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rl69
04-09-2017, 07:29 AM
Nourishment In the Vine

John 15:1-8
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. 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

We are branches in the divine life that flows through Jesus Christ. Just like a grape branch can't grow or bear fruit unless it is part of the vine, we can't do anything unless we abide in Him. He (our vine) is the source of all spiritual food and we abide in him by allowing His Word to abide in us.

Like the op said, we need to stick our nose in the Word of God and get to know Him. With that comes the washing water of the word and all the spiritual nourishment we need to live lives that are glorifying to God.

On the other hand, if His Words do not abide in us we will begin to produce no fruit and we will wither and die on the vine and God will set us aside by pruning us from the vine. What a sad thing it is to be a Christian and to live a fruitless life because we are not abiding in Christ. What are you feeding on this morning? Is it the divine Word of God which strengthens and nourishes, or are you feeding on the things of the world which bring nothing but sorrow.

Abide in Him and let His Words abide in you.

USMC87
04-09-2017, 08:19 AM
Amen, Great lesson.

Blackwater
04-10-2017, 01:28 PM
Another Amen here! Many Christians, I'm afraid, accept Christ's wondrous gift of salvation, but fall far short in getting to really know Him by reading and thinking about the words and advice He left us in the Bible. In so doing, they cheat only themselves, for the more we get to know our Lord, the more we realize just how huge and wonderful and loving and active He truly is. And thereby, we miss so much of the joy that comes from knowing Him well.

One of the bits of advice He left us was to gather ourselves together, that we might learn one from another, and from that, get to know Him so very much better. As the old saying goes, "Two heads are better than one, even if one IS a goat's head!" There's a lot of truth in that. If we just pay attention and really think, and take in all that we see, even the lowliest among us can teach us something of real value. But we have to get past the mere surface, and down into the core of our own humanity, and frailties, in order to really appreciate all the gifts and blessings He has bestowed upon us in our time here. What a wonderful and loving and active Lord we serve!