Stop Striving and Start Abiding: Seven Secrets of the Vine*

Many Christians spend their lives striving to become more fruitful, only to find themselves weary, discouraged, and frustrated. In this message from John 15, Pastor Chris Teien explains Jesus' invitation to stop striving and start abiding. Discover how remaining connected to Christ produces lasting fruit, greater joy, and a more effective Christian life.

Link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2285086/episodes/16335522

Key Points

1.  The Father Is Working Out His Plan Through Jesus (John 15:1)
    God is the gardener, Jesus is the true vine, and believers are the branches. The Father lovingly directs and cares for His people as He accomplishes His purposes. 
2.  Pruning Produces Greater Fruitfulness (John 15:2-3)
    Pruning may seem painful or destructive, but God removes distractions, unhealthy patterns, and unproductive areas so that believers can become more fruitful. 
3.  Abiding Is the Key to Fruitfulness (John 15:4-5)
    Jesus never commands believers to produce fruit. Instead, He commands them to remain in Him. Fruit is the natural result of abiding in Christ. 
4.  Fruitless Branches Face Loss (John 15:6)
    The warning of fruitless branches reminds believers of the importance of remaining faithful and useful in God's service. 
5.  The Connected Get What They Need (John 15:7-8)
    When believers abide in Christ and His words remain in them, they experience God's provision, guidance, and power. 
6.  Abiding Leads to Joy (John 15:9-11)
    Jesus desires His followers to experience His joy and to have that joy made complete. 
7.  Love Is the Greatest Fruit (John 15:12-17)
    A life connected to Christ will increasingly display Christlike love toward God and others. 

Personal Stories from Pastor Chris

• Visiting a church in South America with grapevines growing in the courtyard.

• A testimony from high school about choosing Christian radio over secular music and how God used that decision as a season of spiritual growth and pruning.

Notable Quotes

• "We are striving to produce fruit when maybe if we were just abiding, we'd do better."

• "Jesus instructed His followers to focus their attention on abiding rather than production."

• "Apart from Me you can do nothing."

Actionable Takeaways

• Ask God to reveal areas of life that need pruning.

• Spend consistent time abiding in Christ through prayer and Scripture.

• Focus on relationship with Jesus rather than merely religious activity.

• Allow God to produce fruit through you instead of striving in your own strength.

Scripture References

John 15:1-17

Romans 1:13

John 4:35-38

Romans 6:22

Colossians 1:10

Hebrews 13:15

Galatians 5:22-23

John 6:37

John 10:27-29

1 John 5:11-12

1 Corinthians 3:10-15

Hebrews 9:27

Keywords

Abide in Christ, John 15, Fruitfulness, Spiritual Growth, Christian Living, Discipleship, Pruning, Vine and Branches, Faith, Well Faith Podcast

Challenge

This week, spend intentional time abiding in Christ each day. Ask God to reveal one area He wants to prune so that you can become more fruitful for His glory.

21.0515de 7 Secrets of the Vine

The WELL Faith Podcast offers encouraging, Bible-based messages from Pastor Chris Teien and guests. New sermons are released every Sunday. Replay episodes are marked with an asterisk. Find us online at ChrisTeien.com and Rockwell.Church in Virginia, MN. Email comments to wellfaith24@gmail.com

Transcript

Chris T 0:00

Hi, this is Pastor Chris. I'm so excited that summer is on the way. Spring has sprung. Things are greening up. See some people out gardening. Man, have you ever seen a beautiful vine before? Have you ever been real close to one? There's some vineyards popping up and people are growing grapes actually here in Minnesota. And just to be able to grow those beautiful grapes, that's a lot of work. The Life Application Bible has a list of some things about grapes. That's what we're going to talk about today are the seven secrets of the vine. I know that you're very familiar with this I am statement of Jesus from John chapter 15, but when I read it and I think about our lives, I think that we're striving, trying to produce fruit. When maybe if we were just abiding, maybe we'd do better. Does your life have joy?

SPEAKER_01 0:51

Is your heart truly filled with joy? I am the true vine. You are the branches. Apart from me, you can do nothing. If you are looking for happiness for true joy, then it does not defend starting. You need to look to deep. And from our true vines, you will bear fruit in the vine.

Chris T 2:08

They grow in a multitude of colors, sizes, and flavors. What's your favorite? Do you like the green grapes or the red grapes? The quality of a vine is only as good as the rooted stalk, and individual branches are grafted into a healthy productive stalk. Vines are adaptable but require attentive care, water fertilizer, and pruning, and obviously sunshine. New plants are pruned for three to five years to train them before they're allowed to produce a crop, and good roots produce for as many as a hundred years. For their size, vines are very productive, yielding as much as 80 pounds of grapes in a single season. Disease and lack of productivity can spread from dead branches that have not been removed, and well-tended grapevines are beautiful aesthetic plants. Yes, they are. I went to a church in South America one time and they had a vineyard. They had like grape vines out in their courtyard with real grapes on them. It was so cool. So Chuck Swindahl in his commentary points out a few things about this passage that I think are huge to remember to put this in perspective. One, he says this passage has meaning for believers only, and that while Jesus draws heavily on the metaphor of a vineyard, a powerful symbol with roots running deep into the soil of Israel's history, uh, that the listeners, the hearers of this would be very familiar of the vineyard and what that means. And he says the primary subject of Christ's teaching is abiding, not bearing fruit. At no point in the discourse is a believer commanded to produce fruit. Instead, we're promised that if we abide, fruit will result. And I think that's so huge for us to just ponder that, to think about that, to think about okay, we want to be fruitful Christians, we want what God has for us, we want his best plan for our life. What are we supposed to be doing? And are we doing enough of it? Are we doing it the right way? I fear that some people are tired, they're burned out, they're trying to do all this work for God instead of resting in God, instead of uh in the power of his Holy Spirit uh remaining in him. But that's what Jesus talks about in this parable and how it works. So Jesus is in these I am statements, he's trying to share this is this is how it works, this is who I am, uh, this is who you are, uh, this is the way that it works. It's kind of like a vineyard. So, anyway, secret number one the father is working out his plan through Jesus. Jesus says in John 15, verse 1, mostly out of the New International Version, he says, I am the true vine, and my father is the gardener. God is the vine dresser or cultivator or gardener. One Bible translation says farmer, and you and I, people, are the branches, and we're supposed to bear fruit. God is the one that uh plans where the where the vine's gonna go. He is the one who carefully planted the vine, Christ, and waters and feeds the vine. He's the one who cares for, looks after, and watches over the vine and branches. He's the one who prunes and purges, cleans and protects the vine and its branches. And you and I are the branches. Believers in Christ are the branches. So in season, um the vine dresser, the person taking care of the vine, wouldn't do major pruning, uh, would lift up the vine, try to redirect, try to uh care for the vine so that it can continue to grow. I know even in Minnesota, when we prune our trees, there are certain trees you don't want to prune in the when it's warm out because uh sap could run everywhere, bugs could get in there, but when it's really cold in the winter, that's a good time to prune some of those trees. In season is positioning, clipping, and producing fruit. And out of season is major pruning for a greater harvest and a better future. Henry Cloud talks about seasons. He talks about seasons in our life. There are seasons where God chooses to just lift us up and help us to grow fruit, and then other seasons where he chooses to prune us. Uh, major pruning happens. Henry Cloud says everything has seasons, and we have to be able to recognize when something's time has passed and be able to move into the next season. Everything that is alive requires pruning as well, which is a great metaphor for endings. Uh, there may be times in your life where uh there's pruning, where things change, where God takes something out of your life and puts something in, or takes a section of your life and um prunes that away and says, you know what, I want you to focus on growing in this area, not these other areas. Focus on that. So uh anyway, so the first secret was that the Heavenly Father is uh in control. The Heavenly Father was working out his plan through Jesus and even us. Okay, secret number two: pruning seems destructive, but necessary to produce better fruit. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit. Well, 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. So Jesus is telling the disciples that you've already been pruned, that uh you've heard my word and you're obeying, and so um this process is already happening in you. But um, Jesus was summarizing the care the vine dresser gives to a vine. So um in Chuck Swindell's commentary, um, he says that the verb translated takes away can also mean to lift from the ground. And then when he talks about the difference between cutting away and lifting from the ground, he says, I favor the definition to lift up for a couple of reasons. First, these two verses introduce the illustration describing general care of a vine dresser nurturing a vine. Vine dressers are rarely seen cutting off branches during the growing season. Instead, they carry a bundle of strings and a pair of pruning shears as they work their way down a row. They carefully lift sagging branches and tie them to the trestle to the trellis, a procedure called training. They also strategically snip smaller shoots from branches in order to maximize their yield out, their yield of fruit, which is called pruning. So uh in this process, uh the Lord can either uh cut off branches or lift them up to help them to be more effective in growing. That uh pruning. Uh David Jeremiah says the vine dresser is never nearer the branches than when he is pruning them. Have you ever really stopped to think about? You know, if you let the Lord have his way with you, if you prayed, Lord, please show me what is fruitless, what's what are fruitless branches in my life that need to be um taken care of, need to be dealt with, need to be eliminated so I can be more, more fruitful in other areas. And then you commit to do his will, you commit to do whatever it is that God wants you to do to or not to do, to get rid of. Um, there was a time in my life when I was in high school, and um I came to the conclusion that the Lord really wanted me to listen to Christian music, to only listen to the Christian radio station and not the secular uh music, the secular stations. And really what was happening is that when I would listen to the Christian radio station, uh things went better. It felt like I was being blessed. I was just everything was working out better. And when I was listening to um the non-Christian rock station or whatever, uh I wasn't blessed, that things didn't go as well. And I was like testing it. I'm like, okay, I'm listening to Christian music, not listening to Christian music. And I came to the conclusion that God really wanted me to listen to the Christian radio station. And so I did. I made a commitment to listen to it, and the music wasn't as good as it is nowadays. Uh, I mean, some of that stuff was really hard to listen to. It was slow, it was oh my. But I made a commitment to do that, and it helped me grow in Christ. It helped affirm my commitment to Christ or uh to um build up my commitment to Christ. As I listened to uh Chuck Swindall and Focus on the Family and the Tips for Teens Guy and other people on Christian radio, along with the music. Uh, there was a time when our local radio station, KTIS, used to have programming, those programs on in the evening, like at nine o'clock at night. Now it's just music all the time. But you can always tune over to the AM radio station, and now we have podcasts and all sorts of things uh you can watch or listen to to grow in Christ. But anyway, it was a time of uh God saying, Hey, I want your full attention, I want you to get rid of this, and I want you to focus on that. It was uh lifting up, it was uh pruning, it was uh a time that made uh me grow and be more effective and even more fruitful. So fruitful branches are pruned in all bad spots, useless buds, misdirected shoots and discolored leaves are pruned off. Even fruitful believers have spots, buds, shoots, and leaves that are bad, useless, misdirected, and discolored. Believers have areas and things that must be cleaned away and cleaned up, areas in our thought life, with our attitudes and our commitments, with our behaviors, our relationships, uh, our passions, our motives, uh, and our willingness. This is a pretty good quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson. He says, as the gardener, by severe pruning, forces the sap of the tree into one or two vigorous limbs, so should you stop off your miscellaneous activity and concentrate your force on one or a few points. You know, that's huge. That sounds like something John Maxwell would say when it comes to time management and leadership, is that you can't be going 20 different directions and assume that you're gonna get anywhere. At least you won't get anywhere in a hurry. So um maybe God wants to prune your attitudes, maybe he wants to prune your actions, maybe he wants to uh take certain things out of your life that are making you less effective in bearing fruit. Anyway, uh secret number three: branches are worthless if disconnected from the vine. Branches are worthless if disconnected from the vine. Jesus says in John 15, 4, 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 remain in me. I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you remain in me, and I in you, you'll bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing. Uh when I was growing up, I always read the King James Version. Uh, I think that's a tough read for people that don't know much about the Bible. And I'm glad for the more modern translations that use the words that we use today. But remain equals abide. Abide means to rest in, dwell, uh being set and fixed upon. Uh the closer the branches to the heart of the vine, the more nourishment it receives and therefore produces better fruit. So we need to abide in Christ. Uh, when we abide in Christ, we believe that Jesus is God's Son. We receive Him as Savior and Lord, and we want to do what He says. We want to do what God says. We continue to believe the gospel and share that with others. Uh, we relate in love to the community of believers, Christ's body. And each of these activities begins at some point, but the long-term branch divine practice is abiding. So um, abiding in Christ demands worship, meditation on God's word, prayer, sacrifice, and service. But what a joyful experience it is, Horn Wearsby says. All right, so let's talk about this fruit. Uh, what kind of fruit are we talking about here? What does this fruit look like? Well, spiritual fruit to win others to Christ, in Romans 1.13 in the New Living Translation. Paul writes, I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to visit you, but was prevented until now. I want to work among you and see spiritual fruit, just as I have seen among other Gentiles. So spiritual fruit, uh, that is one of the kinds of fruit that we need to produce, that we can produce, that we will produce as we abide in Christ. Jesus says, John 4 35, Jesus says, Don't you have a saying? It's still four months until harvest. I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields. They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying, one sows and the other reaps is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for, and others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor. Those fruitful fields, uh, you can look at that and be stressed out about what am I going to do? How am I going to do it? Or you can abide in Christ and then have the Holy Spirit empower you and help you to be more effective at laboring. I think one of the most important things about uh being used by God in a plentiful harvest is by uh staying close to Jesus, living in Jesus, and uh confessing any known sin and committing, saying, Lord Jesus, I'm available to be used by you, use me to accomplish your purposes. And then as you are in Christ, he'll work through you instead of you having to work for him. And uh it's much more productive, much more satisfying, much less stressful. Uh fruit of holiness and eternal life. Romans 6 22 in the Christian Standard Bible. It says since you have been set free from sin and become enslaved to God, you have your fruit, which results in sanctification, and the outcome is eternal life, the fruit of holiness and eternal life. So uh a fruit of giving, and that is huge when we are able to use our resources to help other people in need, and it's a God thing. Uh, God blessed it, God ordained it, God uh is going to even reward us for it to help provide for other people in need, which is like a fruit of good works. Uh uh doing good things to accomplish God's purposes, uh, because of the love we have in Jesus and the love we have for others is huge. Colossians 1:10, that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way, bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God. So are you fruitful in good works? Uh, good works are huge. We don't do good works to get saved, we don't do good works to be right with Jesus. Uh, because we are right with Jesus, because Jesus is in our life, because the Holy Spirit's working through us, because we are uh righteous in the Father's eyes, then we want to do good works. And uh good works that He's prepared in advance for us to do, that is so huge, the fruit of good works and the fruit of praise. Uh the fruit of praise, Hebrews 13, 15. Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. Do you do that? Do you openly profess his name? And then finally, the fruit of the spirit, Galatians 5 22. Uh, but the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The fruit of the spirit. Christians often assume that producing fruit is their responsibility, something they must do in gratitude for what Christ has done for them. They strive to produce fruit only to fail, pick themselves up, promise to do better, try again, and then continue this wretched cycle of failure. Jesus instructed his followers to focus their attention on abiding rather than production. Chuck Swendah wrote that. That is so huge that you and I are sometimes we're striving, we're trying, and it's not working, and we're like, why isn't this working? It's because we're trying to do it on our own instead of abiding in Christ. Abide in Christ, remain in Christ, walk in Christ, and we will be able to be more effective in producing fruit. Again, we aren't told that we need to make the fruit. We're told that we remain in Christ and we will be fruitful. All right, secret number four, fruitless branches need to be eliminated. John 15, six. If you do not remain in me, you're like a branch that's thrown away and withers. Such branches are picked up and thrown into the fire and burned. Whoa! Whoa, wait, wait, wait. Does that mean that if we don't uh abide in Christ correctly, if we don't do it the right way, that we're gonna lose our salvation, that we're going to end up getting sent to hell because we didn't do it right? Um I don't think that's what it says. I don't think that's what Jesus meant here. That uh those um worthless branches need to be eliminated, that they're not good, that they can actually bring disease. Uh each branch does each branch that does not continue to abide in the vine is removed from the vine. The branch seems physically attached, but it's not organically part of the plant because it does not participate in the life-giving flow of the vine. Sooner or later, that branch will drop off and have to be discarded. You know, it's really weird when you are like pruning a tree, uh, trimming up a tree, like a pine tree, for instance. You're cutting branches off the pine tree that look just fine. I mean, they're on the ground and they look alive. And you're like, what are you killing the tree for? But you're trying to make the tree better. You're trying to make it grow right. You're trying to make it so that it looks the way you want it to, or produces uh the type of growth that you want. Uh so interesting the things that you can do to trees. Uh, on some pine trees, when you cut the uh very top branches, the leader branch, it will stop growing. Instead of growing up, it will start growing out. Um, anyway, uh Warren Weirsby says it is unwise to build a theological doctrine on a parable or allegory. Jesus was teaching one main truth, the fruitful life of the believer. And we must not press the details too much. Just as an unfruitful branch is useless, so an unfruitful believer is useless, and both must be dealt with. It's a tragic thing for a once fruitful believer to backslide and lose his privilege of fellowship and service. So it doesn't necessarily mean he's losing his salvation. So there are verses though in the Bible that would give that idea that uh true believers could lose their salvation. And uh, but there are so many more verses that say that's not possible. Uh many verses of scripture that we've been given assure us that we are in Christ. John 6.37, Jesus says, All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me, I will never drive away. And in John 10.27, Jesus says, My sheep listen to my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. My father who has given them to me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of my father's hand. And John 5 11 says, this is a testimony. God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his son. Whoever has the son has life. Whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. All right, so what could this uh burning of branches be? What could this being thrown away mean if we're secure in Christ? It's interesting in uh 1 Corinthians chapter 3, Paul talks about how when we uh do certain works, uh they'll be tested by fire. And if they're good, they'll survive the fire, and if they're not, they'll burn up in the fire. Those burned branches are Christians who will lose rewards but not salvation on the day of judgment. In 1 Corinthians 3 10, Paul writes, By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care, for 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 stone, 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, but yet will be saved, even though only as one escaping through the flames. Your works, what are they? Are you building things for yourself? I mean, the empire that you build here on earth isn't going to survive the fire. But if you built something of eternal value, if you've led people to Christ, if you've discipled them, if you've helped them to grow in their faith, if you've done uh good works that point people towards Jesus, if you have uh built those types of things, this is a sermon for another time, actually, and I'm gonna run out of time if I get off on this tangent. But just this whole idea that um uh we are secure in Christ if we have Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, if we are truly believers. I mean, Judas Iscariot hung out with Jesus and acted like a disciple, but I don't think he was truly saved. I don't think he was truly a follower of Christ. So, and you and I need to be true uh followers of Jesus Christ. We need to repent of our sin and to uh follow Jesus wholeheartedly. And then as we abide in Christ, we can trust that he will get us through. We need to remember that when we come to the end of this life, that we will stand before Jesus. And if we have not received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we will be judged for the things that we've done in this life to see if we merit heaven or not. And there's nothing that we can do that would be good enough to make that happen. There's no way to tip that scale. So that's not gonna happen. So all we can do is uh receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. And then um for believers, uh, we will be judged for the things that we've done in this life uh in Christ. So for the works that we've done. Hebrews 9 27 says, just as people are destined to die once after that to face judgment, so the believers will be judged for the works that they've done, the way that they've lived in Christ. Secret number five, the connected get what they need. Secret number five, the connected get what they need. John 15, 7, 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 disciples. Do we let Jesus' words abide in us? The word abide implies intimate knowledge of what a person has said, but it also implies that the words become part of the way a believer lives. So Jesus' words abide in us when we know what he said and did, and when we allow those words and actions to affect the way we live. By reading, memory, by reading and memorizing, we take in God's word. By obeying, we indicate that the words abide in us. We learn from Jesus' actions and teaching what we do. We learn from his response how we should respond. We learn from his compassion how we should love others, and we learn from his obedience how we should submit to the Father. And finally, we learn from his self-control how to stay pure and strong. In Matthew 6, 33, it says, Seek first the kingdom of God above all else and live righteously, and he will give you everything that you need. So as the believer abides or remains connected to Christ, uh, he or she begins to assume a Christ-like character, and the believer is transformed from the inside out. His or her mind dwells on the kinds of thoughts that God thinks. The believer's heart begins to reflect the values of God, and as we think as God thinks, we will ask for what is consistent with his plan, which results in his giving us what we ask for. Psalm 37, 4 says, Take delight in the Lord, and he'll give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust in him, and he will do this. All right, secret number six, obeying indicates love. Obeying indicates love. Uh John 15, 9. As the Father has loved me, so I have 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. Jesus just said this in John 14, 21. Those who accept my commands and obey them are the ones who love me, and because they love me, my father will love them, and I will love them and reveal myself to each of them. So we need to love Jesus, and we show that love by obeying what he taught, by obeying his commands, by obeying the things that he's told us to do. You know, one of the ways that some believers skip out on obeying Jesus is when Jesus told us to baptize believers. Uh, so many people say, well, you know, uh, I don't really want to be baptized. Uh it might be embarrassing to get to get wet in front of all those people. But believers' baptism is a public confession of your faith. Believers' baptism is something that Jesus did. Uh he came to John the Baptist, and John the Baptist is like, no, no, I shouldn't do this for you. And Jesus says, No, you do this to perfect uh to fulfill all righteousness. So Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. And when Jesus came out of the water, uh, the Father said, This, his heavenly father said, This is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. Listen to him. And then the Holy Spirit descended on him like a dove. And um, anyway, so if you want to obey Jesus, start with the things you know you need to do, like believers' baptism. If you would like to be baptized as a believer, let me know. And we will um set up a time to go to the local pool and have a baptism time. So John 15, 11, Jesus continues, I've 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. So we're to love Jesus. Jesus loved us first, and then out of that love that we receive from Jesus, it should overflow so we love other believers, and it should overflow so that we can love other people. So we love because he first loved us. And it's so exciting that we have this opportunity to live in Christ, to live a fulfilled life, a life of love, a life of care. We are powerless to obey Jesus' command to love unless he lives within us. He must enable us to love in this way. Um, consider the provisions he gives us to enable us to love others. He frees us from the tyranny of self-love, he frees us from crippling guilt, he focuses our thoughts on others, not on our own problems or shortcomings. He restrains our selfish desires, he comforts us by the Holy Spirit, and he challenges us with his own examples of patience and concern for others. He encourages us with the support of Christian brothers and sisters, and with his powerful life within us, we can be channels for his love to others. John 15, 13. Greater love has no one than this to lay down his life for one's friends, and you are my friends if you do what I command. C.S. Lewis wrote this in Mere Christianity. Imagine if God called you by name and said, Give me all of you. I don't want so much of your time, so much of your talents and money, and so much of your work. I want you, all of you. I have not come to torment or frustrate the natural man or woman, but to kill it. No half measures will do. I don't want to only prune a branch here and a branch there. Rather, I want the whole tree out. Hand it over to me, the whole outfit, all of your desires, all of your wants and wishes and dreams. Turn them all over to me. Give yourself to me, and I will make of you a new self in my image. Give me yourself, and in exchange I will give you myself, my will shall become your will, my heart shall become your heart. Wouldn't that be the best life ever? Wouldn't it be great to actually be living the way that God wanted you to live, to be living a fruitful life, to be living a life that makes a difference in the world, and one that is full of joy and contentment? John 5 24, Jesus says, Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged, but has crossed over from death to life. John 1 12 to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. Have you received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Would you consider that you are saved? If not, would you do that today by praying something like this? Lord Jesus, I thank you that I have an opportunity to learn about you through your word and through uh preaching in the church, through other believers. Jesus, I do now acknowledge that I am a sinner and need of being saved. I acknowledge that you came and lived among us, that you died on the cross for our sins, and that you rose again. Jesus, please forgive me of my sin and come into my life and save me. Teach me how to live. I want to follow you in Jesus' name. Amen. Or pray something like that. Pray something like that to accept Jesus as Lord and let us know that you've done that so that we can help you to grow in the Christian life. Secret number seven, then I'm done. Secret number seven, you are a chosen friend that has opportunity to produce fruit. John 15, 15. 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. So that's why we pray in Jesus' name. Uh, you know, if we were to sign a check, we would put uh from the heavenly bank account, you know, we'd want it signed in Jesus' name. And we make those prayers when we ask for things, we always pray, oh Lord, please, please provide this, uh, please help with this. And we ask this in Jesus' name, because that's the authority that we put on that request. So, do you do what he commands? He wants you to love him enough to love others. Do you know what he wants you to do in the world? He wants others to experience his love and to know who he is. Do you know how Jesus thinks? He wants you to be familiar with what he heard from the Father. So, does your life bring God glory? And is your life an example to others of living in Christ and being his disciple? One Bible commentary uh summarizes it like this. So here the language is plain and straightforward. Remaining in Jesus remains remaining in his love. How do we remain in Jesus' love? By obeying his commands. What is his command? Love one another as Jesus loved the disciples. What does that love look like? It looks like Jesus willing to die for his friends. Who are Jesus' friends? They were and we are. What is he as what has he chosen for us to do? To bear fruit. So anyway, uh, with that I'm out of time.