John 15:1-8

"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 15:4


When we know someone we love is about to die we tend to cling to their every last word.  John chapters thirteen through seventeen reveal Jesus' last words and prayers for his disciples.  Jesus spoke these words the night before He went on the cross.  These were truths that were very important to the Lord.  Jesus wanted His disciples to apply these very important truths to their lives.  We need to pay attention to what the Lord said to His disciples then and says to us today.

In John chapter thirteen Jesus speaks of the importance of servanthood in our lives.  In John chapter fourteen Jesus comforts the disciples and speak of His preparing a place for us in Heaven.  In John chapter fourteen Jesus also tells us that He is the only way to the Father.  Then in chapter fifteen Jesus speaks of the need for fruitful service in our lives.  Jesus says that He is like the vine, and we are like branches.

Jesus goes on to say that God, the Father, is like the gardener.  In judgement God, the Father, will cut off branches that bear no spiritual fruit in their lives.  These are people who profess to be Christians but really are not true believers.  God, the Father, who is like the gardener, also prunes all the branches that do bear fruit.  This represents true believers who show spiritual fruit or evidence of faith in their lives.

Pruning of plants involves cutting away unwanted parts on a plant.  This pruning process produces more fruit from plants.  God, the Father, also does pruning in our lives.  He seeks to prune the undesirable things out of our lives, so we can grow spiritually and bear even more spiritual fruit in our lives.  God often uses trials and difficulties in our lives to rid our lives of undesirable things and to help us become more like Jesus in our thoughts, motives, and actions. This pruning process in our lives can be painful sometimes.  It is necessary, however, if we are going to grow spiritually.

The only way we can expect to be fruitful in our service to the Lord is by remaining in Jesus. Jesus says in John 15:4, "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."  We have no spiritual fruitfulness in our lives apart from fellowship and union with the Lord Jesus Christ.  If we, the branches, are out of contact with Jesus, the vine; we are useless and lifeless.

Jesus goes on to say in John 15:5b, "apart from Me you can do nothing."  We may struggle and struggle on our own, but without Christ in our lives we can do nothing.  We must give control of our lives completely over to the Lord.  We must not seek to be self-reliant, but we must seek to rely on God's all-sufficiency alone.  This is the secret to a spiritually fruitful life which is lived for the Lord. It is the secret to a life which truly shows the evidence of faith in one's thoughts, motives, and actions.

Remaining and abiding in the Lord is the secret also to a fruitful prayer life.  If we desire a fruitful prayer life, we must remain in Jesus and live in constant fellowship with Him.  We also must be certain that we daily read His Holy Word with a passionate desire to seek His will for our lives. The Lord's words in the Bible will prune, control, and direct our desires in the right direction.  If we do this, we are in a position for the Lord to hear and answer our prayers.

We bring glory to the Father by bearing spiritual fruit in our lives.  This is the reason for which we were created.  We can only bear spiritual fruit in our lives, if we are remaining in Jesus and finding our strength in Him alone.  It must be our consuming desire to bear spiritual fruit for Him.