Whisper Of God Ministries

The Master Gardener

This week we have been looking at John 12-15. Chapters 13-14 deal with the time in the Upper Room. Many of us will remember the humility Christ showed as he washed the disciples’ feet. There is such great love in Christ’s actions as he washes even the feet of Judas knowing full well that in just a few hours Judas would betray him. We see Peter being true to the form of his character in claiming that he would die for Jesus. We read of the coming of the Holy Spirit – the Counselor – who will live in the heart of the believer. This entire section, which is part of the “Final Discourse of Christ”, is pregnant with teaching. You can just imagine that Jesus knows the moments are ticking away to his death and he urgently tries to teach them as much as he can before the hour arrives.

As they leave the Upper Room and make their way down into the Kidron Valley on the way to Gethsemane, Jesus takes advantage of even the passing landscape to continue to teach the disciples. As they walk along Jesus uses the grape vines that were growing along the path to explain to them how he is the “true vine” and they are the branches and that God the Father is the Gardener. Christ says that vines that do not bear fruit are cut off by the gardener and tossed into the fire. As believers we know that we are attached to the vine. If we call on Christ as Lord and Savior we are engrafted into Christ. However, we don’t often want to talk about the part of the teaching that pertains to us as believers.

Christ says that the gardener takes a branch that is bearing fruit and prunes it. He cuts it back and trims off some bad spots in an effort to make the branch bear more fruit. We don’t like to dwell on that part. We often look at God and say, “We are doing some things right. There is no need to trim us, to prune us back.” But the seasoned gardener knows better. He knows that to produce more fruit and fruit that is a better quality, a branch must be trimmed.

Several years ago we cut back a big fig tree in our yard that was overgrown and wasn’t producing great figs. We trimmed it back pretty far. Finally, this year we got the best figs we have ever had. We were overwhelmed with the abundance. Yes, it took two or three years to get these great figs, but it has been worth the wait.

So it is with us. Our fruit (Galatians 5:22) output can become stale. Some get comfortable in their walk with Christ, and we forget that the Christian walk is a walk toward becoming more Christ-like. It is never a call to simply abide where we are and be satisfied. We need to produce more fruit. To accomplish this in our lives, God often “prunes” us back. These can be difficult, soul-searching times. But they are also the times of the most quality growth. We can either rebel against the gardener’s touch or we can embrace his love for us that he thought us worthy of being pruned so that we can produce more fruit.

Are you experiencing a season of pruning by God? Has he clipped your wings? Has he taken you down a notch or two in order to grow you back stronger and more able for his Kingdom work. Such times are blessed even if they are not always pleasant. They are for your good. When we are pruned, we might not immediately recognize it as a “good” for us. We can easily be moved to anger and frustration with God. Yet if we understand our role in the kingdom as branches that must abide within the true vine, then we can better accept and learn from the times of pruning in our lives. They happen to all good branches. Thank God that he has found you worthy of being pruned and looks forward to stronger growth and better, more abundant fruit in your kingdom service in the days ahead.

The Simplicity of the Gospel
This week we get full stride into the Gospel of John. John’s book is a favorite of many people because it has so many long discourses of Christ in it. It contains many verses that we all learned from childhood. John writes an extended period on the final night of Christ’s life, his High Priestly prayer and the crucifixion. Interestingly, John also leaves out references to Christ’s birth, the Transfiguration, and the Last Supper. It is a Gospel that is not as concerned with chronology as it is with Christ.

In our chapters for this week, there are many favorite stories. Chapter 2 begins with Christ turning the water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana. As someone has artfully said, “The conscience water saw its Master and blushed.” Chapter 3 has the story of Nicodemus. He was a Pharisee that John tells us met with Christ at night. Chapter 4 has Christ talking with the Samaritan woman – something that normally would never have happened because Jews did not associate with Samaritans because they were not pure Jews. Chapter 5 has Christ healing on the Sabbath at the Pool of Bethesda. There are many other lessons here but these are the highlights of the reading this week.

I want to simply look at a verse we all know but take so for granted – John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” How simple is this verse and yet how profound. This is the Gospel – the simplicity of faith. We are to believe in Christ, and we will have eternal life, saved from the torment of hell. Anyone who believes will live. There are no works involved in coming to Christ. There is, in fact, nothing that we do to be saved. The Holy Spirit gives us the capacity, and we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ – Ephesians 2:8, 9. It is as simple as that. The thief came to a saving relationship with Jesus even as the two men hung dying on the cross.

Is our salvation much deeper than that? In many ways, yes it is. There are hundreds of books all written just on explaining what all happens when we come to a saving relationship in Christ. But the Gospel message is still a simple one – do you believe in Jesus as both the Savior of your soul and the Lord of your life? If you truly do, then you join an eternal family as a co-heir with Christ. So often we try to make it too complicated. Yes, it is absolutely more than just signing a card or walking down the aisle at an alter call. It is still a simple act of faith by grace given us by our Heavenly Father. Once you are saved, Christ lives in you, as you become a new creation. Yes, now the dying to self and living to Him starts. Now you pick up your cross daily and follow him. The Gospel is simple – God loved you so very much that he was willing and able to give up his only Son in exchange for you. There is no greater gift to you and there is no greater love for you than this gift of love God gives us in Jesus.