Joel M Bradshaw

“5 I [Jesus] am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”–John 15

These words of Jesus should hit home in your heart. Reading them causes a person to wonder a number of questions. Am I bearing fruit like I should? Is the Father pruning me or not? Am I truly abiding in Jesus? Am I indeed proving to be Jesus’ disciple and giving glory to the Father? Every one of those questions is like stepping on a weight scale after a long time of not doing so. One part of you is terrified of the answer and the other part of you is relieved to have gotten the results so you can start focusing on the right things.

We learn from these verses that bearing fruit is a matter of God’s sovereign work in us. A person only grows fruit as they abide in Jesus. To abide is to continue, to stay, and to remain. After a big storm I always find tree branches laying in my yard. Those branches always wither and die. Their leaves brown and crumble. This is because they no longer abide in the tree. Since I don’t build many fires, I simply collect the branches and put them in a special garbage can for pickup day. They have no other use.

Verse 7 gives us a clue. The way we abide in Jesus when his words abide in us. This is why these verses are between the Holy Spirit speeches in chapters 14 and 16. We need the Holy Spirit to help the words of Jesus to remain in us. We require His guidance and shepherding on a daily basis. Thus whatever fruit that is grown in our lives is under the sovereign plan of the Father, remaining in the Son, and directed by the Spirit.  

1. To bear fruit, you must abide in Jesus’ vine. This is exclusive faith in Jesus and a lifelong relationship with Him.
2. Abiding is a matter of faithful obedience to the Bible, as those words remain in you.
3. Abiding is also a sovereign work of God. He also remains in the faithful Christian He has called and led.
4. God grows fruit in those branches that abide on the vine. He prunes and shapes areas of those branches that are not fruitful.
5. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control are those fruit.
6. Abiding means an exclusive relationship with Jesus and a relationship that remains with Jesus.
7. Does all this describe you? What fruit is on your branches?–JMB