Tag Archives: vine

Cutting through the kudzu! (John 15:5-8), April 5, 2017

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Today’s Podcast


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  1. Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
  2. If you’ve never tried to rid your property of kudzu, you’ve missed an extraordinary experience…not! Jesus’ words, didn’t have to bring back that memory today, but He did.
  3. Scripture
    1. John 15:5-8
    2. Jesus: I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you abide in Me and I in you, you will bear great fruit. Without Me, you will accomplish nothing.  If anyone does not abide in Me, he is like a branch that is tossed out and shrivels up and is later gathered to be tossed into the fire to burn.  If you abide in Me and My voice abides in you, anything you ask will come to pass for you.  Your abundant growth and your faithfulness as My followers will bring glory to the Father.
  4. Devotional
    1. In 1876, a simple Japanese vine was introduced into the United States at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia as a decorative plant for ground cover. In the 1930’s and 40’s agriculturalists recommended it in dustbowl areas to stop soil erosion.
      1. Extremely invasive plant
      2. Nodes on the vines stick to anything with any amount of soil or potential source of nutrients
        1. Soil
        2. Trees
        3. Buildings
        4. Almost any immobile object
        5. Just stand still long enough
    2. Removal is difficult
      1. Mow close to the ground and scrape out the crown root
      2. Burn off the plant then scrape out the crown root
      3. Let goats or sheep overgraze to eat the crown root
      4. Use herbicides to kill the crown root
    3. So why do I talk about kudzu when Jesus talks about being part of the vine or else you will be tossed aside and burned in the fire?
      1. Kudzu is everywhere in the southeast, like sin
      2. Kudzu tries to invade any field or yard or property that isn’t attended on a regular basis
      3. Like sin, until you do something with the crown root, it is likely to come back again and again
      4. Kudzu is a nuisance, not a help
      5. Removed and burned, destroyed
    4. God in us empowers us to make right choices
      1. Do we always listen and obey
      2. We get better at it as we stay connected to the vine and draw from Him
      3. We hear His voice more clearly when we stay connected
      4. The closer we stay to Him, the more nodes and roots He removes so we can clear away the plants, the ungodlike characteristics more easily
      5. He wants to perfect us each day as we will let Him
  5. If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

The vine and Christian character (John 15:1-17), August 13, 2015

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – John 15:1-17

Set – Jeremiah 13; John 15

Go! – Jeremiah 13-15; John 15

John 15:1-17
Jesus: 1 I am the true vine, and My Father is the keeper of the vineyard. 2 My Father examines every branch in Me and cuts away those who do not bear fruit. He leaves those bearing fruit and carefully prunes them so that they will bear more fruit; 3 already you are clean because you have heard My voice. 4 Abide in Me, and I will abide in you. A branch cannot bear fruit if it is disconnected from the vine, and neither will you if you are not connected to Me.
5 I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you abide in Me and I in you, you will bear great fruit. Without Me, you will accomplish nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is like a branch that is tossed out and shrivels up and is later gathered to be tossed into the fire to burn. 7 If you abide in Me and My voice abides in you, anything you ask will come to pass for you. 8 Your abundant growth and your faithfulness as My followers will bring glory to the Father.
Jesus: 9 I have loved you as the Father has loved Me. Abide in My love. 10 Follow My example in obeying the Father’s commandments and receiving His love. If you obey My commandments, you will stay in My love. 11 I want you to know the delight I experience, to find ultimate satisfaction, which is why I am telling you all of this.
12 My commandment to you is this: love others as I have loved you. 13 There is no greater way to love than to give your life for your friends. 14 You celebrate our friendship if you obey this command. 15 I don’t call you servants any longer; servants don’t know what the master is doing, but I have told you everything the Father has said to Me. I call you friends. 16 You did not choose Me. I chose you, and I orchestrated all of this so that you would be sent out and bear great and perpetual fruit. As you do this, anything you ask the Father in My name will be done. 17 This is My command to you: love one another.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

You’re probably familiar with the metaphor I’ve used about the vine and branches. Let Me expound on it a little today. In an agrarian society where I first gave the metaphor, the people understood clearly what I shared with them. Today, the lesson may not be quite as clear since so many live in cities and your produce comes from the grocery store and you know so little about growing things.

Growing grapes for both fruit and wine was an important part of life for the people of Jesus day. Wine was a part of meals since often sources of clean cool water were scarce. They also understood what was necessary to care for vineyards. Branches that didn’t produce grapes just sucked nutrients and water from the soil needlessly and the smart caretaker cut those branches from the vines to maximize the production of grapes.

Vineyards, like any crop takes care and attention to allow them to produce in an optimum way. They will grow wild or will grow with little attention, but the grapes they produce when given little or no attention are not conducive to producing good wine. The owners of vineyards know these principles well and so take care to tend to their crops to make sure everything they can do gets done to grow the best clusters of grapes possible.

That’s just what the Father does with those who follow Me. He wants My followers to produce fruit. My word describes that fruit. My fruit comes in the form of changed hearts, changed lives, changed character. The character the Father looks for in My followers Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit include unconditional love, joy, peace, patience, kindheartedness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. When My followers do not show evidence of growing these characteristics in their lives, they obviously have disconnected themselves from Me. My Father prunes them from the vine and they have no part in Me.

Are you producing fruit? Is your character changing to reflect the fruit of the Spirit? Can you take an inventory of your character and see spiritual fruit growing in your life? Do others see a change in you since you accepted Me as your Savior? If not, something is wrong. It’s time to get into My word and learn what I want from My followers. It’s time to be more than a hearer of My word and do what I ask of you. It’s time to follow My commands. I don’t want you to stay the same as when I found you. I want you to become like Me. I want to transform you and make you unlike those in the world.

The metaphor was clear to those who heard it years ago. It may need a little more clarification today, but the truth is no less real. I expect My followers to become more like Me every day. Grow in your likeness or expect the Father to cut you from our presence.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.