A Branch Detached From The Vine

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. (Joh 15:5-7)

We have come upon a time that is like it was during the days of Noah where every man does what he think is right in his own eyes. Sad to say that those who call upon the name of the Lord have been carried away in the same unfolding drama. The quote above often times we as men quote it and particularly verse 7 without understanding the context, which is clear in verse 5. It is the vine that provides nourishment to the branch, and if we find ourselves detached from the vine then we will find ourselves unfruitful, unable to do anything, and withered. The end of such a man is to be thrown into the fire and burned.

As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. (Joh 15:9-14)

So here is where many of us may get off course, if we don’t understand the message Yeshua is sharing with his disciples. So check this out carefully. Here at the beginning of this passage it sounds as though Yeshua is giving a new commandment separate from that of his father. He is stating that he has kept his fathers commandments and he is now telling his disciples to keep his. However, take note that he tells us how he has kept his Father’s commandments and then he goes on to say we are to love one another as He has loved us. So the question is how was his love expressed unto us? It was expressed to us through how he kept his Father’s commandments and therefore we are to do likewise if we are to express our love back towards him. If we understand that there are certain things that love does. Love doesn’t speak uncharacteristically against God, love keeps all its dates with the object of its love (the Sabbaths), love doesn’t dishonor those who brought them into this world, doesn’t have sex with someone elses spouse, doesn’t murder, lie, cheat, steal, or covet. Anyone who does these things we can agree is not walking in love. The commandments of God had to be hand written because the heart of man was and without God still is bent on doing evil. It has been that way since the first Adam and without a change of heart is destined to stay that way until the last breath.

When I started this study on what it means to be the branch on Yeshua’s vine I begin to better understand the very real illustration that Yah revealed to me a couple of weeks ago as I witnessed in the natural what happened to my peach tree that broke from its vine. When I finally was able to get my peach tree to grow I noticed that all my peaches were growing on one branch. It was so full, yet so weak that it broke from the vine. As it lay hanging on the ground, heavy with only a small piece still connected to the vine I watched it stop growing. It didn’t wither until I took it completely off but I didn’t see any progress in it either just barely hanging on. Which is exactly the point we have to be all in with Yeshua or we are stagnate neither growing nor dying. Sort of reminds me of another scripture where Yah says he would rather we be hot or cold, but because we are neither he spews us from his mouth. (Rev. 3:15-16)

So many of us in our walk with God are on the edge like that branch we are barely hanging on and just the right move in the wrong direction will break us from the protection and nourishment that comes from eating from the tree of life in Yeshua. The scary thing about that branch falling over is while the vine is what provides the nourishment it is the branch that holds the fruit. This may be why we are warned not to lose the fruit that we bare. (Rom 1:13, 7:4) The vine nourishes the branch, but the branch holds the fruit. This is also why we are admonished to pray for leadership as we do because if you smite the shepherd the sheep for sure will be scattered. (Matt 26:31) So many people leave the Lord not because the Lord did something wrong as He can never do anything wrong, but because those of us who represent him in leadership misrepresent Him and what is all us, He gets blamed for.

There is a greater work we are called to do as believers and with that work comes responsibility. It is important that as we lead others to the Lord that we do so in the same similitude that He led us. With compassion, patience, and a firm and unwavering hand. While we should never back out or down from the truth we are admonished to share the truth in love, considering ourselves and the frailty that we deal with in the flesh. However, with that in mind we can’t forget that we stand by the will and hand of the Messiah’s vine which holds us and if we should split or be broken from the vine then we will surely wither and any fruit on our branch will wither with us.

It Gets old

We are told in scripture to put on the full armor of God. What happens when your armor gets worn in the natural? Finding and assembling the perfect armor doesn’t come easy. David understood that armor wasn’t one size fits all and fancy doesn’t mean effective, nor guarantees comfort or function. Most things get worse with time.

I remember my first pair of SAS shoes and my first pair of skechers. They made me feel like I was walking on air and I wore them both until they could not be worn any more. Primarily because they were so comfortable, but I made the mistake many of us make after that first pair. I assumed that over time things would not change with them. That the same quality I received from the first pair would continue with my next pair.

Like a drug dealer things start out real cheap to get you started, but become real expensive once hooked. My skechers when I first bought them were $11, by the time I wore those out another pair would cost me $80. Yet the $80 shoe was not nearly as durable or comfortable as the $11 pair.

Start up companies tend to be that way they start out with the customer in mind, get you hooked then without notice it switches from customer focused to dollar focused. Not sure if manufacturer change as popularity increase or if companies really believe people are so stupid that if we’re drawn to a company based on quality that once the name gained fame the quality could diminish and we’d keep buying it?

Well I have been in search of that first pair of shoes from both companies, and my SAS shoes are way too expensive to make my first mistake twice so I have put them down altogether. Point I’m making is this, time doesn’t make things better not for people, not for products, not the world. A renewed mind can make for a better spirit man, but time insures that your physical state may increase, but your Spirit man doesn’t operate on that principle the potential for your Spirit to get better with time is great, as we build our armor with experience with God and understanding of his word. Your physical strength, your hair, your teeth, anything you use or have will continue to move downward. Yet we in the technological age would rather believe things are progressing. Contrary to scripture and nature itself we continue to believe things are getting better when the evidence just beneath the surface of the beautiful decor reflects the holes and cracks we so eloquently hide. Having no evidence to the contrary we believe the first millennium man was archaic and less advanced yet he lived 930 years when we barely make it to 70 and many of those who make it to that age suffer from health issues that suggests existence but barely could call it living.

The world needs Yah, a life without hope in Messiah YeHoSHua is just existence without purpose. We become days of output and put in like machines accomplishing something, but life having no meaning. We are lost, wretched and miserable without Yah. We are like those first pair of SAS shoes we start out floating on air in this life but with time we recognize we are in need of a new life and we make the mistake of thinking we can find that through our original supplier only to discover they are coming up short. Only the new man in Christ can have purpose, understand this nonsensical world and elevate to floating on air by a means beyond the natural man.

Thus we are admonished to put on the new man and to take off the old. Only in Christ is the remedy resolved by the new rather then the old, yet He has been the answer from the beginning and his remedy is not new, but we have to be renewed to see it.