branches
be relieved that you’re only a branch.
so of course I will die apart from the vine too long.
of course I can’t grow fruit in the dark.
I am needy, of course.
let the vine do the vine things and the light do the light things.
stay in proximity.
stay connected.
thank goodness I know a vine who doesn’t expect vine things of me, who isn’t surprised or scared of my branch tendencies.
stop wearing yourself out with trying to be vine status.
I’m tired from trying to fix up and decorate my branch, forcing fruit of a certain kind.
and I’ve become more attached to my decorations than the vine itself.
kingdom work - remaining, abiding, walking with Jesus - it’s not cuddly work.
the branches are exposed to the elements.
the soil is dirty.
some seasons are bare.
it requires a supply outside of myself.
branch life is hard.
exposed to the weather, seasonally depleted.
but I don’t have to generate the life, the nutrients.
the branch is not the source.
you can stop trying to be a perfect branch.
you’re enough.
remaining is enough.
joy is complete right here.
life is abundant right here.
love is here.
John 15:1-17
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 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.
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are 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 done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 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. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 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. 16 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. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
meditation from:
An Invitation to Remain - Amy Hughes