Are You a Fruitful Branch?

“I am the true vine,” Christ declared. He used the figure of the vine that as we look upon it, we may call to remembrance His precious lessons. Rightly interpreted, nature is the mirror of divinity.

Christ pointed to the vine and its branches: I give you this lesson that you may understand My relationship to you and your relationship to Me. There was not the least excuse for His hearers to misunderstand His words. The figure He used was as a mirror held up before them, that they might understand His connection with them.

This lesson will be repeated to the ends of the earth. All who receive Christ by faith become one with Him. The branches are not tied to the vine by any mechanical process or artificial fastening. They are united to the vine and have become part of it. They are nourished by the roots of the vine. So those who receive Christ by faith become one with Him in principle and action. They are united to Him, and the life they live is the life of the Son of God. They derive their life from Him who is life….

The heart must be united with Christ’s heart, the will must be submerged in His will, the mind must become one with His mind, the thoughts must be brought into captivity to Him. A man may be baptized, and his name placed on the church rolls, yet the heart may be unchanged. Hereditary and cultivated tendencies may still work evil in the character.

The regenerated man has a vital union with Christ. As the branch derives its sustenance from the parent stock, and because of this bears much fruit, so the true believer is united with Christ, and reveals in his life the fruits of the Spirit. The branch becomes one with the vine. Storm cannot carry it away. Frosts cannot destroy its vital properties. Nothing is able to separate it from the vine. It is a living branch, and it bears the fruit of the vine. So with the believer. By good words and good actions, he reveals the character of Christ. As the branch derives its nourishment from the vine, so all who are truly converted draw spiritual vitality from Christ. “Verily, verily, I say unto you,” He declared, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him” (John 6:53, 56).—Manuscript 78, copied June 17, 1898, “I Am the True Vine.”
The Upward Look p. 182
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for a family of 5 who’ve tested positive and 1 single grandma who is in her way to the hospital now. Patti
—-I live with chronic pain. It’s getting worse. I take all sorts of meds that are non narcotic, a lot. I eat no sugar and my carbs are so low but I still get pain badly. I’m walking. I’m drinking water. I’m working with a dr. Still I cry from the pain. Please pray for me. I dont want to take a narcotic but I’m suffering. Staci
—-Please pray for me. I have a fever…cough….sore throat….shortness of breath and my husband refuses to go out and start the generator so I can use my nebulizer to help me breathe. He is so cold hearted. We live off grid and I am not strong enough to start it myself. Connie
—My mom Marilyn has covid 19 . she also has heart disease diabetes and copd. Please pray for her. Karen
—-My niece Karen has asked if we would pray for her dad. (she is an only child) He is in the hospital since Friday and they don’t know what is wrong. He had trouble walking and legs were weird. He then fell and injured his arm. He is 78. And no one can go see him and they are not letting family know what is going on at this time. His name is Tony. Mike

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Dear Friends,
Often emails circulate that are obviously fictitious. They are easy to spot. As we read them, we shake our heads and wonder why people write such falsehoods. There are others, however, that appear to be true. Sometimes these believable ones have pictures that appear to be real. Sometimes the pictures are real but they are something entirely different from what the email says it is.
So it is in the spiritual life. False doctrines abound. Where can we find the truth? How can we know what to believe? Jesus declares, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32 Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth.” John 17:17 God’s Holy Word is “a lamp unto (our) feet and a light unto (our) path.” Ps 119:105 Only through the study of God’s Holy Word can we find the truth. “Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.” “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward. . . cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” Ps 119:160; 19:7-14
Peter also assures us that the Scriptures are to believed more than even that which we have encountered. He tells of his experience on the mount of transfiguration and then he makes the point that more important than what we see, more sure than what we hear, is the Word of God. “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Peter 1:19-21 Isaiah was moved to write, “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isa 8:20 Here is the key. Everything we hear, everything we see must be tested by a “Thus saith the Lord.” Our very future depends upon it.
May we “study to show [ourselves] approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.” 2 Tim 2:15 May we compare all that we read, all that we hear with the Holy Scriptures “for precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.” Isa 28:10 May we shun the false and stand firmly for the truth is my prayer.
Rose