Abiding In The Vine

Psalms 14:2: "god, the father looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to determine if there are any that understand, who seek God." What do we need to understand? The Word is full of facts we need to understand, but today i want to talk about the truth of "Abiding in the vine" and why it is so important to you being an individual and to us like a Church. John 15:1-7: " 1."I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.2. Every branch within me that does not bear fruit he or she takes away; and every branch which bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3.You are already thoroughly clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4. Abide within me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither are you able to, unless you abide in Me. 5.I am the vine, you are the branches. He that abides in Me, and I within him, bears much fruit ; for without Me that you can do nothing. 6.If anybody does not abide in Me, he's cast out as a department and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, plus they are burned. 7.If you follow in Me, and My phrases abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it will be done for you" John fifteen :1-2: God is the vinedresser or the gardener. As Pastor Tony said in his sermon a few weeks ago, the term "takes away " really means "takes up". Inside a vineyard, when a branch is not bearing fruit the garden enthusiast picks it up, props it up, supports it. He washes it, waters it and positions it so that it could possibly get the full sunlight and become able to bear fruit again. He is doing this in our lives when we as Christians have reached a place of barrenness. Jeremiah 31 :3: "The Lord has made an appearance of old to me, stating : "Yes, I have loved a person with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you." Romans 2:4 : "Or do you despise the actual riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, being unsure of that the goodness of god leads you to repentance?" When you are not in the place you should be, It is the goodness of lord that leads us to repentence. God is good and His mercy is everlasting! We need to get this into our spirits. "God won't ever put you so far down, you've got no where but up to appear." We do this to ourself, when we are out of fellowship with the Father, we open the doorway for Satan to attack us. But because He loves all of us so much, God lovingly jobs us back into to the gentle of His glory and power so that we can be in the correct position to abide in the vine and bear fruit. John 15:2-3: He also prunes us, to deal with more fruit. If a grape vine is leafing out too much it won't bloom as well as develop grapes. If you don't deadhead roses they will stop blossoming. The same with us, we bear more fruit if the unneeded fluff and foliage or even the dead wood is reduce away from our lives The interesting thing about this verse, is that christ is talking to His disciples. He is telling them that

they are already pruned or cleaned in what He has already taught them by His Words. This is true, but it is an ongoing process. John 15:4-5: Abide - means to dwell within, remain in, to settle in for the long run ! When you are reading these scriptures for yourself substitute "dwell in" for "abide in ". They may make more sense to you. A branch that is severed from the vine withers and dies. It may be lying right next to the vine, but it is not acquiring vital life from the vine, because it is not attached. If you are not born again, you are not attached to the vine of jesus Christ and you will wither and die. It is a spiritual truth. When we are born once again God's spirit come in and abides in us. Its this that Jesus means when he says, "He abides in us." We are recreated with the life of God. God's life is imparted to us. It is the Zo life of God - all the life God has to give! The same God who spoke "let there be light" and the universe was made and is still expanding. The same God who said "let us make guy in our own image" as well as created man out of the dirt. The same God that reached down into the pit of hell and elevated Jesus from the dead! That is the same God, their life, His creative force, His power that dwells in you ! Sometimes I think we don't define what it is we have inside all of us. So, how do you abide in the vine? Joshua 1:eight ""This Book of the regulation shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may notice to do according to all that is actually written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success." Psalms 119:97 "Oh, how i love Your law! it is my meditation all the day." Psalms 119:147-148: "i rise before the dawning of the morning, And cry for help; I hope in Your term. My eyes are awake through the night watches, That I may meditate on Your word." Romans 12:1-2: "we beseech you therefore, brethren, through the mercies of God, that you simply present your bodies a full time income sacrifice, holy, acceptable in order to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, that you may prove what's that good and acceptable as well as perfect will of lord." You abide in the grape vine by spending time, quality period with God. You study His term, meditate on it, until this sinks into your nature and becomes real to you. It is planted on the good soil of you heart and yields a good harvest. This is where pruning returns into the picture: Anything you put before god becomes an idol, a false God and severs you against the vine. It interferes with your time with God. Luke 14:25-33: "25. And great multitudes went with Him. And He switched and said to them, twenty six."If anyone comes to me and does not hate his parents, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life additionally, he cannot be My disciple. 27.And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be my disciple. 28.For which of you, intending to build a tower, doesn't sit

down first and count the cost, whether he has sufficient to finish it 29.lest, after he has laid the building blocks, and is not able to finish this, all who see it start to mock him, 30.saying, `This man began to construct and was not able to complete. 31. Or what full, going to make war against another king, does not sit down very first and consider whether he's able with ten thousand to satisfy him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32.Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he transmits a delegation and asks conditions of peace. 33.So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple." We are to forsake everything and take up our mix and follow Him, the actual cross is not a burden to deal with, but a tool, to be used to crucify the dead flesh. But you have to consider the cost as the builder did and the King going to war. If you are not willing to give it your own all, give God all of you, you will fail, and be mocked by the world. Your need to abide in the vine must come before you Husband, your children, your job, your home, your family, your own hobbies, everything! Romans nine :13: "As it is written, "jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.'' Hate meaning the rightful aversion associated with wrong doing or iniquity. God hates sin and can't look upon it. He loved Jacob because he chose God rather than the world, he made the correct sacrifice, while Esau chose the flesh. He offered his birthright for a dish of stew, then didn't make the correct sacrifice. He chose the easy world's way, not really God's way, and so consequently was severed from the grape vine. Abiding in the vine is actually walking in obedience. I think this is why numerous Christians fail in their stroll, they don't consider what needs to be done and then what it will cost. When you are serious about God, he will get serious with you. God will show you what in your life needs changing and what you need to get rid of, so that you can spend more time with him. You will find that as you grow nearer to God each day, your desires and interests will change. The things you found fascinating aren't that interesting anymore. You will be more aware of what you feed your spirit daily. When you recognize the areas you need to get rid of, and you toe nail them to the cross, you need to be very serious. It cannot be halfhearted! James tells us that the doubleminded man will receive nothing from God. God will lovingly show us the most important thing and what is not, which is up to us to listen as well as obey, and to cut aside the deadwood or fluffy foliage. You abide in the grape vine, Jesus and He abides in you. You settle in for the long term along with Jesus and He will get ready for the long term with you, you live in, live in Jesus and that he will dwell in and live in you. This is a vital point. Christ stresses it twice in these verses. John 15:5-7: If we do not abide in him, we cannot bear fruit. In fact, Jesus says that with out Him we can do nothing.. We won't bear fruit, if we don't have Jesus in our coronary heart, God's life in all of us and we are abiding in the vine daily. Just as a little bud draws vital nutrition from the vine into the department, so we draw vital nourishment from the Word associated with God.

One of the reasons for the existence is for fellowship with the Father and Jesus the Lord, to bear fruit as well as bring Glory to lord. One will always lead to the other. If you fellowship consistently, honestly and completely with God the Father through jesus our Lord, you will usually bear fruit. But it takes time, it will not happen overnight. Just as a new blossom does not become fresh fruit overnight, You as a believer will not mature overnight. Many times we impede ourselves from successfully abiding in the vine. How?? By our confessions: We are snared through the words of our mouth. (Proverbs 6:2) Paul tells us in Romans 3:13 that our lips are open tombs. We speak nothing but death and unbelief out of the mouths. Have you ever heard your self saying: "I don't have enough time to study." "I have too much on my plate right now." "By the time I get house from work, cook supper, get the kids settled it's so late...." "I'm not a early morning person, I don't wake up until I have at least 2 glasses of coffee..." " It is really hard for me to understand the Bible, it does not make sense to me." We have all said this particular or something similar in the past. NOw it is time for our confessions to line up with the Word of lord. If you feel you don't have time to spend with God, ask Him to show you how to arrange your schedule so you can... It will take sacrifice on your part, it will not be easy. If you are having trouble understanding the Word, ask God to provide you with wisdom. James 1:5-7: "If any of you does not have wisdom, let him ask of God, who provides to all liberally and with out reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him or her ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a influx of the sea driven as well as tossed by the wind. With regard to let not that man guess that he will receive anything in the Lord;" Ask God and he will give it to you, but you really have to mean it. You seek God with all of you heart, you gain knowing and then you grow emotionally. Then you will bear fruit. What Kind of Fruit will we bear? We bear many fruit, but I am only going to address one today. That is the fruit of a productive effective prayer life. When you spend time abiding in the vine, you come to know what the Word of lord says, what the Promises associated with God are. You realize you're a joint heir with jesus and share in His inheritance. (Romans 8:seventeen.) You have to become starving for God, actually in my opinion we have to be starving for God and the things associated with God! You have to be so missing out on God and His Word that nothing else

will satisfy, then you'll truly abide in the grape vine fully and completely. Whenever you spend time in the Word learning of and about God, a person come to know Him much better. The better you know Him, the greater you trust Him, think His promises and rely on Him. Paul says in 2 Timothy 1:12 : "For this reason I also suffer this stuff ; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day." Paul was a man who certainly abided in the vine. He or she knew God, knew him or her personally and was convinced that He is able... That is the place we need to be! By now, you probably understand that a 10 minute devotional each day will not qualify as abiding in the vine. For you to know God, you have to spend time with him, then and only then are you going to believe the Word, pray the term, speak the Word and act on the Word. It is actually when you reach this point, in your prayer life, you see your prayers answered, needs meet, your children saved, your spouse walking with God. Successful, fruitful prayer lives are a result of abiding in the vine. The Apostle Paul's Prayer within Colossians The following prayer is actually from Colossians 1:9-12, it has been changed into the first individual, to personalize it for your needs. Prayer it for yourself, your loved ones and those in authority over you, either at work as well as our government officials and you will see the power of god change your life. Father lord, I do not cease to pray, and to ask that I may be filled with the knowledge of Your may in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that I may have a walk worthy of You, Lord, completely pleasing You, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of You, father God; that I may be strengthened with all might, according to your own glorious power, for all persistence and longsuffering with joy ; giving thanks to You, dad, who has qualified Me to be a partaker of the inheritance from the saints in the light. You have delivered me from the energy of darkness and translated me into the kingdom of the Son of Your love, within whom I have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. I thank you for my redemption and my new relationship with you. In Jesus name i pray, Amen. If you truly want to know for sure that you are a child of God, then I want to invite you to earnestly hope this prayer. Dear incredible Father, I come to you in the name of Jesus. Your own word says, "...and the one that comes to Me I will by no means cast out." (Jn.six :37), So I know you will not cast me out, but you take me in, and that i thank you for it. You stated in your Word, "whoever phone calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.'' (Ro. 10 :13). I am calling on Your name, So I know you have saved me now, additionally you said, "...that if you confess with your mouth the Lord jesus and believe in your coronary heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you'll be saved. For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is built to salvation." (Ro.10:nine,10).

I believe in my heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of lord. I believe He was raised from the dead for my validation. And I confess Him now as my Lord, because your Word says, "... With the coronary heart one believes to righteousness..." and I do believe along with my heart, I have now become the righteousness of lord in Christ. (2 Cor. 5:21), And i'm saved! Thank You, Lord! I can now truthfully say, I see myself as a born again child associated with God! Glory to lord !!!! Amen. Jeremiah 29