Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “A prosperous life”
Our Bible verse for today: “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me.” John 15:5 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Jesus wants to use your life for His purposes.”
Yesterday I made the point that in order to live a life that is truly prosperous according to God’s standards, we have to make sure that our relationship with God is the number one priority in our lives. Nothing else in life can be more important to us. I then said that if we do that, we will live the best life we could ever have. In today’s verse Jesus helps us to understand how that can be.
In John 15:5 Jesus compared our relationship with Him to the relationship a branch has with a grapevine. The branch grows out of and is attached to the vine. The vine then lives its life out through the branch. The life of the vine flows in the branch and the fruit of the vine is produced through the branch. As long as the branch remains firmly attached to the vine good fruit will be produced. But if the branch becomes separated from the vine the life of the vine no longer flows in the branch and the fruit of the vine ceases to be produced through the branch.
Jesus teaches here that that is a perfect picture of our relationship with Him. As long as we remain in a healthy relationship with Him, firmly attached, His life is in us and His fruit is produced through us. He will actually live His life through you. He will speak His words out of your mouth; He will produce His acts of kindness, compassion and mercy through you; He will answer other people’s prayers by using you as a conduit through which His blessings will flow to them. His fruit will be produced through your life – as long as you are attached to Him by means of a deep and healthy relationship.
But should that relationship become fractured, should it be broken, that will restrict the flow and the fruit. If you were to separate yourself from Him you will be of no use to Him at all in terms of producing His fruit.
There is no higher purpose in life than to be a healthy branch on the vine of Christ, producing His fruit, and being a conduit for His blessings to flow to other people in a broken and bleeding and hurting world.
Jesus wants to use your life for His purposes. I encourage you to let Him. Stay close. Stay healthy. Stay productive and prosperous for the cause of Christ.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 