Tag: Fruit

Bible Studies

I AM THE VINE: Jesus’ seven “I AM” statements – 7

Loring Schultz

“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.” John 15:5 ESV

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Jesus’ seventh “I am” statement in John’s gospel is “I am the vine,” meaning He is the life. He proceeds to tell us we “are the branches,” meaning no life; for “the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine.” A branch off the vine dries up and dies, whatever fruit may have been on it will eventually rot. Jesus tells us that if we abide in Him we will bear fruit, in fact He says “much fruit.” But take note what He says next, “for apart from me you can do nothing.”

The word “abide” appears ten times in the first eleven verses of John 15. The idea is to “remain” in Christ. If your Christian life is just there going through the motions having no recognizable changes in your life, perhaps there is a separation with the vine. It is truly amazing what Christ can do for us as we remain in Him through daily Bible reading and prayer. Do not let worldly distractions keep you from what is truly important, abiding in Christ and bearing fruit.

Are you bearing fruit? Are you growing in your spiritual walk with Jesus Is your Christian life evident to those around you? Jesus said, “I am the (life) vine; you are the (dead) branches” when you do not abide in Me. Jesus says remember, “apart from me you can do nothing.” Are you abiding in Him?

Read: John 15:1-11 ESV – I Am the True Vine – “I am the true – Bible Gateway

Devotionals

The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far from the Tree

Loring Schultz

“When the men who lived there asked Isaac about his wife, Rebekah, he said, ‘She is my sister.’ He was afraid to say, ‘She is my wife.’ He thought, ‘They will kill me to get her, because she is so beautiful.’” Genesis 26:7 NLT

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You may be familiar with the proverbial saying ‘the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.’ Coming into English in the 1830’s from an existing German proverb the meaning refers to an individual’s traits resembling their parents. It is used to explain one’s actions in both a positive and negative way. One who is successful in life having successful parents is an apple from the tree of successful parents. A bad apple usually falls from a bad tree picking up undesirable traits. Now to be fair, that does not always hold true either positively or negatively, but when it is recognized, the saying seems appropriate.

 We have an example in the Old Testament of an apple not falling far from the tree in Genesis chapter 26. Issac is instructed by God to go down to Egypt due to the famine and reside there. Upon arriving Issac introduced his wife Rebekah as his sister out of fear for his life. This could have brought severe consequences for Rebekah if the king of the region took her for himself. Issac sinned by lying and having no regard for the safety of Rebekah. Abraham, Issac’s father, had done the same thing twice years earlier. (Gen. 12:23; 20:3) Although Abraham was a righteous man and justified by his faith in God, he set a bad example for his son to follow.

 All of us have sinned and have fallen short of God’s standards. (Ro.3:23) Even those of us who have accepted Christ as savior need daily forgiveness. Despite our failures, which will continue, are we still growing and producing good fruit? Are we good apples or bad apples? Jesus said in John 15:5a, “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit.” (NLT) As others observed us, are they able to say positively in a favorable manner, ‘the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.’