Jesus continues His farewell discourse with the disciples; now possibly on a slow walk to the garden He will eventually be captured in. In His final I AM statement Jesus tells them He is the divine and true Vine. The people of Israel, who were to be the special grape vine of Vinedresser Father, bore no fruit and have been replaced by Christ and His followers. Some branches (of the old) were cut away and will go to the fire but the branches (of the new) remain. They are fed and upheld by the Vine. Not only that, but the Vinedresser prunes the true branches. The Father trims off the diseased parts of us, the parts that are turning the wrong direction, and He orients us to receive the right light for growth. All of this pruning of the believer is so that we would bear abundant fruit. But in case we think we produce this on our own He confirms that apart from Him we can do nothing. There is not only a mutual abiding but an utter dependance of the believer on his Savior. And the basis of all of this is love. A love from the Father to the Son and the Son to the Father but also their love toward us. And with that we are admonished that because we possess the love and joy of Christ we are love each other in like manner. Slaves aren't loved by their masters; they are simply ordered. But the branches, the followers of Christ are His friends. Friends of God get access to the mind of God just like Moses and Abraham did so long ago. In Christ, our status is so very elevated. But in case any get puffed up He says that we didn't choose Him. He chose us. All that we have, all that were now, is because of Jesus Christ. This is a message of grace.
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Wade is Pastor/Elder of Apologia Church in Utah since it was founded in October 2021. He was raised up by the Elders at Apologia Church in Arizona for over 6 years. God saved Wade in 2012 and since then he has been committed to following Christ and getting the Gospel out into...
