really love.
As the will of man co-operates with the will of God, it becomes omnipotent. Whatever is to be done at His command may be accomplished in His strength. All His biddings are enablings.
- Christ’s Object Lesosns p333
I strongly believe that part of the fruit-bearing that takes place in our lives as we abide in Jesus is that our will is shaped and brought into alignment with His will for us. Our prayers become more powerful and we experience more answered prayers because we begin to desire more and more what God desires for us and for those around us.
For the glory of God
By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
- John 15:8 NKJV
Good news! It is God's will that you bear much fruit! Knowing it is God’s will we can pray for it already knowing that the answer will be YES! We are Jesus’s followers or disciples as we abide in Him and allow Him to cause us to bear much fruit, especially since the bearing of fruit brings glory to the Father. So how does this sound to you? Would you like to bear more fruit?
Practical Application
Do you want to bear more fruit?
THE ONE THING you have to focus on is remaining in Jesus.
Here are some simple things you can begin to do.
Pray for God to cause you to bear much fruit that you may bring honor and glory to His name. This way you clarify (especially in your own mind) that your ultimate goal is to glorify the Father. Then open your eyes expecting God to provide you with opportunities to bring glory to His name. It won’t always be a big thing, actually, most often it will be little things. Your honesty, your kindness, your willingness to listen and help, these are small ways that you reflect the character of God, that you begin to live more and more like Jesus lived. Just allow your life to overflow with what God is filling your heart. God will cause you to bear much fruit. Make sure to pray for it often.
What does God want to eliminate from your life? Chances are you have already been bearing fruit, but God wants you to bear more fruit! (John 15:2) So what are some things that God, through the Holy Spirit, has been nudging your conscience to remove from your life? Have you been resisting the Holy Spirit? Have you been holding on to something that is pulling you away from your relationship with Jesus?
What helps you remain in Jesus? This is a personal question and only you can answer it. Throughout your day, what helps you stay connected with Jesus? What pulls you away from Him? For me, this includes what I choose to listen to what I choose to watch, to what I choose to read. It includes places I like to go to and people I choose to surround myself with. Many things are at best neutral, but as you consider your day, your week, month, what activities help you remain in Jesus, and which ones draw you away from Him? I would love for you to share your thoughts on this in the comment session below.
As you become more aware of this you being to see it, to notice it, every day. It feels like a battle going on, where some things help you remain in Jesus and others clearly pull you away from a loving relationship with Him. Pray about it, ask God to reveal it to you, welcome His pruning even if it feels painful at times. Open your eyes for opportunities to be used by God to bless those around you. Remember, it is God’s will that you bear much fruit, so the only one who can keep you from bearing more fruit is yourself.
