connected

^{1 -3}"I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn't bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken.

⁴"Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can't bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can't bear fruit unless you are joined with me.

^{5 -8}"I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can't produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.

^{9 -10}"I've loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you'll remain intimately at home in my love. That's what I've done—kept my Father's commands and made myself at home in his love.

^{11 -15}"I've told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I'm no longer calling you servants because servants don't understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I've named you friends because I've let you in on everything I've heard from the Father.

¹⁶"You didn't choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won't spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you.

¹⁷"But remember the root command: Love one another.

John 15

for the past few days i've been kind of stressed out and overwhelmed with a lot of stuff. how do we run a youth ministry? how do we make things interesting? how do we make it exciting? how do we encourage unity? how do we break down the walls that we've built up for so long? how do we do this, and that, and all of it?? once again, i've been trying to figure out all these things on my own instead of asking for help. and there it is, once again, my pride grins its ugly teeth. if i would just ask the other leaders to help me out, we could accomplish so much. if i just ask my mentors and the people i look up to, i could learn so much more. but i don't. it's sad, really. that i would let whatever i'm responsible for suffer because of my pride. c.s. lewis said, "for pride is spiritual cancer; it eats up the very possibility of love, contentment, or even common sense." i fall into the latter category. lacking common sense because of my pride is a reoccurring theme in my life. i know for certain that it's not making me fruitful in any way, shape, or form. i skipped to being hated by the world last time but this time, these verses really stood out to me and God spoke to me.

i can't expect to have "fruitful" results by trying to figure things out on my own. sure, i can have "good" results. everyone can have a good time at friday night, they have fun and laugh the night away, which is all good and well, but is it "fruitful"? is it advancing the Gospel? is Jesus' message of love and redemption being carried across this way? or is it sometimes just lost in the mix? i've been trying to do things without being connected to my vine, my lifeforce, my Jesus. and what happened? i started getting burned out again! i lost sight of why i was doing what i was doing! thuy had to put me in my place and ask me that simple question once again. "who are you doing this for?" i'm doing this for.........God. i need to ground myself in His Word. i need to spend time with my Father. He's my source of strength. how can i expect to share the Gospel if i don't spend time in the Gospel?? how can i ask for help and break down my pride if i'm not connected to my pride destroyer?? i want to be humble like Jesus. i want to love like Jesus. i want to move people like Jesus. this can only happen when He is working through me. when i let go and let Him do the work. it suddenly becomes not "i" who moves people but "Jesus" moving people. that's the way it should be. people shouldn't see me. people should see Jesus.

i'm letting Him take it all. take my pride, to give me humility. take my unfruitfulness, to give me fruitfulness. nothing works without Him. without Him, it all crumbles in the end. now the next question here is related to the second part of this passage. "who am i not loving the way that Jesus loves me?" i think that's a question all of us should ask.