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Honey From The Rock Psalm 81:16 |
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THE "UNLESS" LESSON This entry was posted on 10-07-2008 and is filed under uncategorized. "...the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me"(John 15:4 NASB). Here is an important lesson - the "unless" lesson. I am a branch. I cannot bear fruit on my own. Unless I abide in the vine, unless I abide in Christ. There are no exceptions. This is the law of the vineyard. God is the vineyard owner and the one who cares for the vine. His very own Son is the vine. We are the branches. There is no way - no way! - that a branch can be a fruit-bearing branch "unless it shares the life of the vine" (The New Testament in Modern English, J. B. Phillips).
Andrew Murray says, "There is but one way for the branch to bear fruit, there is no other possibility, it must abide in unbroken communion with the vine." The vine (Christ) is our only source of spiritual strength. Our hearty "nutrient flow" comes from Him just as the life-sustaining sap flows from the vine to the branch. So we must "stay put." We must abide in Christ. Our Lord uses that word "abide" ("remain" NIV) seven times in verses 4 through 7. As I have said before, "If we abide in faithfulness, we will abound in fruitfulness." I really know of no other way to live a life pleasing to God (who is the Gardener). Grapes for God - Juice for Jesus - can only be produced by abiding in Christ. Are we open and receptive to what flows from Him to us: His words, His teachings, His rebukes, His challenges, His admonitions, His warnings, His promises? From the poem "Only a Branch" by Freda Hanbury: "Dost thou ask how I abide? How this life I can maintain? I am bound to the Vine by life's strong band, And I only need remain." |
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