John 15:5
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man (woman) remains in me and I in him (her), he (she) will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
This verse revolutionized my walk with Christ many years ago as the Holy Spirit revealed to me that God would help me walk out my faith, would help me accomplish everything He asked me to accomplish, and would help me serve Him even when I thought I didn't have what it took ...all by the power that flowed in me through the filling of His Spirit as I remained in close fellowship with Him. Knowing this...believing this...was the beginning of me uncovering the meaning of "life more abundant" ...that life that Jesus came and died to give to me, and to you; however, Jesus demands my all if I want to realize this abundant life. My portion in this equation is to remain in Him...to keep my will in sync with His will, to obey His Word, to worship Him with my life, especially in the face of adversity.
My heart always swells in agreement when I hear or read the following verses...
John 13
34"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
1 Corinthians 13
1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Those verses were beautifully illustrated on a framed poster that hung in my bathroom for many years. It was the first thing I read every morning, but almost every morning, although my heart was moved by these wonderful verses, I would also think...but God...how can I do that? But God...what about what ______ is doing to me? But God...how can I trust someone that has proved to be untrustworthy?!?! But God, that person is so ______! BUT GOD! BUT GOD!! BUT GOD!!!
Anyone ever talk to God like that?
I had done and could do some pretty awesome things with God's help...but I could not fathom how I could love the way I Corinthians 13 defined love.
Yes...God even heard David, the very same man referred to as the man after God's own heart, lament over what was being done to him by others. David asked God to even kill those that were trying to hurt him or destroy him...those that were trying to rob him of the future that God had told David he would have. But in the same Psalm, David's laments are often followed by prayers for mercy for the same enemies that he wanted killed only a few verses earlier. David almost always ends His laments with praise...but only after He focuses his eyes and his reliance back where they should stay...on his powerful and sovereign God!
It took God allowing me to come to the "end of myself" and to completely break me of all self-reliance before I realized it was disbelief that kept me from experiencing this God-sized love. The problem was my belief was focused on the wrong object. I needed to base ALL of my belief completely on my infallible God and His abilities...not on my ability to "love"...but on His ability to fill me up with His love so that it could flow through me to others...especially the unlovable. What I needed to do was to get out of God's way and to pray and ask Him to love others through me. When I did this, my prayers were answered almost instantly. This miracle of experiencing God's love flow through me to someone who does not deserve it is very close to the experience of my own salvation...when I knew and felt God's unconditional love fill my heart for the first time. If you have not known this type of love, I urge you to ask God for it. I must warn you; however, that it will become something your heart will "pant" after...more and more of Him and His love flowing through you to others...at the cost of constant death to self.
I did not choose the following scripture to discuss doctrine or to study its deeper spiritual meaning; I selected it because of the clear word picture it will hopefully paint in your mind and on your heart forever.
Ezekial 19
10 Your mother was like a vine
in your vineyard planted by the water;
in your vineyard planted by the water;
it was fruitful and full of branches
because of abundant water.
because of abundant water.
11 Its branches were strong,
fit for a ruler's scepter.
It towered high above the thick foliage,
conspicuous for its height
and for its many branches.
and for its many branches.
12 But it was uprooted in fury
and thrown to the ground.
The east wind made it shrivel,
it was stripped of its fruit;
it was stripped of its fruit;
its strong branches withered
and fire consumed them.
and fire consumed them.
13 Now it is planted in the desert,
in a dry and thirsty land.
14 Fire spread from one of its main branches
and consumed its fruit.
No strong branch is left
on it fit for a ruler's scepter.
When I look out from behind the keyboard on Sundays, I see forlorn faces of women who are hurting, women who have been blown about and stripped of their worth by the difficulties of life, women who have been "burned" by people that were supposed to love them and women living in lonely desert places who are thirsting to death for living water...and my heart breaks but also somehow simultaneously swells with love. To love on these women in the name of Jesus is why we have been called to women's ministry. Yes, it is a large order and as we answer this call, it will feel exhausting and exasperating at times but I urge you to press on and to stay close to the source of your strength, the very One that will not ask anything of you that He will not help you accomplish. Remain in Jesus Christ our Lord, and then love one another as He has loved you.
on it fit for a ruler's scepter.
When I look out from behind the keyboard on Sundays, I see forlorn faces of women who are hurting, women who have been blown about and stripped of their worth by the difficulties of life, women who have been "burned" by people that were supposed to love them and women living in lonely desert places who are thirsting to death for living water...and my heart breaks but also somehow simultaneously swells with love. To love on these women in the name of Jesus is why we have been called to women's ministry. Yes, it is a large order and as we answer this call, it will feel exhausting and exasperating at times but I urge you to press on and to stay close to the source of your strength, the very One that will not ask anything of you that He will not help you accomplish. Remain in Jesus Christ our Lord, and then love one another as He has loved you. John 15:5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
13 Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
John 15:1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
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