John 15 (Nine) To the Father’s Glory

Good day

For as long as it takes we are going to study the gospel of John chapters fourteen to seventeen. Some of it will be what I have already written and some will be new. Therefore it may sometimes appear that I leave off in the middle of a topic to be continued, since I have reached my daily word count limit.

To pick up the topic, you may need to read the one or two postings preceding this one.  

“This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples,” (John 15:8).

With this verse Jesus is concluding the teaching about the vine and the branches. According to this verse, what is the reason why He presented this teaching? His only desire in life is to glorify His Father, which is why He went to great lengths to direct His disciples in the secret of bearing fruit. He knew that making a change to this world through the fruit that His disciples bear, would draw the attention to His Father and cause the people to acknowledge His existence with awe. This actually happened, did it not? The first church made a significant impact on this world?

But the evil one did not sleep and through the ages managed to build up laws and systems that cause the church to be scared – to fear. If we preach that abortion is wrong the church income may be taxed again. If we stand up against that which is wrong, we might lose our charity subsidy or license - leave alone physical and personal persecution. We fear man more than God, which is why we compromise in fear that we might lose man’s favour, in other words we do not trust the Lord to look after us when it comes to cutting edge obedience. Judge for yourselves whether I am right or wrong. Jesus’ challenge, however, is still ringing through the ages... ‘Prove to (show) Me you are my disciples by bearing much fruit’ or put differently... ‘If you do not bear much fruit, I (Jesus) have no evidence that you are my disciples.’

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love,” (John 15:9).

The rest of this chapter forms a unit, yet needs to be discussed verse by verse. Therefore I will try not to stretch it over too long a period. How did Father God show His love for Jesus? What evidence do we have in the Bible of what He did for Jesus to prove His love to Him? Do we read of any ‘things’ or special favours that Father God gave Him because He loved Him, which is the way some of us show our love to our children? We do not know much of Jesus’ life in heaven except that He now sits at the right hand of Father God and that He has received all power and authority.

What we do know is that He created the world. “He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made,” (John 1:2, 3). We also know that when the Old Testament talks about ‘The Angel of the Lord’ it actually refers to the Lord Jesus. We read that the Angel of the Lord, in other words Jesus, personally visited and ministered to many of the people in the Bible – Abraham, Hagar, Moses (at the burning bush), Balaam, Gideon and so on. Eventually Jesus left the glory of heaven and came to this sick earth to suffer and die for man’s sins. What loving father would do that to his child in terms of our materialistic thinking? We see love as blessing a child with his material wants, protecting and nourishing him, providing a good education so that he/she can live well one day.

But Father God loved Jesus by giving Him through the ages the opportunity to accomplish the purpose of His existence. Jesus was meant to have all authority as we see in Matthew 28:18: “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me,’ and in Romans 14:11: “It is written: 'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.’” The point I want to make is that Father God did not show His love to Jesus by spoiling Him, but by using Him to accomplish what was planned and then rewarding Him accordingly. Jesus had to work, He had to obey, He had to manage, command and as a last resort gave His life to become what He was destined to be – such was His Father’s love. In verse nineteen Jesus said He loved His disciples the same way – oops (to be continued).

Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth, via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.

Please pass this on if you think others may benefit by it.

John 15 (Eight) Whatever You Ask in My Name

Good day

For as long as it takes we are going to study the gospel of John chapters fourteen to seventeen. Some of it will be what I have already written and some will be new. Therefore it may sometimes appear that I leave off in the middle of a topic to be continued, since I have reached my daily word count limit.

To pick up the topic, you may need to read the one or two postings preceding this one.  

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you,” (John 15:7). How long have I been waiting for this verse. Now I can ask the Lord for my Ferrari, my mansion and my yacht that I always wanted – just joking. If only it would work like that. How many of us do however think along these terms? Those believing the prosperity gospel certainly do.

However, when we look at this verse carefully we will see it is first of all written in the context of the branches bearing fruit and it also starts with the words ‘if you remain in me and my words remain in you’. So what does Jesus then mean? If we are branches linked to the vine, which is Jesus, with His sap flowing through us and if we therefore remain in Him and His words remain in us, what do you think our desires will be? Will we desire a Ferrari, or lots of worldly power or riches? Personally I would love to drive a Ferrari simply because I love to drive a car fast, but to own it would make me feel uncomfortable as a Christian because I would always feel I could have used the money for better purposes in the Kingdom of God. So even if I am given a Ferrari, I probably would take it for a nice spin or three and would then sell it so that I could spend the money better. Why would spiritually minded Christians do it? Simply because if Jesus’ words remain in us, we would desire His desires - the things He would desire.

What would we then ask Him for? We would ask Him for things we need to be fruitful such as patience and the other fruit of the Spirit, deliverance from sin, a word of knowledge and wisdom, opportunities and even for money, but money needed to build the church and the Kingdom. We would basically ask what the Lord’s Prayer guides us to ask.

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen (Matthew 6:9-13).

I am allowed ask for a Ferrari, but I will have difficulty to fit more than one passenger in for transport to church or a gospel meeting and we might just be way too early for the meeting. So I doubt if God will consider it a necessity – just maybe He provides a red bus.

There are many scripture references in the Bible relating to asking and receiving, but all of them refer to asking according to God’s will. “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him,” (I John 5:14, 15). With all due respect dear reader, God’s main purpose in life is to build the Church and therefore His Kingdom and the main reason why He cares for us is so we can help Him doing just that.

What am I saying? If we have selfish motives, the only reason God cares for us is because He is love and faithfulness – He cannot be different. However, if we ask according to our selfish motives to satisfy our own desires, but stay passive regarding His Kingdom, in other words stay disobedient, He has no obligation to answer our prayers with a ‘yes’. All his promises are conditional and I am confident that, if we study the ‘ask and you will receive’ promises in context, we will discover just that – it usually relates to what we need for the Kingdom work.

Another thought that crossed my mind links up with our teaching regarding the sap and the water tank discussed previously. What we receive need to be given away for us to receive more. If we receive revelation we need to give it away, if we receive money we need to give it away to receive more, just to give away again (like in George Muller’s life testimony). The same applies to encouragement, love, mercy and so on. We are back to the branches and the sap – we are actually just canals in God’s service. It has got nothing to do with what is called the prosperity doctrine. The idea is not to enrich self, but to allow God’s provision to flow through us as a canal so that the Kingdom can prosper and grow. Is God’s Word not wonderful?

Lord, please help me readjust my focus.

Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth, via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.

Please pass this on if you think others may benefit by it.

John 15 (Seven) Worship in Spirit and Truth?

Good day

For as long as it takes we are going to study the gospel of John chapters fourteen to seventeen. Some of it will be what I have already written and some will be new. Therefore it may sometimes appear that I leave off in the middle of a topic to be continued, since I have reached my daily word count limit.

To pick up the topic, you may need to read the one or two postings preceding this one.  

We continue from our previous message.

How do we worship Father in Spirit and in Truth? We can only do it when we truly experience Him in our spirit through His Spirit. To explain this I want to present two scenarios.

Imagine you are very poor and someone sends you money in the post to buy food and clothes. You will open the envelope and say: ‘Wow, this is great. This is real kind. I will buy me this and that and send her a thank you letter. I can maybe have my picture taken and include it.’

For the second scenario I want to use a story about a poor, hungry street boy who was taken into the house of a woman who gave him a hot bath and clean clothes, a huge meal and a soft warm bed to sleep in. The next morning when he was rested another hot meal awaited him and the good news that he could stay on. The story went on about his awe of what he had experienced.

Should you be treated like this if you were in the boy’s position, how would you react? You will probably rave about this person nonstop, telling her how great she is and what you would like to do to be good to her in return. You will avail yourself as a willing ‘slave’ to such a person and do for her whatever she wishes.

What is the difference between the two scenarios? The first gift was from out there – from someone you do not have a relationship with. You were blessed by it, but the donor was not a reality to you and you did not experience her touch of love. Your ‘thank you’ was also impersonal – a letter. This is what worship in church is like when we only worship with our minds as a duty. If we do not have a deep personal relationship with the Lord, having seen the Holy Spirit making a difference in our lives, and in those of others whom we serve, our worship can be very mechanical and without emotion.

But if we walk in the Spirit and are involved enough with the Lord to rely on Him for all our needs, and to experience Him in action in our lives and in the lives of those we serve in obedience. And if through us He fulfils any true Christian’s heart’s desire; the establishing of the Kingdom of God in our community, we get ecstatic about it and just adore the Lord for His love that He has shown towards the lost souls. In serving we see His miracles and the change in people’s lives, and it fulfils our need to mean something worthwhile to somebody. This is when we realise the truth about an intimate relationship with the Lord and worship Him for it. This is when He bathes us in the warmth of His love and we become aware of all our needs met, and then we rave about Him and just desire to return His love through more obedience – just like the little street boy.

^“Whoever has my commands and obeys them; he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him ... Jesus replied, if anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him,” (John 14:21, 23).

Lord, I desire to be intimate with you. Please show me how, Holy Spirit.

Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth, via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.

Please pass this on if you think others may benefit by it.

John 15 (Six) Worship His Greatness?

Good day

For as long as it takes we are going to study the gospel of John chapters fourteen to seventeen. Some of it will be what I have already written and some will be new. Therefore it may sometimes appear that I leave off in the middle of a topic to be continued, since I have reached my daily word count limit. We will also return to placing a blog posting daily for the time being.

To pick up the topic, you may need to read the one or two postings preceding this one.

We continue from our previous message.

Another practical example that crossed our way once was a movement that took place in London. About 6000 Christian young people invaded London under the direction of a mission called ‘Soul in the City’. They helped disabled people clean their houses and gardens, entertained children on the streets and many more. In the evenings they worshipped God together with those whom they served practically during the day and had invited to the meetings. These young people, including my daughter, came back rejoicing and changed. Suddenly my daughter had lost her appetite for secular music and spent more time with her Bible. Not only did many give their lives to Jesus at the outreach (the fruit), but also were the ‘branches’, who directed the sap to the fruit, refreshed. With this outreach there were no special gifts required, just a pair of hands and a friendly face with a Jesus attitude.

If only the church could get plenty of her workers to flow in their gifts every week in an organised manner, she will see much, much more fruit. It is not of much use to only do it every once in a while, because when the sap stops flowing through the branch the branch starts to die. When the water stops flowing in and out of the water tank, the water rots. I have seen it already with some of the youngsters who went to the London outreach. The influence of the world already started to take its cut of their time once again. The Lord intended his disciples to be ministering constantly.

Only one of the many indications that Jesus desires everything from us we find in Luke 14: 26 & 27: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters - yes, even his own life - he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follows me cannot be my disciple.” True worship is not just nice singing in church. True worship is to move with God and enjoy seeing Him in action.

Who are the men and women being worshipped by the people of the world – the great men and women? We are talking about movie stars, sports stars, financial giants and so on. Are they not the ones that do things that amaze the ordinary people? ‘Isn’t Bill Gates something? Look at the empire he has built,’ and ‘Michael Jackson was not a superstar, he was a phenomenon’. Why do people worship them? It is because they saw them doing something great.  

We know that God is amazing and sing it every Sunday morning, but when will we mean it with emotion and truth when we say it? I tell you it is when we have seen God in action a moment ago, like when we saw Him supernaturally putting together the play I was talking about in our previous message. During the play we have seen nervous actors forgetting their words and then just started to pray for them. Suddenly their words returned to them – how – the Lord did it and we worship him for it. When after the play all those people came forward to give their hearts to Jesus, was it our good acting that convinced them, or the brilliant words of the script? These things helped, but the Lord convicted them and we worship him for that.

Why do we not create plenty of opportunities to see God in action? Then we will be able to worship Him with all of our heart regularly. ^“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth," (John 4:23, 24).

Lord, help me to have an experience of your power.

Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth, via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.

Please pass this on if you think others may benefit by it.

John 15 (Five) Flowing in the Spirit?

Good day

For as long as it takes we are going to study the gospel of John chapters fourteen to seventeen. Some of it will be what I have already written and some will be new. Therefore it may sometimes appear that I leave off in the middle of a topic to be continued, since I have reached my daily word count limit. We will also return to placing a blog posting daily for the time being.

In order to follow this you ought to have read from the first posting in the series – John 14 (One).

We continue from our previous message.

“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. ⁶If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned,” (John 15:5, 6).

We spoke about flowing in our gifts and talents last time. Whenever there is an outreach, a team is involved whose members honour God with their gifts and talents and every single one is enriched when a harvest is brought in.

I remember an outreach we for example had a few years ago? A number of our city’s churches have united in the presentation of the well-known play ‘Heaven’s Gates and Hell’s flames’. We had lots of laughter, tears and joy as we rehearsed this powerful play. As those, who had contact with this particular ministry before would know, a team of two with all the equipment for the play are invited by a church (or churches as in our case) to come and present the play. The cast is taken from the church members and the first time the cast sees the script is the Friday evening or Saturday morning. The cast then has the Saturday to set up the stage and equipment and the rest of the Saturday and the Sunday afternoon to rehearse the play, which is then presented from the Sunday night for a number of nights as needed. Needless to say, as usually with this play, we had a vast number of decisions for Christ.

What was wonderful to me, however, was the love and power of God, which were presented through His body. A group of people gave their time for free to a couple of people who also gave their time for free. All they asked was for their costs to be covered, which, in our case, was recovered from the minimal entrance fee. Everybody helped and worked hard to get the equipment and stage set up, to learn their lines in order to make a success of the play and everybody worked hard to pack away. For what reason? What did these people gain from it – money or a salary? It was weekend, a nice hot, sunny one with it – ideal for a barbeque or a swim, but they had to sweat under the hot lamps – for what purpose? For one thing only… the salvation of precious souls and as the souls ran forward to give their hearts to the Lord Jesus these workers rejoiced as they saw the harvest, the fruit of their labour pouring in. Only a God that is alive can have such an effect on humans. Only if a human has been renewed by a power greater than himself he has the power to overrule self in such a way.

But something else showed me the wonder of God. Most of these people did not know each other, but when they got together there, they were like old friends. There was a unity, a bond and an understanding. No introductions were needed, no colourful biography of the speaker – nothing but just glorifying the name of the One in whose name we were together and by whose love we were bound together. When the parts in the play were allocated there were no arguments about which part individuals actually would have liked to have, because the leaders were led by the Holy Spirit within fifteen minutes as to how to allocate the parts and as the play unfolded we just praised the Lord, since every part fitted each actor like a glove.

As we rehearsed, one could see the Spirit moving. At some scenes many of us picked a tear of joy when, for example, the parents discovered their little girl, who died earlier, in heaven, as well as a lump-in-the-throat of sadness when somebody ‘got sent to hell’. I for instance have changed during that weekend and the Lord has spoken to me about many things whilst we were busy doing His heart’s desire. During our time of testimony before the last show others also testified how the Lord has dealt with them.

As the people honoured the Lord with their gifts and talents that weekend, every single one was enriched and a big harvest was brought in. You see, Jesus (via the Holy Spirit) was involved all the time and had so much to give to a large number of thirsty people, but the only way He, the vine, could get it to the fruit, the new converts, was through the branches, the actors. The actors allowed their gifts to flow and as the life-giving sap flowed through them, they themselves were enriched. The same applies to any outreach. Every single team member; from the speaker, the band, counsellors and so on to the sound technicians and those who put out the chairs allow their gifts to flow, and as the life-giving sap flows through them, they themselves are enriched (To be continued).

Lord, please show me how to let your Spirit flow through me.

Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth, via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.

Please pass this on if you think others may benefit by it.

John 15 (Four) Feeling Overwhelmed?

Good day

For as long as it takes we are going to study the gospel of John chapters fourteen to seventeen. Some of it will be what I have already written and some will be new. Therefore it may sometimes appear that I leave off in the middle of a topic to be continued, since I have reached my daily word count limit. We will also return to placing a blog posting daily for the time being.

In order to follow this you ought to have read from the first posting in the series – John 14 (One).

 “If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned,” (John 15:6).

This sounds somewhat loveless, does it not – to throw a branch away and let it whither? Do I see a lack of mercy here? No, Jesus said they are like a branch that is thrown away and withers. If we do not stay in touch with Jesus and learn from him, tap into His infinite wisdom, power and knowledge to increase the same within ourselves, we will stagnate, die spiritually and become like such a branch. Jesus did not say such a person will be thrown out of the Kingdom. He used the illustration to give an indication of what the value of such a person will be to the Kingdom. We have heard the illustration before of a water tank that needs to be emptied and filled constantly for the water to stay fresh.

This I have experienced a number of times in my own life. At times my ministry was hampered because we went through a time of adapting. Such times were hard because we seemed to have a lot of trials individually and as a family. We have resisted the attacks and fought in prayer, pleading the Lord to deliver us. We made all kinds of decisions to change, but it seemed with no avail. The Lord wanted to teach us, and therefore you, something. When the attacks came my focus turned away from the ministry to the circumstances and I began to sink like Peter did when he took his eyes away from the Lord. However, the moment I started to minister again by means of teaching wherever opportunity arose, the hardships seemed to fade away in the light of the blessings that poured in. In my personal life, in our family relationships and in my testimony to the outside world the favour of the Lord seemed to pour in.

Why would that be? The sap started to flow from the vine again. I put my personal little desires and excuses aside and took His yoke upon me and learned from Him, for He is gentle and humble in heart, and I found rest for my soul - for His yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matthew 29:11, 30 adapted). To prevent the branch from becoming useless and dry it needs to allow the sap to flow from the vine to the resulting fruit. For the water in the tank to remain fresh and alive there need to be an inflow and an outflow. “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him,” (John 7:38). Stagnant, rotten water is the flesh - the carnal, selfish nature that takes control and causes us to focus on ourselves and our circumstances. Living water is the Holy Spirit in control.

So how do we allow the water to flow? Every one of us has received a number of gifts and talents. “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; If it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully,” (Rom. 12:6-8). If we look at these gifts listed in Romans 12 we see that it covers all the areas of need in the church and if all of us just function within our talents and gifts diligently, the church will be a strong growing organism. I love to teach, encourage, organise and motivate, but have good friends who do not so much care about witnessing and the Word as they do about helping others in a practical way. No ministry can do without such, because things break and people need transport. It does not matter what our sap or water consists of, as long as it flows and produces fruit.

Being diligent about this is in our hands and making the opportunity available for each and every gift is very much in the hands of the church leaders. Usually gifts such as helping and mercy are initiated by the individuals and are easily accepted by the church, since there is a great need for such. But when the Lord wants to move through gifts like teaching, leadership and prophesying the leadership is responsible for ‘equipping the saints for the work of the ministry’ (Ephesians 4:11-13). They should make every effort to develop these gifts (To be continued).

Lord, please show me how to let your Spirit flow through me.

Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth, via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.

Please pass this on if you think others may benefit by it.

John 15 (Three) Remain in Jesus

Good day

For as long as it takes we are going to study the gospel of John chapters fourteen to seventeen. Some of it will be what I have already written and some will be new. Therefore it may sometimes appear that I leave off in the middle of a topic to be continued, since I have reached my daily word count limit. We will also return to placing a blog posting daily for the time being.

In order to follow this you ought to have read from the first posting in the series – John 14 (One).

We continue from our previous message.

We are created in God’s image and therefore, like humans, Jesus also functions in a certain manner. He also has trade secrets and success recipes in the depths of His being, which is why He bore so much fruit while He was on earth. In this passage He invited His disciples, including you and me, to enter these depths of His being and learn from Him. The more time we spend with Him and the more intimate we become with Him and purposefully follow His example, do what He did (obey) and not only listen, the more we will become like Him and bear the fruit He bore, since He will then reveal (show) Himself to us (John 14:21). It asks of us to let go of time-stealing idols and get focussed on Him and the way He thinks, acts and produces results.

We must get in the same yoke with Him.  "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light," (Matthew 11:28-30). In the old days they used to put a new ox in the same yoke with an experienced ox so he could learn from him. Jesus said that we must not be scared to get in with Him, into Him, for he is gentle. If learning is hard and painful to us, we probably are not learning from Him, but rather from a carnal or religious master. We should therefore not desire the approval of people or measure our performance by the reaction or response of people, but only assure that we have done what the Lord wanted us to do, regardless of the results. People’s opinions and our desire to be accepted can be cruel taskmasters and a hard yoke to carry.

The word that Jesus uses in this passage is ‘remain’. If we use Jesus as a spare wheel, just calling on Him when we are in need, we cannot expect to bear fruit. Using the same example as in the previous message,  we would learn nothing by just popping into the industry for a few moments when we feel guilty about not being faithful, would we? We need to stay with Jesus, cherishing the desire and opportunity to learn the maximum from Him and, through His presence and power, bear fruit. It is also true that, if we are one with Jesus, people will notice His overwhelming presence in us. Just His presence in us will already result in good deeds, wise answers, caring attitudes and changed lives, without us having to do anything consciously.

Remaining in Jesus is first of all a conscious decision, second a discipline and third a challenge. We all have a choice of how much we are prepared to give of ourselves. Do we only want to pop in or do we want to stay? Once the decision is made it takes discipline to stay there against the odds of all the outside forces attempting to get us to abort our commitment, because if we remain there, we and our world will change. Lastly, staying there takes faith in the only One who is able to keep us there.

Are you ready for the challenge to remain in Jesus and bear fruit?

Lord, here I am.

Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth, via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.

Please pass this on if you think others may benefit by it.

John 15 (Two) Being Clean and in Jesus

Good day

For as long as it takes we are going to study the gospel of John chapters fourteen to seventeen. Some of it will be what I have already written and some will be new. Therefore it may sometimes appear that I leave off in the middle of a topic to be continued, since I have reached my daily word count limit. We will also return to placing a blog posting daily for the time being.

In order to follow this you ought to have read from the first posting in the series – John 14 (One).

We continue from our previous message.

 

I find it interesting that Jesus told the disciples they are already clean because of the Word He had spoken to them. The Word is the standard by which the pruning is done. Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Father God will not have any need to prune us if we live perfectly in obedience to the Word. Once we do exactly as the Word tells us to, as Jesus did, we will be clean and fruitful – instruments worthy to be used by the Lord. This does not mean that He does not use us in the meantime – He definitely uses incomplete people as we can see from many examples in the Bible.

The disciples were already clean according to Jesus and this gives us an idea of how intense their training was. The Bible does say that, in order to record all the things Jesus did, more books than the earth could contain would be needed (John 21:25), and His disciples lived that active life with Him. We see that, starting with Paul the Apostle and right through the ages, it took many years of training from the Lord to get men and women in a position of true authority. In the disciples’ case all those years were cramped into three years. No wonder they were so effective after the Holy Spirit was poured out, because the amount of Word in them, together with the Holy Spirit, is the perfect recipe for faith resulting in power. Let us saturate ourselves with the Word allowing it to clean us.

“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. 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,” (John 15:4-5). Since Jesus is the vine and therefore the source of everything needed for bearing fruit, He was laying out the conditions for bearing fruit. Without that which He has to offer, there is no possibility for fruit (Verse 4B). It is almost like trying to reach a bit further with the vacuum cleaner cable, leaving the plug lying a metre or so away from the wall socket, expecting it to work. Would the vacuum cleaner produce results (fruit)? No it will not, simply because it is not plugged into its power source. It needs power from its source to fulfil its creative purpose. Our creative purpose is to glorify God and to build His Kingdom here on earth. We also cannot function without power from our source.

The central message of verses 4 and 5 is a prompting for disciples of Jesus Christ to remain in Him. How do we remain in Jesus? I can imagine Jesus’ disciples at the time trying to figure out how they would get into Him. A little humour, but I think Jesus used figurative speech meaning exactly that, however not inside His body but inside His mind and spirit. Am I confusing you?

Have you maybe attended a guided tour of some business or factory before? You possibly have read about the trade beforehand, saw some pictures and so on, but walking through the factory, seeing the actual equipment used for the purpose of the trade brings much enlightenment. They show these kinds on things on television these days. Should you be allowed enough time to study every facet of the trade in detail, and to attend the board- and department meetings of the industry, you will learn even more. If you are keen enough to spend sufficient time inside such an industry, being exposed to the most intricate details of the manufacturing and business process, you will really become equipped, especially if you are allowed to try your hand at it yourself. What would the result be should you get deep and long enough into the process? You will become capable of doing the same, producing the same results... the same fruit.

Like humans Jesus also functions in a certain manner. He also has trade secrets and success recipes in the depths of His being, which is why He bore so much fruit while He was on earth. In this passage He invites His disciples, including you and me, to enter these depths of His being and learn from Him (to be continued).

Lord, here I am to learn from you.

Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth, via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.

Please pass this on if you think others may benefit by it.

John 15 (One) Bringing About Change

Good day

For as long as it takes we are going to study the gospel of John chapters fourteen to seventeen. Some of it will be what I have already written and some will be new. Therefore it may sometimes appear that I leave off in the middle of a topic to be continued, since I have reached my daily word count limit. We will also return to placing a blog posting daily for the time being.

In order to follow this you ought to have read from the first posting in the series – John 14 (One).

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you,” (John 15:1-3).

Jesus uses an illustration of a vine, but the truth is much deeper than what the surface reveals. He said He is the vine. He is that person around whom everything revolves - the whole vine. He is not part of a system or an organisation - He is the system. He is the source and controls everything. Father God is the gardener and sees to it that this vine is healthy and functions well. The Holy Spirit keeps on giving me the picture of a Christmas tree where Jesus is the tree, the believers are the decorations and lights and Father God is the decorator. This tree must project something beautiful to those who see it. It must be a beacon that can be distinguished from afar. If some of the lights are not burning or some of the decorations are broken, Father God sees to it that something is done about it. If a light, however, continuously refuses to work, he must remove it to make place for another.

The vine however, unlike the Christmas tree, is alive and able to bear fruit. Please note that Father God is not the vine and therefore not the body or the church. He just cares for the vine. In the same Jesus is not the caretaker of the church – Father God is. Jesus is the church and we are His members (1 Corinthians 12:12-14, Colossians 1:18)).

The question immediately on our lips now is why God would cut off people from the church when they do not bear fruit? What about the eternal security in salvation? This is a tough one to answer, but one must look at the whole context of our relationship with Jesus. Right through these chapters of the gospel of John Jesus repeatedly emphasized the conditions to His love for his children - the more we obey, the more He loves us.

Lack of obedience as well as fruitlessness from our side does not affect our salvation because evidence in Scripture is conclusive that once we are born again we will inherit eternal life. What does cutting off of the fruitless branches then mean? This context is one of bearing fruit, being obedient and making a difference in life for the sake of the Kingdom of God. In this context therefore it seems to mean that those branches that do not bear fruit, in other words that do not make a difference in the lives of people to the glory of the Kingdom, will not be used any more. If they are truly born again (John 3:3, 5) or truly believe (Mark 16:16, Romans 10:8-10), they will still go to heaven because salvation is eternal, but will be considered not of much use for the Kingdom and will not have any rewards or treasure in heaven. It is, however, unlikely that true believers will be uncaring about the Lord’s commands and therefore we need to keep in mind Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:21-23: “²¹Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” Are those who are careless about obedience really born again or are they just pretending to serve the Lord with a selfish attitude? Some of us should maybe search our hearts.

Jesus then continued by saying that the fruit-bearing branches will be pruned so that they can bear more fruit. What is the reality of pruning? Have you ever got the message from the Bible and from prophets that God has got a special plan with your life and that you will do great exploits for the Kingdom, but then the incomprehensible happened – you mostly experienced hardships, spiritual attacks and negative circumstantial evidence? You hardly see the success and greatness that the Lord was talking about. Everything seems to go wrong. What is the problem? An onlooker once approached a sculptor at work asking him what exactly he was making. The sculptor said he was making a horse. The onlooker then asked how he was doing it. The sculptor looked at his hammer and chisel and replied; I am chopping off everything that does not look like a horse.

Whatever Father God wants you to be, He is chopping off everything of you that does not look like that which He wants you to be. Usually chopping and pruning hurts – it surely is not comfortable. God uses other people, discouragement, hardship, even sometimes illness and death and many more to accomplish certain things in our lives. If we do not listen to Him or His messengers or are not faithful in what we are called for, He must find some way to get our attention. Sometimes we are serious about the Lord, searching for His will, but still experience hardship. This often is a preparation process for something greater – more fruit! Sometimes we think we are unable to let go of the sinful nature’s demands, trying to serve both the Lord and the sinful nature. Father God, however, wants to be served alone and will continue turning up the heat until we realise we have to let go of the flesh and its desires. Ask me, I have been there. Lord, I want to be as obedient as Jesus. (To be continued)

Lord, please prune me.

Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth, via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.

Please pass this on if you think others may benefit by it.

John 14 (Twenty) Jesus’ Example of Obedience

Good day

For as long as it takes we are going to study the gospel of John chapters fourteen to seventeen. Some of it will be what I have already written and some will be new. Therefore it may sometimes appear that I leave off in the middle of a topic to be continued, since I have reached my daily word count limit. We will also return to placing a blog posting daily for the time being.

In order to follow this you ought to have read from the first posting in the series – John 14 (One).

Today we are concluding John chapter fourteen.

^“30I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, ³¹but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me. Come now; let us leave,” (John 14: 30-31).

Jesus said the prince of this world, which is the devil, is coming. Although he has no hold on me, Jesus said, the world must learn how to be obedient. Jesus did not only talk. He set an example as well. What this passage actually says is that Jesus would not be with the disciples much longer, since the devil was about to arrange for Him to be taken away. He actually had no power over Jesus though, since Jesus had no sin and sin is the foothold Satan has over individuals. In other words, if we allow continuous sin in our lives, we give Satan the right to mess with us.

In Jesus’ case, however, because Jesus took all our sins upon Himself in obedience to His Father in order to set us free, He allowed Satan to take Him. Jesus basically said: ‘Through my obedience - the humiliation and death on the cross - the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what My Father has commanded me.’ Those following this teaching and example are expected to do the same. How many of us do exactly as we are told, or do we first consider whether it will suit us to obey? The Lord is compassionate and loving, just as a good earthly father is toward his children (just much more perfect), but He will not tolerate disobedience, just as a good earthly father will not. If we, as God’s children, start doing exactly as our Father have commanded us, what a change the world will see?

Let me give an example. Some brother is not pleasing God and you see it. You know in your heart that he must be reprimanded for him to come in line with God’s will, so that God’s blessing can be his. This, however, would demand of you to sacrifice some of your busy schedule to take time to talk with him. It might also result in an argument, which will not be comfortable. You might become unpopular and known to be interfering in other people’s business.

So what do we do? Do we choose to do exactly as we are told? Do we maybe choose an easy way out such as ‘praying’ for the brother or do we simply ignore the Lord? Doing exactly as the Lord told us usually costs something, such as persecution (2 Timothy 3:12), but disobedience may lead to discipline (Hebrews 12:1-12). Do we choose our comfort or obedience to the Lord?

Lord, I want to be as obedient as Jesus.

Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth, via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.

Please pass this on if you think others may benefit by it.