The boy is sleeping a long time. Means more blog posts…
“He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful” (John 15:2)
If you are a true follower of Jesus Christ, I bet you sometimes feel like God is picking on you. Have you ever exclaimed in exasperation, “God never lets me get away with anything”? Have you ever noticed that God seems particularly jealous with you? That He extracts from your life mindless and meaningless activities that He seems to “put up with” in other believers’ lives? That, dear one, is because you have proved to be a cooperative fruit-bearing child and He knows He has a prime branch through whom He can be all the more glorified…
I believe this verse suggests that God works all the harder on the child that is producing fruit so he or she will produce even more…
God desires for those who bear fruit to bear more fruit and those who bear more fruit to bear much fruit!
To the best of your biblical undersanding, based on an abiding sense of God’s presence and pleasure as opposed to numbers and notoriety, where do you think you may presently be on a scale from no apparent fruit, to some fruit, then more fruit, and finally to much fruit?
The pickier we let Him be with us, the more productive He will be through us. When all is said and done and we are living in heaven, all that will matter is whether or not our lives glorified God…
The fact of the matter is that we have been called to lives of obedience. Yes, the grace of God covers our sins as we trust in Christ’s finished work on the cross. But we will not bear much fruit without obedience to the Father’s will. According to John 15:10, if we don’t walk closely to Him in obedience, we will never draw near enough to abide in His love. He loves us no matter what we do, but we will not be able to pitch our spiritual tents in His presence when we’re disobedient.
Does this sound like a life of just serving and sacrificing? Then you’d better read John 15:11 again. Jesus said, ‘I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.’ God longs to bless us with abundant life and joy. And not just any joy – Christ’s joy! Perfect, full, magnetic, and contagious!
God doesn’t just have more for you. He has much. Much love. Much fruit. Much joy. And the God of the universe derives much glory from one measly mortal. Who can beat a deal like that?”
– The Beloved Disciple. I loved learning about Jesus’s heart buddy, John