Tag: encouragement

 Remember He is de vine, and you are de branch. 
-Keith Green

I am the vine, you are the branches; 
he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit,
for apart from Me you can do nothing. 
John 15:5

My husband loves trees. During the thirty-plus years we have lived on our country lane, we have planted well over a hundred shade and fruit trees. Some of the fruit trees in his modest orchard were called “no name” trees, meaning the actual variety of tree was unknown before selling. If a person didn’t mind a surprise or two, the trees didn’t cost as much as labeled trees. We could tell the general type of tree each was, like “apple,” but we didn’t know what variety of apples we had until the trees bore fruit for the first time.

 Some plants are hard to tell apart just from the leaves. But the fruit and flower of a plant always give it away. Jesus told us, as recorded in Matthew 7:16-20, that we can recognize people in the same way – by what shows up at harvest time. In fact, He tells us in this passage that it is impossible for a bad tree to produce good fruit or for a good tree to produce bad fruit.

 Fruit is what we are. We can’t fabricate fruit. Fruit is the natural result at the end of a season of growth. No matter how well a thistle grows or how much it is fertilized, it’s going to produce thistles. This is why we can never reform ourselves. We have to become grafted into the Root of Jesse. We are grafted in when we accept the sacrifice of Jesus for the mess we have made of our own gardens. We are literally cut away from a life of sin and grafted into the life of God.

 And then we “abide.” The Greek word used for “abide” simply means to remain, stay, move in with, or live with. It’s a relational word. Don’t try to change yourself. Move in with Jesus. If I want to exhibit godly character, I have to be planted in God. He doesn’t want a new, improved version of Pam. He wants Pam out of the way completely. He wants me to die to who I am and become a conduit for the life of God, so that in my actions and words others may catch a glimpse of the Divine.

…I die daily.
-the apostle Paul

 How do we abide?

1. By thinking and acting relationally, not religiously. We focus on association with Christ, not mere imitation.

2. By diving into His Word. It’s the living letter from the Father to His children. His Word cleanses, teaches, inspires, and restores. It’s the food for our souls.

3.  By listening to the uncomfortable nudging of the Holy Spirit to keep us pruned back. That way we won’t stray into unhealthy ground. Our conscience really is our best friend. 

4. By cultivating healthy relationships and habits. Abiding doesn’t mean just lying around. There is work involved, too.

God gave His very best in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ to give us all we need to flourish. May we plant ourselves in Him and grow up to be everything He has planned for us.

O taste and see that the LORD is good;
How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
Psalm 34:8

Forgiving the misdeeds of others against us would be easy if it were as simple and satisfying as accepting their humble apologies as they came crawling to us in abject brokenness. It would be (we imagine) an act of mercy to relieve the suffering of such penitents. But that scene is the stuff of fantasy conjured up by a wounded heart,  rarely rooted in reality. Humanity, as a whole, is pretty good at making excuses for its actions and words. We’d rather enter our houses justified in our own minds than make the painful trip to humility’s doorstep to ask for forgiveness. So we stand at mutual arm’s length as we hold tight to our respective territories and await capitulation from the other side.

Forgiveness is the gift we love to withhold from the undeserving.

But it never feels right, does it? Holding on to the offenses of others against us keeps us captive to a constant replay. We relive the pain; we bleed all over again. But this time the wounds are self-inflicted as we cut ourselves in an effort to release the pain we should be releasing in three simple words: “I forgive you.”

During His time on earth, Jesus actively sought to extend forgiveness to everyone who has or ever will exist. He entered time and space and lived His entire life with the express purpose of giving us a chance to receive forgiveness. One of His last acts on the cross was to forgive his killers, executioners neither Roman nor Jew. The nails in Jesus’ body were put there by every dirty thought and action of His crowning creation:

You and me.

I did not ask for Him to come. I wasn’t worthy of His suffering for my wrongdoing. He forgave me long before I asked for or wanted his forgiveness. But as He waited all those years, He never once treated me like the undeserving person I am.

Throughout the centuries and to this day, He likewise extends the scepter of life to all who will reach out to touch it. As long as there is hope for repentance, He endures our blasphemies, taunts, and flagrant sins. The gift is extended; it is up to us to reach for it. We are all the undeserving; there is no one who has not needed forgiveness. Remembering our own frailties, our goal should be to live in a constant state of forgiveness, extending to others that which we have received.

Extending forgiveness frees us. What others do with the gift is their decision.

For if you forgive others for their transgressions,
your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if you do not forgive others,
then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.
Matthew 6:14-15 NASB