Abiding in the Vine

Think about the things that give you life… your family, your work, your marriage… it’s in the close relationships that we delight in that give you true life and great fulfillment.

As we look to the new year, it’s great to have a plan to strengthen our relationships… our family relationships… our work relationships… our marriage.

We want our relationships to be fruitful, life giving and full of the love of God.

In John 15, Jesus invites us to abide in HIM so that HE can produce that fruitful life that sustains loving relationships, fruitful prayers, and a life filled with lasting joy.

We need strong and healthy relationships with the people who are closest to us but in order for that to happen, we need to abide in Jesus.

It’s a great goal to be a better father/mother, grandmother/grandfather, husband/wife, worker/manager, but if we want to create a legacy that will go beyond our life our strength is limited.

No matter how successful, how talented, how smart we are, if we are only relying on our own strength, the results will only be temporary.

That means we must draw our strength from another source, a sustainable source, God’s source of strength.

The most important thing that we can do in 2025 is to establish spiritual growth plan as our rule of life.

What is a Spiritual Growth Plan?

It is a plan to help keep Jesus at the center of our life.

It’s a plan that we need to write down, that we need to put in our calendars, make it visible so that we can keep working the plan.

Keeping Jesus at the center means that we are abiding with Jesus, spending time reading God’s Word, listening to God’s voice, talking to Jesus, and obediently following Jesus.

Being rooted in Jesus is a lifelong endeavor. We aren’t going to all of a sudden arrive at the end of 2025. This is a plan that we must do every day.

But it cannot be motivated by legalism or performance but delight because we are spending time with Jesus.

God wants us we are at a place where we are hearing and receiving from HIM all the time.

When Jesus taught this message to HIS disciples in John 15, this was right before HE was going to be leaving them physically.

This was right before the awful events that would happen to Jesus. This was right before HIS disciples would be going through a painful loss but Jesus comforted them with these important words that ring true today.

John 15:1–5 ESV

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

John 15:6–8 ESV

6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

John 15:9–11 ESV

9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

PRAY

Jesus emphasizes the importance of abiding in Jesus.

The basic meaning of Abide is to remain, to continue, to stand firm, to wait on, or to expect.

Here Jesus used the illustration of a fruitful vineyard to demonstrate the importance of abiding.

Even though farming has changed drastically since Jesus walked the earth however, farming grapes and tending a vineyard has not changed all that much.

Grapes are the most produced fruit in the world. One vine can produce as much as 80 lbs of grapes in a single season.

The quality of a vine is only as good as the rooted stock. Individual branches are grafted into a healthy, productive stock.

Vines are adaptable, but require attentive care: water, fertilizer, pruning.

New plants are pruned for three to five years to “train” them before they are allowed to produce a crop.

A plant with good roots can produce for as many as a hundred years.

Disease and lack of productivity can spread from those dead branches that have not been removed.

Jesus was very intentional about using a vineyard to illustrate a spiritual growth plan focused on abiding in the true vine.

Abide in the True Vine and trust that the Gardener knows best.

John 15:1 (ESV)

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.

Jesus said that HE is the true vine and HE is our source of nourishment but we need to abide. Disconnecting from Jesus is a barrier to our fruitfulness as believers.

When we choose to separate from the vine because we are busy or distracted or discontent, or board, we will become spiritually unproductive.

We must not think for a moment that we are capable of surviving apart from Jesus Christ. He is the giver and sustainer of life. Jesus is the true Vine.

My Father is the Vine Dresser or the Gardener:

John 15:1 (ESV)

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.

God is the Gardener, the cultivator of the Vine and the branches. In order to achieve their best productivity, grapevines need the attention of a loving gardener. Wild vines are unproductive.

John 15:2 ESV

2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

God’s plan is for all believers to be fruitful

Jesus said “every branch in me” There is a union between the Vine and the branches. Jesus is the Vine, and God is the Gardener who cares for the branches to make them fruitful and we who are followers of Jesus are the branches.

Healthy branches will produce fruit. Fruit is produced through their living union with Christ but this union can be broken.

Those who become unproductive will be separated from the Vine. Producing fruit is evidence that we are abiding in the true vine.

Fruit is not limited to soul winning. Jesus defines fruit later on in this chapter with things like answered prayer, joy, and love.

John 15:7 ESV

7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

John 15:11 ESV

11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

John 15:12 ESV

12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

When we abide in the vine we will be fruitful. Yes, we will win other people to Jesus, but also our prayers will be fruitful… our life will be full of joy and we will be full of God’s love for one another.

When we abide in the vine we will be led by the Holy Spirit and produce the fruit of the Spirit.

Galatians 5:22–23 ESV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

God wants us to be fruitful and HE made a way for us to live lives that are fruitful when we abide in Christ so stay connected to Jesus so that we can be fruitful.

That fruit will continue to grow and produce as we continue to abide in Jesus.

2 Peter 1:5–8 ESV

5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It’s Jesus who produces good fruit that gives us an eternal purpose, develops and strengthen’s our faith and increases our influence for Jesus in our world.

God’s plan is for all believers to be fruitful but in order for us to be fruitful as believers, we need to be pruned.

As believers, God needs to prune us so we can produce more fruit.

Successful gardeners know that pruning will increase fruit bearing but the gardener must know what he needs to cut away.

Do we believe that God knows what HE is doing?

Are we allowing God to cut away those dead branches in our life so that we can become much more fruitful?

God’s still going to prune, whether we like it or not. (Eating Vegetables)

John 15:2 ESV

2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

Jesus made a distinction between two kinds of pruning: (1) removing what does not bear fruit, and (2) cultivating what does.

That means that God sometimes needs to discipline us to strengthen our character and our faith.

Nobody likes to be disciplined because we associate discipline with pain but discipline helps us grow.

Illus: When we lived in New Mexico we had to be sure to cut back the cactus before it takes over the entire front yard.

Just think if a vine just runs wild without being pruned it may be big and lush and green with lots of branches but no fruit.

Branches that don’t bear fruit are “cut off” at the trunk and completely discarded because they are worthless and often infect the rest of the plant.

The act of pruning appears harsh but the wise gardener knows that the good must be sacrificed for the better.

God’s pruning of our lives can be painful. He may limit or remove achievements, objects, and abilities. These may not be wrong in themselves, but God knows they will detract from a closer abiding with Jesus.

Don’t resent God’s pruning but welcome God’s pruning. God’s discipline should cause us to turn to HIM with a renewed desire and love for Jesus and a love for others.

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal those areas in our life that we need God to cut away and prune so that we can become more and more fruitful.

God is telling us to surrender those areas that are hindering our fruitfulness…

Are we short with other people?

Are we anxious about things?

Are we distracted around other people?

Are we distracted when we get a notification on our phone… When we are just sitting and waiting is our first response to get on our phone and scroll?

Maybe God is trying to get our attention but we are distracted by other things that don’t matter in the moment that we miss out on those precious God moments.

If we are going to Abide in the True Vine we need to ruthlessly eliminate the distractions that prevent us from remaining in the vine.

“I’m just too busy to spend time with Jesus.”

How much time are we spending watching sports, Fox News, binge watching our streaming platforms, our social media.

And we don’t have enough time to spend with Jesus?

“I have little ones and they need my attention and I’m so tired”

I’ve been in that season. Enjoy that season. God wants to make that season a fruitful season even as you juggle so many things.

This is only a season so sometimes the best thing you can do is to eliminate some of the extra things that you used to do before kids.

Abide in the True Vine and trust that the Gardener knows best.

God’s plan is that all believers are fruitful

God needs to prune us so that we can be more fruitful.

How do we begin that Spiritual Growth Plan for 2025?

Take Away

Find a time and a place where you can abide with Jesus everyday and ruthlessly guard that time.

Early in the morning, late at night, whatever works for you the best. Just guard that time.

Go to bed at a decent time.

Find a reading plan and start reading God’s Word.

If you are new to this, start with the Gospels.

Don’t read to get through a plan, get a plan that provides space for you to read it slowly.

Start talking to Jesus everyday.

Pray the things that you read in God’s Word.

Make space for Silence and Stillness so that you can listen to God speak

Cast your burdens and your cares on the Lord in prayer.