A Walk Through the Vineyard
I am a hopeless romantic! I love watching chic flicks and old love stories that make your heart swoon. I remember one such movie, A Walk in the Clouds which told a story of a young girl who was pregnant out of wedlock. She did not want to go home and face her family. She met a man who went with her and pretended to be her husband, so that she could gently brake the news to her family. Her Father was the owner of a large vineyard and much of the story takes place in this beautiful vineyard. Towards the end of the movie the vineyard catches on fire and the entire crop burns to the ground. Only one vine survived the fire and was planted and cared for, resulting in a new vineyard and a new harvest. The young girl's Father forgave her and she marries the man who had stood by her and everyone lives happily ever after. Aahhh!
Let's walk through another vineyard today. It is found in John 15: 1-13. Jesus was speaking to His disciples in the Kidron Valley by an olive grove just before He was arrested and betrayed. Jesus tells them that He is the "True Vine" and His Father is the Gardener. (vs. 1) Have you ever allowed this portion of scripture to sink deeply into your soul? The vine is the deep root, the trunk of the plant that holds everything together. The gardener, or vinedresser, is the one who tends to the vineyard. He waters, protects, prunes and cares for each vine so that it will bear much fruit. The branches, are the off shoots from the vine, which produces the fruit. (John 15:5, 8,16)
Jesus Christ is the Vine, His Father God is the Vinedresser and we are the branches. How do we bear fruit? We must remain in Christ and obey His commands. (John 15:7-12) Many times we hear controversy regarding grace and works. Let us take just a moment to clear up this issue. Let's get God's Word on the subject. "For it is by grace, you have been saved, through faith- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:8-10) Praise God we cannot "earn" our salvation. It is a free gift that our loving Father gives to those who ask and believe! When we give our hearts to Jesus, our desire is to do good works out of our love for the Savior. We want others to see Christ in us the hope of glory!! (Colossians 1:27).
We must remain in Him in order to bear fruit. (vs. 5) 1 John 2:5 says, "But if anyone obeys His word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in Him: Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did." To walk as Jesus did, we must keep in step with the Spirit. (Galatians 5:25) As we live by the Spirit, our lives will produce fruit that comes from within (Galatians 5:22-23), and that will produce outer fruit, as we share our testimony with others. To God be the glory!
Don't you just love the Word of God? I remember reading a story about the caretaker of a vineyard in Bruce Wilkinson's book, Secrets of The Vine. He told about meeting a vineyard caretaker who described taking care of the vines. He said that many times a new vine will fall to the ground where it has no possibility of bearing fruit. It gets rained on, gathers mildew and becomes dirty. The branch becomes sick. The vinedresser will go throughout the vineyard with a bucket of water. He will look for these branches. He will pick them up, wash them off and tie them up near the branches that are bearing fruit. He said that in a short amount of time, they are thriving once again.
How wonderful that we too have a Vinedresser that will pick us up when we have fallen, cleanse us, hold us and place us near those who are bearing fruit. He loves us, nurtures us and prunes us, so that in time we will be thriving once again! He cares for us individually. He desires for us to thrive spiritually, emotionally and physically and bear fruit for His glory.
Beloved, are you feeling as though you have been through a dry season? Do you feel like you are not bearing much fruit? Do you feel as though you have fallen to the ground and become useless? Are you feeling down and all alone? Sweet ones, our God is the lifter of our head. (Psalm 3:3) He wants to fill any void in your life and bring complete healing. Open up your heart to Him. Allow Him to come alongside you and hold you and wrap His loving arms around you.
Sometimes, because of His great love for us, He prunes us. This can be a painful process, but if we allow Him to prune us and perge some things from our lives, we will flourish. Pruning produces fruitfulness! Maybe you have unconfessed sin in your life that makes you feel as though you are mildewed and dirty. I love that we serve a Savior that we can go to and confess our sin. He washes away our iniquity and cleanses us from our sin. (Psalm 51:1-2)
Praise God! When we are down, He lifts us up and places us with those who are bearing much fruit! I believe this is why God's Word tells us to "spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together. . . " (Hebrews 10:24-25a) It is so important to surround yourself with those who are bearing fruit. Corporate worship and fellowship with other believers is necessary to encourage us as we grow in Christ. I am so thankful for the family of God!
I am thankful for my Journey Girls. Your love and encouragement has been amazing! You are such a blessing to me and I love you so! Just take some time today and evaluate your own heart. Are you bearing much fruit? Are you allowing the Vinedresser to prune your life? Are you surrounding yourself with others who are flourishing in Christ? Are you allowing your Daddy to be the lifter of your pretty little head? He loves you so much and it is His desire to see you grow in Him. Don't give up when the journey gets tough. Continue on and cling to the One True Vine!
Walking with you,
Elisabeth
Let's walk through another vineyard today. It is found in John 15: 1-13. Jesus was speaking to His disciples in the Kidron Valley by an olive grove just before He was arrested and betrayed. Jesus tells them that He is the "True Vine" and His Father is the Gardener. (vs. 1) Have you ever allowed this portion of scripture to sink deeply into your soul? The vine is the deep root, the trunk of the plant that holds everything together. The gardener, or vinedresser, is the one who tends to the vineyard. He waters, protects, prunes and cares for each vine so that it will bear much fruit. The branches, are the off shoots from the vine, which produces the fruit. (John 15:5, 8,16)
Jesus Christ is the Vine, His Father God is the Vinedresser and we are the branches. How do we bear fruit? We must remain in Christ and obey His commands. (John 15:7-12) Many times we hear controversy regarding grace and works. Let us take just a moment to clear up this issue. Let's get God's Word on the subject. "For it is by grace, you have been saved, through faith- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:8-10) Praise God we cannot "earn" our salvation. It is a free gift that our loving Father gives to those who ask and believe! When we give our hearts to Jesus, our desire is to do good works out of our love for the Savior. We want others to see Christ in us the hope of glory!! (Colossians 1:27).
We must remain in Him in order to bear fruit. (vs. 5) 1 John 2:5 says, "But if anyone obeys His word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in Him: Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did." To walk as Jesus did, we must keep in step with the Spirit. (Galatians 5:25) As we live by the Spirit, our lives will produce fruit that comes from within (Galatians 5:22-23), and that will produce outer fruit, as we share our testimony with others. To God be the glory!
Don't you just love the Word of God? I remember reading a story about the caretaker of a vineyard in Bruce Wilkinson's book, Secrets of The Vine. He told about meeting a vineyard caretaker who described taking care of the vines. He said that many times a new vine will fall to the ground where it has no possibility of bearing fruit. It gets rained on, gathers mildew and becomes dirty. The branch becomes sick. The vinedresser will go throughout the vineyard with a bucket of water. He will look for these branches. He will pick them up, wash them off and tie them up near the branches that are bearing fruit. He said that in a short amount of time, they are thriving once again.
How wonderful that we too have a Vinedresser that will pick us up when we have fallen, cleanse us, hold us and place us near those who are bearing fruit. He loves us, nurtures us and prunes us, so that in time we will be thriving once again! He cares for us individually. He desires for us to thrive spiritually, emotionally and physically and bear fruit for His glory.
Beloved, are you feeling as though you have been through a dry season? Do you feel like you are not bearing much fruit? Do you feel as though you have fallen to the ground and become useless? Are you feeling down and all alone? Sweet ones, our God is the lifter of our head. (Psalm 3:3) He wants to fill any void in your life and bring complete healing. Open up your heart to Him. Allow Him to come alongside you and hold you and wrap His loving arms around you.
Sometimes, because of His great love for us, He prunes us. This can be a painful process, but if we allow Him to prune us and perge some things from our lives, we will flourish. Pruning produces fruitfulness! Maybe you have unconfessed sin in your life that makes you feel as though you are mildewed and dirty. I love that we serve a Savior that we can go to and confess our sin. He washes away our iniquity and cleanses us from our sin. (Psalm 51:1-2)
Praise God! When we are down, He lifts us up and places us with those who are bearing much fruit! I believe this is why God's Word tells us to "spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together. . . " (Hebrews 10:24-25a) It is so important to surround yourself with those who are bearing fruit. Corporate worship and fellowship with other believers is necessary to encourage us as we grow in Christ. I am so thankful for the family of God!
I am thankful for my Journey Girls. Your love and encouragement has been amazing! You are such a blessing to me and I love you so! Just take some time today and evaluate your own heart. Are you bearing much fruit? Are you allowing the Vinedresser to prune your life? Are you surrounding yourself with others who are flourishing in Christ? Are you allowing your Daddy to be the lifter of your pretty little head? He loves you so much and it is His desire to see you grow in Him. Don't give up when the journey gets tough. Continue on and cling to the One True Vine!
Walking with you,
Elisabeth
1 Response to A Walk Through the Vineyard
Hi Elisabeth! I usually read from school where I'm not able to post...(Tori hears the tap tap tap of the keys and comes to get Mommy away from the evil computer...hee hee) I had sent this post home on the day you wrote this... :o) We have a snow day, so I'm trying to catch up at life. ;o)
Elisabeth! I just finished watching this movie today with my Spanish 2 students... I use it as a reward movie for them (and a reward for me b/c I love it so much!) I needed today's word more than you know... I've been down and struggling just as the vine... Tori has been sick and Mom and I are taking turns staying with her...I don't feel as though I can do enough at home and when I get back to the overwhelming tasks at school, I just feel like the vine that has fallen to the ground and has become useless... I'm so thankful I have you and these wonderful Journey girls and our "Believing God" study girls to be "tied" to daily... Love you so much!
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