John 15:4-8
4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.
6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you.
8 "By
this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My
disciples.
NAS
Let's take a look at what the Lord Jesus tells us about producing an abundant crop.
Just because we say that we are a Christian, does not make us one.
Just because we come to church does not ensure that we will be in heaven.
We can not bluff our way into being in Christ, for our righteous and holy Father knows the intent of our heart and will remove us from the vine.
But if we are truly sincere, then our Heavenly Father will prune us to remove the dead wood and the suckers that sap our strength.
Thus we will become more productive and begin producing an abundant crop.
Don't worry about becoming contaminated with the cares of the world and the unproductiveness, and even evilness of its followers, for the Lord will take care of you.
We can do nothing on our own to produce an abundant crop. We may struggle a lot in an attempt to do it; but in the end, our self efforts will fail.
But when we realize that our strength is the Lord, there is only success. We cannot help but produce an abundant crop.
Do you remember the tree with its roots firmly planted next to the stream (Jeremiah 17:8)?
8. "For he will be like a tree planted by the water,
That extends its roots by a stream
And will not fear when the heat comes;
But its leaves will be green,
And it will not be anxious in a year of drought
Nor cease to yield fruit.
Well, we must be like that if we are going to survive. Otherwise we will just dry up. We need a daily watering from the living waters of the Word of God.
Yes, if we are Christians, then we should be the ones producing an abundant crop, and producing it in good times as well as in bad times.
How do we do this?
The real key to producing an abundant crop is to get ourselves planted in the fertile land of a good farmer; and since we need a good farmer, why not choose the best?
And who is the best farmer?
It is God Himself.
Have we observed in these Scripture passages that producing an abundant crop of fruit can all be accomplished without bring any harm to any part of God's creation, whether human or non-human, or to the world in which we all live.
Part of abiding in the Lord is being the loving, compassionate and peacemaking children of God that He call us to be, who will help free creation from it's present corruption.
This is all part of producing an abundant crop.
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