Lesson from a twig.

[mattfivefour]

A few days ago I took a break from my air-conditioned office to sit outside on a bench under a tree. As I sat there talking to God, I looked down and there in grass was a twig. It was about eight inches long, covered in the same bark as the tree under which I was sitting.

I looked up at that tree, it was tall and spreading, rich and luxuriant with a full canopy of leaves. And then I looked down at that twig again. At one point it had been part of that tree, connected to the trunk, receiving the life-giving sap. But something had happened. Perhaps it was some external injury— some storm had crashed against the tree and the twig had broken away ... or had been so damaged as to eventually die. Or perhaps it was some internal problem— some weakness or disease that had gradually choked off the vital connection that not only held it to the tree but fed it with the nutrients it needed.

And now that twig lay dead on the ground ... no leaves, no life. I picked it up and it snapped in pieces at the slightest touch. And as I thought on this, I thought of John 15:5.

"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."

Like that twig, there are people who make a profession of Christ, who seem initially to receive that life-giving sap ... but down the road we find them fallen away, by the wayside, as dead and as dry as that twig. What has happened to them? Did they let the attractions of this world pull them away? Did they let the cares of this world choke out the Life in them? Did some injury in their spirit cause them to lose communion with the One who gives life? I do not know. But I do know that apart from a daily connection to Jesus Christ ALL of us will grow weak and die.

Yes, I believe that once we are saved we are saved for eternity. But lets make sure we are truly saved. I know Paul felt this way because that is the only way in which to understand some of what he wrote. In 1 Corinthians 9:27 he spoke of disciplining himself to ensure he was not a castaway (or, in the Greek, disapproved). Hebrews 6:4-6 speaks of those who turn back from following Christ. 2 Peter 2:20-22 speaks of those who turn back. All those of whom they speak are lost. But this is not true of a true Christian: this is true only of the tares. And for that statement I use as my basis the words of the Apostle whom Jesus loved:

"They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us." (1 John 2:19)

This is why one day Jesus will say "Depart from me I NEVER KNEW YOU!" Not that He had known the lost soul, but that He NEVER knew them.

So how do we know we are indeed His, that we are indeed wheat and not tares? Well, first of all, in our hearts we are sincere in having asked Him to be our Savior AND our Lord. Second, we have the witness of the Holy Spirit within Who manifests Himself in a new and innate love for Jesus, and for His people, and in a new and innate desire to obey the Father.

If we do not desire or care to live holy (not that we always will; but, rather, it doesn't bother us if we don't live holy), we should be concerned whether we are saved. If we are careless with the gift of eternal life offered us, we should be concerned whether we are saved. It is a treasure beyond all price. We must guard it accordingly. All true Christians are bothered by their sin, are desirous of living pleasing to God, are always before the throne seeking that closeness of connection and communion with the Lord. That does not mean they always live victoriously, but it does mean they sincerely want to do so.

An allied danger for Christians is that they become self-confident after a while. "I am strong in the Lord; I have grown beyond mere temptation." Take heed you who think you stand, lest you fall! (1 Corinthians 10:12) Self confidence is the flesh. And reliance on the flesh is the antithesis of reliance on God. But this kind of belief will not bring you under condemnation but under the chastening hand of God. The entirety of His work in our lives is to break our reliance of self and cause us to rely only on Him. For reliance on self will lead to loss; only reliance on Him will lead to gain, providing us with the full measure of riches He has prepared for us ... in this life AND in the next.

I hold no confidence in myself. I constantly examine myself as Paul advises in 2 Corinthians 13:5 NASB (the NASB here explains the KJV word "reprobate" well). My self-examination is not against some standard I hold, but the one God holds and reveals in His Word. The point is not to either beat myself up over how much I fall short or puff myself up over how much I may think I measure up. Rather it is to allow the Holy Spirit to give me a true reflection of myself against the image of Christ into which He is changing me. I see where I am seeking to obey Him, and where I am still clinging to the remnants of my self-will. For if we judge ourselves in this way (against God's Word) we will not come into judgment (1 Corinthians 11:31) for we will always seek to obey our Lord. Indeed, if we examine ourselves in this way, we will not be like the one of whom James speaks:

"Prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does. " (James1:22-25)

Jesus Himself said that the one who loved Him would obey Him (John 14:23) and do whatsoever He commands (John 15:14). And just after my opening scripture in John 15, He said that the bearing of fruit would prove we were His.

"My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples." (John 15:8)

And what IS the fruit God looks for us to produce? Souls for His Kingdom? Perhaps. But the saving of souls is HIS work. We merely proclaim the gospel to the world and testify to its reality by the Christ-likeness of our lives. And, for some in particular, there is the blessed task of feeding those sheep in His pasture. But that is not the fruit, surely. Nowhere in scripture do I find souls referred to as fruit. But I do find the following:

"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control...." (Galatians 2:22-23 NASB)

These are the fruit (not "fruits" plural, but "fruit" singular) that must—and will—be produced in our lives if we are indeed born again and thus filled with His Spirit. The Holy Spirit (or, as both Paul and Peter sometimes refer to Him: the Spirit of Christ) works to reproduce in us the nature, the image, of Christ. There can be no greater compliment to a Christian than to have someone say, "I see Christ in you."

This fruit cannot be produced by our self effort. Yes, we can act lovingly toward those who do not harm us or offend us. Yes, we can be gentle unless greatly provoked. Yes, in our "old man", our natural man, our fleshly man, we can manifest versions of all of the fruit. But it is only when it is fruit not manifested by grudging actions because "God's Word tells me I must" but actions that spring willingly and gladly from deep within the "new man", that bubble forth without contemplation, as freely and as regularly as water flows from a fountain, as naturally as rain falls from clouds ... it is only when that fruit is our very nature, when it miraculously appears without self effort, that it is indeed HIS fruit, not ours ... and thus yet more evidence that we ARE His. And such fruit can only come from the Vine to which we are attached. As Jesus Himself says in the very passage before us:

"If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned." (John 15:6)

So as I looked at that twig, I prayed—like Paul—that when all was said and done I would not be like it ... dead , dry, and useless. But rather I would be shown to be approved, not reprobate; that I would be shown to have been faithful; that I would be shown to have remained attached to that Vine from which all true life flows—here and in eternity. Without Him I indeed can do nothing.

Lord, may my life prove my faith; may I never be careless about the gift you have given; may I be found faithful in the least of things. And may I be used to help others not be careless about their attachment to You, but rather demonstrate that attachment through their desire for obedience to You that will, inevitably, lead to much fruit on their branch. In this shall You indeed be glorified!

[Meg]

So as I looked at that twig, I prayed—like Paul—that when all was said and done I would not be like it ... dead , dry, and useless. But rather I would be shown to be approved, not reprobate; that I would be shown to have been faithful; that I would be shown to have remained attached to that Vine from which all true life flows—here and in eternity. Without Him I indeed can do nothing.

Lord, may my life prove my faith; may I never be careless about the gift you have given; may I be found faithful in the least of things. And may I be used to help others not be careless about their attachment to You, but rather demonstrate that attachment through their desire for obedience to You that will, inevitably, lead to much fruit on their branch. In this shall You indeed be glorified!

Amen and Amen

[GlennO]

Joh 15:1-7
(1) I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
(2) Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
(3) Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
(4) Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
(5) I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
(6) If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
(7) If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

Now what was the core of that great message again?

Well done Bro!!

[Keeplookinup]

Sadly these days I FEEL like that dead, dry, lifeless twig on the ground. I FEEL like I need to pray more, or harder or differently to GET different results. I can't seem to change much of anything in regards to where I am at, so I have resolved to stop fighting it and just let go. My flesh sure doesn't like the "limbo" though, I gotta tell ya. But I remain hopeful that God DOES have a plan for me! A great message Matt!