The Vine

Jesus is the true vine and the believers are the branches and God the Father is Husbandman.  The only way to be a believer (born-again) is to believe that Jesus is God’s only beloved Son, that He was crucified, died and was buried and rose again (came back to life) on the third day, shedding His blood for the forgiveness of sins.  When Jesus asked Peter, “whom say ye that I am,” Peter said, “you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Then Jesus answered and said this in Matthew 16:17-19, “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’”

Jesus, by dying on the cross, became the head of the church; the church that is only made up of born-again believers is the body of Christ.  You can ask people if they believe there is a God and many will say, “yes,” but they live like the evil one so it is not enough to ‘say’ you are a believer and then live in whatever way you want to live, no, there has to be a change in your life.  There has to be an inner change to bring about an outward change like it says in God’s Word.  

Read 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Without the inner change that happens when Jesus comes into a person’s life in the form of the Holy Spirit at the time of rebirth, you will never have a true lasting change in your life because we can never accomplish this kind of change on our own.  This is not like a New Year’s resolution where a person decides to make a change in their appearance by working out or dieting or quitting drinking or smoking.  No, this is an inner change that only the Lord can bring about in a person’s life where the Lord changes your whole perspective and you see things differently and think and feel different.  There are people that think they have to change their lives to come to the Lord, but in my understanding, God draws to the humble and contrite heart, that He will not despise.  

God said this in Isaiah 1:18, “‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ says the Lord, ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.’”  I think this relates to each of us before we become believers, though our sins have left a nasty stain that no one could remove with the finest soap available, Jesus can remove it with His blood that He willingly shed on the cross for our sins because there is cleansing power in the blood of Jesus because He loved us that much, praise His name!

If you want to be a part of the vine you will have to receive Jesus as your Savior by faith.  Come before the Lord with a humble and repentant heart and ask the Lord to forgive you of your sins and to be the Lord of your life.  Repent means to turn from your sins and go in the opposite direction.  Don’t be in a hurry, tarry and let the Lord fill you with His peace, love and joy, then you can walk away rejoicing because of what the Lord has done in your life.  Then go share it with others and start growing in your new found faith.  Don’t forget when you become born-again, you become a branch that is connected to the vine, which is the Lord Jesus and He can help you bear much fruit.

I have given you something to think about, with the Lord’s help.  May the good Lord bless you and yours and may you have a super day!!