John 15:1 "My Father is the vinedresser"
Key Idea: God the Father is my heavenly Vinedresser. I am dependent on Him for all I am to be as a branch, and I can have complete confidence in Him to do His work in and through me.
Prayer: Father, You are the One who takes care of the vine and its branches. Be to me all You know I need.
- Vine must have vinedresser to plant & watch over it, to receive and rejoice in its fruit
- Jesus was the true Vine God planted, all Jesus was He owed to the Father, in all He did He sought to glorify the Father
- Jesus wants us to have the same relationship with God, Jesus's relationship with the Creator, models how our relationship with Him should be
- In regard to Christ & ourselves, the word teaches us 2 lessons: 1) absolute dependence 2) perfect confidence
- Christ lived ever in the spirit of "The Son can do nothing of Himself" (John 5:19)
- Christ felt Himself entirely dependent on the Father every day for the wisdom & strength to do the Father's will; "The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works" (John 14:10)
- absolute dependence has blessed counterpart- confidence that He had nothing to fear, the Father could not disappoint Him
- "My Father is the vinedresser." Before Jesus even spoke about branches at all, He turned our eyes heavenward to the Father
- root of Christian life lies in the thought that God is to do all, our work is to give & leave ourselves in His hands; confess utter helplessness & dependence in confidence that He gives all we need
- as Jesus trusted God, let's trust God as those who belong to the Vine, trusting everything we ought to be and have will be given to us from God above
How would you describe your dependence on God? Check one or write your own.
__ I am dependent on God only when I can't work things out for myself
__ I know I should be completely dependent on God, but I am struggling to let go and trust Him as He desires
__ I am giving myself over to God in absolute dependence and have great confidence that He will provide all I need
__ Other:
*Pray that the Lord will help you learn to be completely dependent on Him and to experience perfect confidence in Him
Philippians 2:13
For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
- As surely as the Vinedresser made Jesus the Vine what He was to be, the Vinedresser will make each branch what it is to be
- He is the guarantee for our growth and fruitfulness
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