Mar 2, 2025 "The Power of Love: God's Plan for Us" (John 15:9-17)

 

The Power of Love: God's Plan for Us

John 15:9-17

Sometimes the greatest motivation to do something is to know why you have to do thus thing. Students who have an idea of what they want to be will have more motivation to study harder.

Knowing Jesus and believing in him is just the start. We have to keep His commands. One command is to love one another.

John 15:9 ESV

[9] As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 

To follow Christ, we have to love one another. We might think that loving Hod is enough, but we must love one another. Love is one way that we can experience His Joy.

John 15:10 ESV

[10] If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.

Love is not just a command that should be done reluctantly. We must do this with enthusiasm and expectation. When we give, we experience joy by helping others. 

Science has proven that helping others gives us a helper's high. You get more joy by giving than receiving. 

Jesus Aldo wants us to love so that we may become partners in His work.

John 15:15 ESV

[15] No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 

Servants do not usually know the master's plan. They might have some ideas, but for the most part, they only know they must follow their master's commands Jesus does not just wants us to know His plans, but also take part in the fulfilment of his plan. 

It is only when we love one another that we experience the greatest satisfaction of serving Jesus.

We are called friends by Jesus to be His partners in His work. In our daily life, we have been called to love another

• Forever

• O Praise The Name
• Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)

How to Abide in the Lord as His Branch (John 15:1-14)

How to Abide in the Lord as His Branch 

John 15:1-14 

There are two truths which apply to all Christians. The first truth of a Christian is that life flows through us through Jesus Christ, and we have hope that we will go to Heaven where Jesus is waiting for us. The second truth of a Christian is that we need to abide in Jesus who is the vine in order that we can produce fruit. As branches, we will also be pruned to produce more fruit. It is not by our ability to become branches, but it is Jesus. We are, in fact, the product of what Jesus has given us. 

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 

John 15:1 ESV 

It is also not enough to be a branch in the vine. We do have a responsibility to accept what Jesus has given us and abide in Jesus. 

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 

John 15:4 ESV 

Every one of us has access to the resources of Jesus. We just need to take and utilize these resources or we will be malnourished. Of course, it is not enough just to be nourished passively by Jesus, we also need to be active and purposeful in accepting the strength from Jesus as we abide in him. 

The question everyone then asks is, “How do we abide in Jesus?” The first way we can abide in Jesus is through the act of obedience. This is the way that will bring joy in our lives. Also, we have the responsibility to obey Jesus. When we say that we follow or abide in Christ, it means we accept what Jesus has commanded. 

If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. 

John 15:10-11 ESV 

The act of abiding in Jesus requires endurance and sacrifice. Jesus would not have told the disciples to abide in Him unless things were going to be difficult. Jesus knows there would be threats against the disciples to dissuade them from following Jesus. 

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 

John 15:4 ESV 

As Christians we will experience situations that will affect our faith. There will be moments when the promises of God do not seem to have manifested in the ways we thought they would. Yet, we need to press on against sin and take on our role to be followers of Christ. 

In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 

Hebrews 12:4 ESV 

This also means we need to embrace Jesus' pruning. Pruning involves two types of branching cutting. Those branches which do not bear fruit are cut off from the vine and thrown away. The farmers using large machetes have no love loss for cutting off those worthless branches from their life source. The branches that are bearing fruit are pruned by trimming back carefully the branches with pruning shears, so that life will continue in the most productive way. 

There are many things in our lives that distract us from serving God completely. Some of those things may be needed in our lives for a short, but are then removed do we can grow. Other things in our lives may be separating us from God, so God needs to remove them. In our Christian journey, we need to take on our responsibility of accepting Jesus words and commands. We need to accept our pruning so we may grow to produce good, pleasing fruit for God.

The Reason Why Our Pruning Might Take the Hard Way(John 15:1-11)

The Reason Why Our Pruning Might Take the Hard Way

John 15:1-11

One of the three main fruits in the Galilee were grapes. Growing grapes requires much work to grow them successfully.  Although many farmers successfully have plentiful grape harvests, it is not easy and requires constant care, such as pruning. Pruning was necessary and often arduous.

In John 15, Jesus illustrates through vine farming three features which Christians possess.

 

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.

John 15:1 ESV

 

The first point is that we are the product of Jesus' existence. We get our life as branches from the vine. God, our father, is the vine dresser, and Jesus is the vine. Jesus manages our lives when we are part of the vine. Our lives are in Jesus and God's hands. We need to acknowledge that our existence is Jesus' responsibility. Also, we need to accept that Jesus gives us our lives and purpose.

 

To understand Jesus as the vine and our dependence on Him, it is necessary to understand plants. Tress are a good example to illustrate what Jesus is talking about. Tress have roots which give the tree stability. Weak roots will not hold the tree well or bring much water and minerals whereas strong roots hold the tree in the ground well and can bring in much needed water and minerals. In winter, trees lose their leaves and sometimes branches are cut off or cut back. In spring, new branches grow as well as new leaves and eventually fruit. It is important to note that the trunk and roots remain but do not need branches to be a tree. Branches need the tree or the vine to live. As Christians, we depend on Jesus to be Christians. Christians come out from the life of  Jesus Christ. 

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

John 15:4 ESV

The second point is that Christians grow as they receive from Jesus. Branches that grow from the trunk will produce leaves as well as fruit, seeds or nuts. When branches are cut off, those branches die. Sometimes branches produce too many leaves which causes the branches to sag down. They then might touch the ground which then can destroy the fruit. Another result which could happen when branches touch the ground is that the branches might grow their own roots. These roots tend to be weak, and the branch might break off from the trunk. The result is the branch dies since the roots are too weak to sustain it. Much like Christians we tend to start to find independence from Christ. The independent growth does not sustain the branch for long and death follows. We can only grow through our dependence and interaction with Christ.

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

John 15:5‭-‬6 ESV

 

Jesus has called us to bear fruit. Branches that are not producing fruit are cut off and thrown away. However, the branches that produce fruit are pruned so that they can grow more fruit. Pruning is difficult and painful, yet it is done on those branches that are valuable and useful.

 

Jesus may prune us by putting different people in our life to push our character. When we are being pruned, we need to ask what is it that Jesus wants us to change in our lives so that we can bear fruit. Moreover, how can we bear more pleasing fruit.

You have value and purpose, but this has to be developed. It may be difficult as parts of our lives are cut back, yet in order to produce real fruit that is pleasing to God, we need to abide in Jesus and let God have his way in our lives.