1"I am the true vine,
and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts
off every branch in me that bears no
fruit, while every branch that does bear
fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be
even more fruitful. 3You are already
clean because of the word I have spoken
to you. 4Remain 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. 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. 7If you remain in
me and my words remain in you, ask
whatever you wish, and it will be given
you. 8This is to my Father's glory, that
you bear much fruit, showing yourselves
to be my disciples.
9"As the
Father has loved me, so have I loved
you. Now remain in my love. 10If you
obey my commands, you will remain in my
love, just as I have obeyed my Father's
commands and remain in his love. 11I
have told you this so that my joy may be
in you and that your joy may be
complete. 12My command is this: Love
each other as I have loved you.
13Greater love has no one than this,
that he lay down his life for his
friends. 14You are my friends if you do
what I command. 15I no longer call you
servants, because a servant does not
know his master's business. Instead, I
have called you friends, for everything
that I learned from my Father I have
made known to you. 16You did not choose
me, but I chose you and appointed you to
go and bear fruit-fruit that will last.
Then the Father will give you whatever
you ask in my name. 17This is my
command: Love each other. The World
Hates the Disciples
18"If the
world hates you, keep in mind that it
hated me first. 19If you belonged to the
world, it would love you as its own. As
it is, you do not belong to the world,
but I have chosen you out of the world.
That is why the world hates you.
20Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No
servant is greater than his master.'[b]
If they persecuted me, they will
persecute you also. If they obeyed my
teaching, they will obey yours also.
21They will treat you this way because
of my name, for they do not know the One
who sent me. 22If I had not come and
spoken to them, they would not be guilty
of sin. Now, however, they have no
excuse for their sin. 23He who hates me
hates my Father as well. 24If I had not
done among them what no one else did,
they would not be guilty of sin. But now
they have seen these miracles, and yet
they have hated both me and my Father.
25But this is to fulfill what is written
in their Law: 'They hated me without
reason.'[c] 26"When the Counselor comes,
whom I will send to you from the Father,
the Spirit of truth who goes out from
the Father, he will testify about me.
27And you also must testify, for you
have been with me from the beginning.
KEY VERSE: "I no longer call
you servants, because a master doesn't
confide in his servants. Now you are my
friends, since I have told you
everything the Father told me." John
15:15
Thought:
You are as close to God as you
choose to be.
Like any
friendship, you must work at developing
your friendship with God. It won't
happen by accident. It takes desire,
time, and energy.
The first
building block of a deeper friendship
with God is complete honesty-about your
faults and your feelings. God doesn't
expect you to be perfect, but he does
insist on complete honesty.
None
of God's friends in the Bible were
perfect. If perfection was a requirement
for friendship with God, we would never
be able to be his friends. Fortunately,
because of God's grace, Jesus is still
the "friend of sinners."
Every
time you trust God's wisdom and do
whatever he says - even when you don't
understand it - you deepen your
friendship with God.
We don't
normally think of obedience as a
characteristic of friendship - that's
reserved for relationships with a parent
or the boss or a superior officer - not
a friend.
However, Jesus made it
clear that obedience is a condition of
intimacy with God. He said, " You are my
friends, if you obey me." John 15:14
There is nothing-absolutely
nothing-more important than developing a
friendship with God. Paul told Timothy,
"Some of these people have missed the
most important thing in life-they don't
know God."
Have you been missing
out on the most important thing in life?
You can do something about it starting
now. Remember, it's your choice.
Questions to consider:
***What are some things I can do to
improve the quality of my relationship
with God?
***How will I begin
doing those things consistently?
***How can I help someone else work
on their relationship with God?
You are as close to God as you choose to
be.
Links: (When avail. copy & paste into
your web browser)
