Branching Out

Purpose of fruit in nature, carries the seeds of the vine to create new vines.

John 15:1-17

The Vine and the Branches
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other.

God is the gardener. He tends the seeds, branches, vines.

He prunes the vine. Pruning is painful, but necessary for the vine to grow, pruning cuts off the dead branches that bear no fruit so that the branches that do bear fruit will bear more fruit, much fruit.

By remaining in the Vine, in the Word, the Word will remain in us. As a branch cannot bear fruit without being attached to the vine and the vine being in the good soil, being tended; neither can we bear fruit (scatter seeds) without abiding in the Word, being pruned, tended by God, that He clears the soil for new seeds to accept the soil.

To glorify the Lord, we must show that it is because of HIM that we bear fruit. Obeying Jesus' commands, we must show that we ARE in the vine, we ARE being tended by God and we DO trust him to do a good work in us, taking care of us. He will protect us from storms, but if the storm will prune dead branches, sometimes he might allow the storm to do the pruning. A light, mild storm will break off easily broken branches.

He has chosen us, all of us to be his disciples. Accept the call.

God bless.

Quenching my Thirst

I can think of times in my life that I have gotten busy working or playing outside and forgot to rehydrate myself. In fact, there are times that I do that when I am working around the house. I get so caught up in what I am doing, that I get thirsty without realizing it, or in the back of my mind I think, "I will get a drink as soon as I am finished with 'this'. " Whatever 'this' might be.

Anyway, by the time I am dying of thirst, there is only one thing I want to drink...water. Either cold or room temperature, it doesn't matter as long as it is wet. It can't be milk or tea or coffee or soda, it is only water that I crave. When I finally feel that water in my mouth, it sooths my entire body from head to toe. It tastes like sweet ambrosia. I feel cooler all over, I can think easier, I simply feel better.

When I first started studying the Word as an adult, I read the story of Jesus telling the Samaritan woman at the well about the Living Water. I really had difficulty understanding what he was saying. I thought, "Ok, is this allegorical? Is the Living Water a metaphor, a simile, what is he saying here? We can't live without water, so we can't live without God. Is that it? Is there more to it?" I studied the Word with my Bible study group weekly.

Then we moved and couldn't find a church in our immediate area, we tried churches that we used to attend, but my husband and I were having trouble finding a congregation that 'fit' us as a family. Some were too large or too small. Some didn't care about Bible study (shocking, isn't it?). Some taught things that were completely the opposite of what I understand the Bible to say. Some were laissaz-faire about their approach to God. Some were a little too focused upon judgement and not enough about helping. Some were a little too 'much' in terms of the 'drama' of the service. We were looking for something simple, where we could study the word and our children can grow in their love and understanding of the Lord. Not a 'popularity contest' type of place where people are showing off their works, but a place where they invite you to work together to show your love of Christ. We were looking for simply a 'community of believers.' Someplace that we knew was God's house.

Eventually, we went to see our Bishop down in Tennessee. He made some suggestions that we took to heart. We searched online for what he suggested and we found a small church that was built before the Civil War. There are a few younger families, only one other family with children the same age as mine, but it is an established community of believers. Although the style of service was more formal that I had previously been accustomed to, I was content with more formality for the service because it was so obviously with the intent of showing respect. It was a breath of fresh air.

After we started attending, I started getting lazy about my private Bible study. I had gone so long without studying with others that I didn't really want to make time in my schedule to add their Bible study to the time that I was taking to study my Bible. I liked the way I was doing things far too much. Then, I thought, "Well, I have been reading my Bible, I just don't feel like it today." One day turned into two, then a week, then a month. Our homelife started to become more chaotic again, frustration set in.

Then, the church announced they were starting a new Bible study on Mark. My husband and I discussed it and decided that we wanted to try it together. I opened my Bible and started reading.

I suddenly understood what Jesus meant by the Living Water. My soul was finally quenched after being so parched. I had been longing for Him, longing to spend more time with His Word, more time in His presence. I was simply longing for Him. I felt fresh and renewed. I could think again. It literally felt as cleansing to my soul as water does when I am thirsty. Now, I know how to never be thirsty again.

John 4:4-14

Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."

"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"

Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

God bless

Growing my Garden

Some of us chose to be parents because we thought we should and hated the first couple of years because we were so selfish to begin with, but as we matured, we realized how important our job really was. I am a stay at home mom, I am raising the next generation of leaders of our country. When it is time for me to retire from whatever job I have after my children are grown and gone, my children will remember that I raised them to be responsible, independant people that care for others. I am blessed to be able to afford to be a stay at home mother and I know it. My kids talk to me, their friends talk to me and although they think I am a little old fashioned, at the same time, they tell my kids that they envy the fact that my kids KNOW that they can tell me if they need help that I will always be there. I try to make sure that their friends know that I will be there for them also. I would rather the kids call me to tell me that they need help than end up dead. I make clear what I consider right and wrong, but always with love and once I have made my point, it's over. I am NOT my children's friend, nor their friend's friend. I am a mother and for that I deserve respect and I expect it from my children and their friends.

We have dinner together as a family every night, usually around the dining room table, occasionally at a restaurant, but always the four of us. We say grace whether we are at home or out to dinner and my kids know how to properly set a table (going out from plate: knife, spoon on right...dinner fork, salad fork on left on top of napkin which is placed in the lap before eating). When using silverware, start on the outside and work your way in. Don't talk with food in your mouth and wait until the other person completes their thought before you respond. These are the kinds of things my children and their friends learn when eating dinner at my house.

Like I said, my kids' friends think we are a little 'old fashioned,' but my kids show the benefit when we are in company of other adults. I see the benefit every time an adult tells me how well behaved, honest, and respectful my children are. I simply hope that the influences that they receive from society don't counter what I have taught my children. I pray for my children to grow in the Lord. I pray for my family to grow in our faith and to meet each blessing God sends us with hope, confidence and perseverance. By raising my children to learn to abide in Christ, I am planting seeds. By planting seeds, I hope that I am bearing fruit, good fruit, for the Lord.

God bless.

Judging One Another

"If the disciples make judgments of their own, they set up standards of good and evil. But Jesus Christ is not a standard which I can apply to others. He is judge of myself, revealing my own virtues to me as something altogether evil. Thus I am not permitted to apply to the other person what does not apply to me. For, with my judgment according to good and evil, I only affirm the other person's evil, for he does exactly the same. But he does not know of the hidden iniquity of the good but seeks his justification in it."

~Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

1 John 1:8-9

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Luke 6:42

How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

James 4:11-12

Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

Colossians 2:16-17

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

Heavenly Father,

Keep our hearts and minds focused upon Christ. Instead of cutting one another apart, help us to know how to lift one another up to you Lord so that we might be the best example possible of what you desire.

Amen

Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent

I don't expect to have complete understanding of God.

Part of the love I have for my husband is the mystery of knowing new things about him all the time. He is always new to me and yet, always the same. Part of the fun of marriage is the discovery of new things about him all the time. My love for God is the same, I know him, but I learn new things about him all the time because it is impossible for me to 'completely' know him. Not because he is always changing, but because there is so much to know, it is impossible for me in my human 'finity' to have a complete grasp of his 'infinity.'

In addition, I am always changing. As I learn and grow, my relationship with God changes and grows. I understand love better, and since God is love, I am better able to share what I have learned, better able to share the love that I have learned about. By knowing Jesus, I know God. If you love Jesus, then you love the Father, because if you know the Father, then you know that Jesus is the perfect reflection of that love.

If you are trying to completely 'know' and 'understand' God, that is a good thing. If you presume that you are going to succeed, then you presume that god is Man's creation, rather than man being God's creation. That is not a good thing.God's omnipotence (all powerful) means that we cannot understand his power. We are not all powerful, therefore, we cannot understand God's power.

We attempt to define something whose definition is SET by God. He who makes the rules gets to set the definition for those rules. Just because we might not understand the rules does not mean they don't exist, it just means that we are not advanced enough to understand them. The fact is, God exists outside of our understanding of time, outside of spacial limitations, outside of 'our' human understanding. He is greater than all of these finite experiences because he is infinite.

1 John 4:16

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.

1 Corinthians 13:4-12

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

Galatians 5:19-23

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

God bless.