Category: Spiritual

John 15:1-8

John 15 is a powerful discourse in which Jesus does all the talking. He is on his way to the Garden of Gethsemane, when he tells his disciples, “I am the true vine and my Father is the husbandman, or gardener” (v. 1). Using the analogy of the vine and the branches, Jesus explains to his disciples that there are two types of branches in him – the unfruitful and the fruitful. There are many that decide to follow Christ; these are the branches. Some turn back to their old way of life, loving the things of this world more than Christ. Those are the unfruitful branches. Some continue in the ways of the Lord, setting their affections on things above. Every branch in Christ that does not bear fruit our heavenly Father cuts off. Every branch in him that bears fruit our heavenly Father prunes so that it may be more productive.

My late husband was an outdoorsman. He enjoyed planting vegetable gardens, fruit trees, flowers, and a variety of shrubbery. If there’s any validity to the “green thumb” theory, he certainly had one. In our yard he was the gardener; he cut away and pruned. It seemed sometimes as if he trimmed some bushes nearly bare. Yet they always grew back more fully and more beautiful. So in this analogy of the vine and the branches, Christ illustrates that true believers abide continually in him, the Father prunes us, and because of the Father’s tender loving care, we bring forth an abundance of fruit. That pleases Him.

Christ commands us to abide in him, and he will abide in us. A branch cannot bear fruit apart from the vine. It must remain in the vine to be productive. That’s how it is with each child of God. Each of us must remain in Christ Jesus; he is the vine. Outside of him we become fruitless, and the Father cuts us off. As a free-will moral agent, we can choose to abide in Christ or not.Yet we must willingly believe God’s word; it is a benefit to us. “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him, and he in God” (1 John15:4). We need Christ because apart from him, we are lost and spiritually malnourished. The sustenance we need comes from him; therefore, it’s absolutely imperative that we abide in him to live. What can the believer do without Jesus? Jesus gives us the answer in verse 5, “Without me you can do nothing.” If we confess Jesus as the Son of God, and faithfully abide in him, we will live eternally.  

If a believer does not abide under the shadow of the Almighty, which protects him, he or she is vulnerable to Satan and his attacks. Satan will abandon us and leave us to burn in misery, shame, and hopelessness under the weight of the cares of this world. Unfruitful believers are like the prodigal son’s older brother who never left the church, but he was selfish and didn’t have love or compassion for his brother who returned to the church. The Father welcomed his repentant son who “was dead, is alive again; he was lost, and is found” (Luke 15:24). Jesus said, “If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; men gather them, throw them in the fire, and they are burned” (v.6). That was the attitude of the older son.

Then he goes on to tell his disciples, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you can ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you” (v.7). The truth of the matter is we must abide in Christ, the true vine, and his words abide in us. We have the promise that our prayers will be answered. Do you want to glorify the Father? Abide in Christ, and he will prune you, purify you, so that you may bear much fruit. Fruit-bearing believers glorify the Father and are Christ’s disciples. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

Ephesians 4:21-25

There’s a popular TV game show, “To Tell the Truth,” where there are three people claiming to be the same person. Only one of them is the real John or Johnnie Doe, and he / she is sworn to tell the truth. The two imposters do all they can to deceive the panel. The objective of the game is for each panelist to take a turn asking the three strangers questions, trying to determine which two are lying and which one is telling the truth. Note that this is a game show, and it is strictly for entertainment.

In real life telling untruths are lies, not a game, not entertainment. For some in many circles, lying, or falsehood, has become fashionable in order to impress others, to get what one wants, to slander, or to bully another. Lies are the opposite of the truth because they come from the devil. Telling lies is a sin that causes hurt, distrust, deception, etc., whether it’s a full lie or a half-truth. Recall the conversation between the serpent and Eve; both of them told half- truths about the command God had given Adam (Genesis 3:1-5). Back in Genesis 2:16-17, God placed Adam in the beautiful garden of delight to take care of it. God promised Adam that he could eat freely of every tree of the garden with the admonition not to eat from “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” The conversation of lies and half-truths between Eve and the serpent, led to man’s disobedience to God, which resulted in our death: “The wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23a).

How do we counteract the spirit of lying? We are commanded to (1) “put off the former way of life, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts”(v. 22); (2) “be renewed in the spirit of your mind” (v. 23); and (3) “put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness (v.24).” Yes, temptation will surely come, but we must resist and not allow that old selfish, prideful person we used to be dictate who we are today. We’ve taken off the old man; therefore, the mind is to be renewed, made new again as before the fall of man. “Let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes” (4:23, NLT). The weight of those old evil thoughts that once dominated our thinking has been replaced with  things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of a good report (Philippians 4:8, paraphrased). We’ve been renewed in the spirit of our mind, desiring the same mind which was in Christ Jesus. So we’ve put off the old man, now what? We must put on something in its place – the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”  We heard the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ and believed. We put on the Lord Jesus Christ, meaning that we have become a new creation made in his image, and have taken his ways to be our ways. We are resurrected with him, and that old rebellious nature has been replaced with the fruit of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit works from the inside out to make the spiritual nature of the inner man a new creation of righteousness and true holiness. It is “By grace you are saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).    

Taking on the new nature of Jesus Christ requires us to behave, think, and speak differently. “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another” (4:25). Let’s tell the truth and treat our brothers and sisters kindly. Speaking the truth requires us to know the truth. To know the truth we must know Jesus; he is the truth. You don’t have to take my word; take Jesus’ word, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6a). “It’s not fake news”; it’s good news.”

Our Reasonable Service to Christ

Romans 12:1

To join most organizations, including our great U.S. armed forces, we must meet certain basic requirements such as education level, age, and criminal background checks to name a few.Then there’s the possibility of being denied membership or disqualified for one reason or another. However, there is one organism, the church, that everyone has an open invitation to join. What is different about joining the body of Christ? It is a body of born again believers.There is no required education level, age limit, background check, or other qualifications that man can ever use to disqualify us from God’s kingdom. John 3:16 says that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

We must believe and trust in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9, NKJV). We have been called out from the world for His purposes. We live in this earthly realm, but we are citizens of the spiritual kingdom. He commands us to love Him wholly and freely, dedicating our lives to Him through service to our neighbor.

According to chapters 12-15 of Romans, we have a duty to live a life that reflects our willingness to commit to a lifetime of service to Christ. Specifically in Romans 12:1, Paul tells the church that it is “your reasonable service” to bring our living selves to Him, not animals. So what is our reasonable service? Our reasonable service starts with presenting our bodies as a “living sacrifice.” After all, Jesus Christ has given his life as the ultimate sacrifice for us. Paul says that we have heard the preaching; we have heard the teaching of the gospel. Now the least we can do is put it to practice in our everyday living. God wants us to bring our bodies to the altar as a “living sacrifice” – a body that has been spiritually resurrected from death in sins and trespasses.

We are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice that is “holy” to God. Yes, that’s right, the command is for us to be holy, or set apart, for His purpose because He is holy. We are to clean up our old, defiled bodies, and live like clay jars in which the Holy Spirit is stored (CEV, paraphrased). Love Him wholly and freely, dedicating our lives to Him through unselfish service to our neighbor.

Not only does God want a sacrifice that is living and holy, but He wants one that is well-pleasing to Him. Let’s give up our selfish, unrighteous ways and take on His selfless, righteous ways. He wants our obedience; this makes us acceptable to Him. We are to be fully committed sacrifices – living, holy, and acceptable. That is our reasonable service, or genuine worship.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Children of God are called to trust in the Lord. He created us in His image as free-will moral agents for His glory. Even though we are rebellious by nature, God still loves us, and “His mercy endures forever.” Trust comes from the Hebrew word, batach, to confide in so as to be secure without fear. How do we trust the Lord?

It is a fact that we all put our trust in something or someone. Scripture teaches us to trust the Lord with all our heart. If we trusted Him with all our heart, we would love our neighbor as we love ourselves. This should be our way of life as believers. The Lord demands that we accept that it is useless for us to lean on our own understanding; it is shallow compared to His. The Lord tells us that His thoughts are not our thoughts. Nor are our ways His ways. Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than our ways, and His thoughts than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9).  Lastly, we are to acknowledge Him in all our ways, and He will direct our paths. The paths that He has prepared for us are according to His purpose. So whatever we do, we must not fail to acknowledge Him. He gave us a mind to reason and make plans, and many plans are in man’s heart, but God the Father directs our actions. Without a doubt the purpose of the LORD will prevail.

We are called to trust in the Lord. Hit pause and think about it momentarily. We would readily acknowledge that God totally deserves our loyalty. After all, He is our Creator.

Eternal Health

John 5:2-13, 24

Can you imagine the joy of having eternal health? Stop, and think about it. We can have it. It depends on which nature reigns in our lives – the old corrupt nature of the natural man or the new born again nature of the spiritual man. We are children of God housed in earthen vessels. These earthen vessels are weak compared to the precious treasure of the Gospel of salvation in us that the excellency of power may be of God and not of us (2 Corinthians 4:7, paraphrased). Sometimes we may be sick in our earthly bodies, but remember, that sickness may be a test of our faith. James says that you should count it all joy. Revelations says that in the new Jerusalem there won’t be any more pain. That means there will be no more sickness.

Recall that a certain man, who had an infirmity for 38 years. Like a multitude of other impotent folks, he came to the pool, waiting because an angel went down into the water at a certain season and troubled it. When Jesus came along and saw the man lying there helplessly, he knew that the man had been in this condition a long time. His condition was about to change. You can’t come in contact with Jesus and remain the same. Jesus commanded him to rise, take up his bed (pallet) and walk. Immediately he was healed; obeying Jesus, he picked up his bed and walked. This was on the sabbath, and the Jewish leaders didn’t like it. No one can box God in. Trust Him; He’ll do just what He says.

How will we get you eternal health? Like the man with the 38-year infirmity, we will trust and obey the Lord. When we do, that puts us in relationship with him. Our eternal health comes through life in Jesus. He promises that those who hear his words and believe on Him (God the Father) who sent him have everlasting life and will not come into judgment and condemnation, but is passed from death to life. Stay faithful to him and maintain your eternal health.