John 15 "Nothing gained alone"

John 15 – Brandon Hatmaker “Nothing gained alone”
Wednesday, April 2, 2008

"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.” – John 15:1-4

There are a handful of guys out there teaching that if you are walking under the favor of God that tough times won’t come. Some even go so far as to say that if something bad happens to you that there is a reason, maybe a sin issue in your life. That’s is simply not Biblical. Tough times will come. Jesus said in chapter 16 that, “In this world, you will have trouble”. However, what we do know is that in those times, God can use it for good.

In John 15, Jesus teaches that EVERY branch bearing fruit will be pruned. Pruning can hurt. But it’s for the good of the branch as well as the fruit. No gardener prunes just to cut something back without reason, it’s always to make it more productive. God knows what He’s doing. And it’s to His glory. Hopefully this will provide comfort to us in our trouble, whenever it comes. Just like we discussed in Chapter 14, can we trust that He’s still there doing a good work?

Another quick thought comes to mind from verse 4. Jesus said, “Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” According to this teaching, no accomplishment achieved on our own is credited as fruit. None. That’s an interesting truth to me. I wonder if it’s in the same realm of thought that Paul writes Romans 14:23, “everything that does not come from faith is sin.” All that we do is either out of faith, whether in freedom or obedience, or not out of faith. That’s the truth. The difficulty is being honest with our selves for what our motives are in each moment and in each day.

Teach us Father to abide in your Son. May we gain all confidence from Him and see all fruit as a byproduct of His work, not our own efforts. Help us to check our motives daily with a willing heart and mind to redirect them when they are not out of an overflow of You in our lives. Thank you for your pruning.