Wednesday, March 25, 2026

Opening Scripture

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 1 John 4:11-16

Opening Prayer

Gracious Father, I believe you are able to do immeasurably more than I can ask or imagine, according to your power at work within me. Help me to trust you today to meet all my needs. May your love and peace be present and evident in my life. May others see Jesus in me. In His name I pray. Amen.

Daily Bible Reading

John 15:1-17

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remainin me.”

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.”

Reflection  

In today’s passage, Jesus makes His final “I AM!” statement: “I am the true vine.”

Just as shepherding was a well-known vocation in first-century Israel, so was grape growing. Bread and wine were staples of daily life. Vineyards symbolized divine blessing, peace, and prosperity, with the grape vine representing the nation of Israel itself. Jesus’ teaching here reflects the “vine language” of Isaiah 5.

“I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit. What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad? The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines he delighted in. He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.”

God made every provision for His chosen people, but they chose to be unfaithful. He looked for justice, mercy, and righteousness. Instead, He found greed, cruelty, and suffering. For generations, the Vine of Israel produced only rotten fruit.

Then, all the prophecies of the Old Testament were fulfilled in Jesus the Messiah (Matthew 5:17). He is the True Vine that produces the good fruit that God desires. The Father is the Gardener who prunes and protects Jesus the Vine and all the fruitful branches connected to Him (His disciples).

The Father’s appropriate expectation for Jesus’ disciples is divine fruitfulness. This passage describes the desired progression from fruit, to more fruit, to much fruit. A branch that bears no fruit is obviously “dead” and needs to be “cut off and thrown in the fire.” This is a harsh warning that deserves further examination.

Clearly, an intimate personal relationship with Jesus is the objective and the key to health and fruitfulness. One of John’s favorite words (meno = remain, abide, dwell) occurs eleven times in this chapter. The implication of “remain” here is essentially “living together.”

What does it mean for two people to “live together”? What is cohabitation? Sharing space, finances, responsibilities… and perhaps more? It involves openness, transparency, closeness – shared life – and we’re invited to do that with Jesus! He wants us to “remain” and “abide” with Him forever.

On the other hand, those who claim to be Jesus’ followers, but bear no spiritual fruit, are “cut off and thrown in the fire.” This imagery recalls two other passages that speak to those who claim to be “Christians” yet show no evidence of genuine conversion or discipleship.

First, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus declares, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Matthew 7:21-23). This statement describes eternal separation due to the absence of salvation or any personal relationship with Jesus.

Second, the Apostle Paul warns, “No one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.” 

“If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames” (1 Corinthians 3:11-15). Though a person may be “saved” (building on the foundation of Jesus), this passage describes the futility of declaring “Jesus is Lord,” then investing one’s life in worthless things that will ultimately burn away when tested by fire.

Today’s passage, like the first example from Matthew 7, seems to refer to those who claim to be “in Jesus” but have never been “born again.” There is no proof of regeneration in their lives. No evidence of the Spirit. No love for God or others. No pursuit of righteousness, faith, love, and peace like those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. No fruit. Remember: religious activity is not a substitute for a personal relationship with Jesus!

The Father prunes those who belong to Jesus so they will be even more fruitful. Those who do not belong to Jesus – even if they pretend to (like Judas the Betrayer) – are cut off and thrown in the fire, eternally separated from God.

Flourishing Habit

Close Social Relationships

The abiding life is the abundant life! When Jesus’ disciples remain, abide, and dwell in Him, they are joyful, healthy, and fruitful. That’s the flourishing life we were all meant to live!

When we “cohabitate” with Jesus, submitting to the Spirit’s indwelling power, desiring to glorify the Father, open to being used to accomplish His mission, we will be fruitful branches.

Here’s how Eugene Peterson translates Romans 12:1-2 in The Message.

“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”

What has God been stirring in you during this Lenten season?

What do you need to do in response to Him?

Remember: Nothing changes until something changes!