In the picture above is a Clematis that is growing in my back yard. It’s a beautiful flower that blooms in the Spring. It amazes me each year. When I first moved in, I noticed a dead vine on the trellis and I thought about pulling it, but it was winter so I left it. The following Spring, I noticed some signs of life. In a few weeks, this beautiful flower bloomed.
Unfortunately, some of the branches detached from the vine. They looked dead because they were dead. They no longer produced a flower, so I pruned them away. All that remains is the healthy branch that continues to bloom each year.
What caused me to keep this vine? Signs of life and the fruit that it bears. Even though three seasons of the year, this plant looks dead, each Spring it bears a beautiful flower.
Looking at this Clematis each year reminds me of spiritual truths that Jesus taught: the importance of staying connected to the vine. As believers, we may go through seasons where we don’t feel alive, but abiding perseverance will always bloom in spiritual fruit.
Read John 15:1-11
John 15 is a chapter that has impacted my life significantly and I hope it encourages you too. There are no magical incantations for spiritual maturity, no shortcuts and no prayer you can pray that will automatically flip a switch and make you a super Christian. But Jesus has given us a plan for growth found in abiding in Him.
Abide means to dwell or set up camp. Have you ever gone camping? Who do you take camping with you? Only family and friends who you are close to, right?
I have some found memories from my childhood of camping with my family. I have found memories of camping with my friends. I have found memories of camping with youth group. These are times of getting away from the craziness of life and spending time with people I love. The experience of being together and the conversations that take place over meals and campfires are good for the soul.
That’s a picture of what Jesus wants us to do with Him. To abide in Christ is to spend time with Him and to develop a intimate friendship with Him.
Do you have a best friend? Someone you are really close too? What happens when you spend a lot of time developing that friendship? You change, don’t you?
One of my closest friendships from High School taught me so much about what John 15 is teaching us. My friend and I knew each other so well that we could finish each other’s sentences. Sometimes we didn’t even have to say anything to know what we were thinking. I’ve picked up words, styles and preferences from my friends.
Friendship is powerful. Which is why we need to be careful of who we allow to become our closest friends.
John 15 is an invitation to friendship from our Savior. He says that if we want to change and bear spiritual fruit, we have to spend time with Him. I want to spend so much time with Jesus that my attitudes and actions begin to look like His. And that is what He is promising.
Galatians 5:22–24
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
The Fruit of the Spirit is not a check list of qualities you need to develop. Rather, they are evidence of your life in Christ. If you want to grow in these qualities, you need to spend time with Jesus.
Your job, as a Christian, is to learn to love Jesus more each day. Grow in your love for Jesus and He will produce these fruits in your life.
Like any friendship, you will fail from time to time. You may go through seasons that are dry or hard. But if you persevere in abiding in Christ, like the Clematis, you will produce fruit.
I often want a quick fix. I’ve been known to pray prayers like this, “God you are all powerful and know my desires, can’t you just snap your fingers and rid me of my sinful heart and attitudes? I know you can do it? So please do it.”
I want to bypass the daily struggle of growth. I want to be perfect as He is perfect. But I don’t want to be disciplined every hour of every day. I would rather the short cut. But that is not how God works. He has provided a way of salvation in Jesus Christ, and the moment we trust Him we are saved, justified, adopted and kept by Him.
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
I am amazed at this formula. The product is declared before the process. In Christ we are made new, but we have to go through the process of the old passing away and the new becoming.
When we abide in Christ, He patiently shows us the old nature that we need to keep putting to death, and the new life that we need to nourish. When we spend time with Him we will grow.
Acts 4:13
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.
Jesus changes lives, that’s what He does. When your life is changed, people will notice something about you, that you have been with Jesus.
Matthew 5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
It’s a daily discipline, but I promise you it is worth it. This month, I have challenged people to June with Jesus, a Bible reading plan in the Gospels. Just 3 chapters a day will get you through Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in 30 days. In this time with Jesus, He will grow you.
I’ve done this exercise several times, and every time I find it so encouraging. Attitudes, actions, and thoughts begin to change throughout the month. If you were to take a self-assessment at the beginning and the end of the month, based on the promises of John 15, you should see the fruits of spending time with Jesus in your life. Even more so, others will see Jesus in you.
Please understand, I am not saying it is easy or that you will overcome deep seated sinful habits in one month. What I am saying is you will be changed and Jesus will continue to change you as you continue to spend time with Him in His Word.
Philippians 1:6
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
The feels may not always be there, and you may not notice things right away. But stick with it. Don’t give up after a few days. Don’t stop after the June with Jesus challenge is over. All of Scripture is the words of Christ and we need to immerse ourselves in it every day.
“I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am” - John Newton
A faithful, persistent discipline of staying connected to the Vine, Jesus Christ, will produce fruit.
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