Abiding in the Vine

· Over the last few weeks we have focused on the presence of God

· The Benefits of Presence, and how to enter it

· I think of no better topic to focus on during this season

· For if we are a people who does not recognize and desire to be in Jesus’s presence

· We are really nothing more than a religious institution

· However if we learn to Practice the presence of God, we will be able to fulfill our destinies and Change the World

· I don’t know about you but I had a very encouraging week,

· God really reminded me of what we are called to do.

· 2 years this August Shawn Bolz gave me a word that started me down a path

· For those of you who know me. I am a Big dreamer

· My visions are big, I used to just think of them as dreams, nothing more

· But Shawn Bolz prophesy over me encouraged me to believe God intended those visions to become reality.

· So instead of just dreaming, I now actively seek on How God is going to bring those dreams about.

· It’s a process, and generally things do not happen over night

· And sometimes discouragement can set in when you focus on your situation, rather than on your calling

· In times like that I’m amazed how gently God brings us back on track

· This week God did that for me through a person I’ve never met.

· Video Steve Backlund Prophesy #2

· The reason why I showed this to you, because as a Church, you are a major part of my dreams.

· And I want you to be encouraged as well

· You are world changers, God has a special calling on the people of this Church to play a major role in bringing the Kingdom of God to this city, province, Nation, and the world!

· That brings me to another way God encouraged me this week

· For years I have asked God to speak to me while I sleep.

Job 33:15 NASB95

“In a dream, a vision of the night, When sound sleep falls on men, While they slumber in their beds,

· About 2 months ago, God started regularly speaking to me while I slept

· It been very encouraging

· Last night God showed me a dream

· I walked in this place and the 1st thing I notice was a large group of people praying together in the foyer

· As I walked in the sanctuary it was full of people praying,

· Room after room, as I walked through the church, each room was full of peoples praying

· There were people representing four corners of the earth here in the place.

· I could sense this was a global effort

· And the best part was, I was simply observing, it was the people of this church leading the prayer groups

· You see Church, my greatest desire is to see each and everyone of you released into your destiny

· To understand and carry out your calling

· Everyone of your have areas of influence, places where you are called to carry the Kingdom

· Place I will never go, where I will never influence, where I have no authority

· But you will, and you have be designed specifically for that calling.

· Every experience you’ve had, Good or bad, God will use to expand His Kingdom

· He wants to equip you with spiritual gifts to carry out your assignment.

· You’re not in this alone, and you’re not restrained but your human knowledge and understanding

· You have the Spirit of God living in you, and you are called to do everything Jesus did and more

· What did Jesus do?

· “Audience response”

· That’s what God has planned for you!

· It’s my job to help you get there

Ephesians 4:11–16 NASB95

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

· The 1st step, is for each one of us to learn walk continuously in His presence

· If you learn to walk in His presence, and stay there….my job is basically done!

· Not really, but that’s the way I look at it!

· So last week I spoke on , and how it shows us how to enter the presence of God

· Today I want to take a look abiding in the Vine, How do we stay continually connected to Jesus in everything we do!

John 15:1–11 NASB95

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 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. 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. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. 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. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.

John 15 NASB95

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 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. 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. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. 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. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. This I command you, that you love one another. “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’ “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

John 15:

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

· Vine produces fruit, Jesus is the true source of everything good

· Nothing apart from Him is good

John 14:6 NASB95

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

· A vinedresser is an agriculturalist involved in the daily pruning and cultivation of grapevines. This is a centuries-old profession, that is an important component of the production of wine and other grape-derived products. As with any agricultural professional, vinedressers work nearly year-round to help ensure the vineyard has a successful crop from which to create wine, juices and other items.

2“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.

· There is a common misunderstanding in this verse “He takes away”

· Is the greek word αἴρω Transliteration - airó

· It’s defined by strongs as to raise, take up, lift

· however many translators interpret it “takes away”

· which completely changes the meaning. If you take away a branch from a vine it withers and dies

· however if a vine dresser lifts up a branch…it will begin to bare fruit.

· I believe that is what Jesus is saying here

· A branch on the ground will not produce fruit.

· But a branch “lifted up” will

· It’s Not God’s desire to discard people who do not produce fruit.

· His desire is for them to produce fruit that’s why He lifts them up!

·

· When a branch is bearing fruit God’s plan is that they produce even more.

· That’s why He prunes the branch

· Pruning is an essential task as it removes dead, diseased or stunted fruits to make room for new growth, ultimately leading to a healthy and productive vine.

3“You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

4“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.

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.

• branch bares the fruit, but does not produce it. The vine produces the fruit, the branch simply bears it

6“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.

7“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

8“My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.

9“Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also 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 so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.