To Our Father's Glory

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

 TO OUR FATHER’S GLORY

John 15:5-8

5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

NIV

Jesus continues his teaching about him being the vine and us being the branches. The truth he reveals to us is that if we are remaining in him we will bear much fruit. This is not an option, or a result of our effort. The result of remaining in Jesus is bearing much fruit. Anyone who is not remaining in Jesus cannot bear fruit. That might seem a little odd as it would appear some non-believers have certain qualities that are similar to fruit, but those fruit-like gestures are not the fruit of the Spirit. In fact, Jesus said that if a person is not bearing the fruit as a result of remaining in him, they are not bearing fruit at all, and as a result, they are thrown away and wither which then are picked up and thrown into the fire and burned. It comes down to either bear fruit of burn, and we cannot bear fruit unless we are remaining in Jesus. Apart from him, we can do nothing at all. The other benefit, if we could be so bold, is that we can have whatever we wish. In checking the Greek word translated as wish, we find that is exactly how it is seen, to desire, to rather have, to wish. That is pretty strong. How many believers take Jesus up on his words? If we remain in him, we will, not maybe, but will bear much, not a little, fruit and we can ask him for anything we desire or wish for and it will, not maybe, not if we pray just the right way, or do enough good deeds, or are checking off our lists, of do’s and don’ts, but just because we ask, it will be given to us. That is powerful stuff right there. Have we ever obeyed Jesus regarding this? That is a thought. We always take about obeying the commands of Jesus, at least the ones that suit us. But if we are not asking him what we wish, or rather would have, than is that not disobedience? Surely if we are remaining in Jesus, we would not be asking for something totally opposed to the will of God. But there is still a whole lot of things which are directly connected to the will of God that we may not be asking for. However the first and foremost of our desire is to remain in Jesus and bear much fruit. We would rather have Jesus than anything in the world. We desire to be with Jesus. We want his will to be accomplished in us. We want the Father to be glorified by our life. Jesus tells us it is to the Father’s glory that we bear much fruit, as in doing that we show ourselves to be his disciples. The only way we can do that is to remain in Jesus. Then we can be to our Father’s glory.