"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 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. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. 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 so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full."
These words spoken by Jesus Christ in the gospel of John chapter 15 have been penetrating my heart and mind for the last 11 years.I believe that Jesus is the only Son of God and that He took on human flesh to live a perfect life and die as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. We are all born into a state of sin. The sin in every ones life varies, but we have all fallen short of the perfection that only God knows. It started with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden and has been passed down to every one since that time. Because of this fallen state we are in bondage to our sin.
I wrote a post entitled the Beautiful Vine in which I stated that wine was God's way of telling us he loves us and wants us to be happy. This may have been true at one point in time, but through sin all good things have been tainted except one. Jesus Christ is God's way of telling us He loves us and wants us to be happy. He is the true vine. Only through faith in Him and a sacrificial life lived in love to Him can one truly be satisfied. Only he can set us free and deliver us from a life lived in bondage to sin. He is the way, the truth, and the life!
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