Standing Between You and Fruitfulness

Yesterday and today we’re back with Canadian devotional writer Elsie Montgomery at Practical Faith. As I said, her writing is a perfect fit for us here at C201, and we’ve used her many times over the past years. I’m breaking our ‘six month rule’ and running two posts back-to-back this weekend. Click the title to read at source.

Whatever prevents fruit must go . . .

We once had a crabapple tree in our yard. The tree was large and when we moved in, it had been neglected for years. It had blossoms in the spring, but only a few. No fruit. I thought it needed another fruit tree for cross-pollinations but after a bit of research realized the nearby wild berry bushes were sufficient for that. Research showed that the tree needed to be pruned.

I learned that in the pruning process, the vinedresser first removes the larger dead branches and works his way to snipping off the smaller ones and anything that shows signs of disease or rot. If the tree is not producing fruit, this pruning can be severe. When I was finished with that tree, I wondered if it would ever grow again, never mind produce apples. However, after a season of rest, it flowered prolifically and gave us bushels of crabapples.

Perhaps this experience is part of why I love these words from Jesus:

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:1–5)

God’s pruning removes the dead, useless stuff in my life. I’m saved by grace, so salvation is not the purpose of pruning. It is to bring me to the place where I am abiding in Him continually, living in the power of the Holy Spirit and producing the fruit that only the Holy Spirit can produce. If I am abiding, the results are eternal; if not, they are useless.

This is obviously about sin, but sin runs deep. The pruning axe begins on the big, obvious stuff, but then God picks up pruning shears and removes attitudes and activities that other people might not even notice. Eventually He uses a scalpel to rid me of anything that could be described as ‘going my own way’ rather than listening to Him and doing what He tells me.

Today, I have plans for my household responsibilities. Doing laundry and sewing the label on a quilt cannot be called sin. BUT if God urged me to call someone or go visit a shut-in and I refused to do that in favor of my to-do list, then that unwillingness makes ‘doing my own thing’ a sin.

Oh my, just now, while writing this, someone just called —a crisis. All my plans just became unimportant. God wants me to pray, perhaps the entire day.

Prayer: Oh Jesus, I’ve nothing more to say as the caller asked me not to share this frightening news with anyone, just pray. My prayer begins with, “Nothing is too hard for You . . .”

He Wants Us to be With Him in His Glory

Tomorrow, I’m posting a review of a new collection of C. S. Lewis works wherein I noted that  Lewis wrote: “The symbols under which heaven is presented to us are (a) a dinner party, (b) a wedding, (c) a city, and (d) a concert.” Today’s devotional contains the wedding banquet theme presented in many depictions of the end times.

To do so, we pay another return visit to the blog of Gordon Rumford, one of the most faithful devotional writers online. I think the example by which he frames this best illustrates what Jesus is saying in the prayer which forms the key verse. Click the title below to read at source.

Who do you really wish to be with?

“Father,
I want those you have given me to be with me where I am,
and to see my glory.”
John 17:24 (NIV)

 

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I often am enlisted to drive one or another of my grandchildren somewhere. Occasionally it is to church but mostly to or from school. It is a great opportunity to engage them in conversation and learn more about their world and how they see it. I love this time and am thankful that I live close to them in order to be with them so frequently.

Some time ago I drove one of them to a banquet at school. Then, when the time came, I picked her up to drive her home. When my granddaughter got into the car she enthusiastically said that she had won an award and showed me the plaque with her name inscribed and a description of her achievement.

I knew that the banquet was only for the students and staff but I still expressed my disappointment that I could not be there to hear her name called and see her on stage to receive the honour. I was very proud of her and her diligent work to gain such recognition.

It is such a pleasure to see those we love recognized and honoured in front of their peers. To be able to say to others I am related to the person honoured brings such joy to our hearts.

This is what Jesus is getting at in our verse today. He has troubled the disciples by saying He is going away and now He lets them hear His words indicating He wants them with Him where He is going. He adds to that request the reason He wants them with Him.

It is a concern to Jesus that His people see Him in all His glory. Since Jesus humbled Himself by leaving heaven and becoming a “Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” He now wishes the disciples to see the eternal glory He would re-assume in heaven.

Many of us have invested loved ones in heaven. They have gone ahead to be with Jesus and we wish to be reunited with them. This is indeed a good thing to wish for in our lives. It will be a grand reunion and there will be so much to catch up on and share at that time.

However there is a wonder in heaven that goes far, far beyond the reunion with loved ones. It is to see Jesus Who is the centerpiece of heaven. Ultimately it will be Jesus will Who receives the attention and praise. Anna Cousins… puts it like this:

The Bride eyes not her garment, but her dear Bridegroom’s face;
I will not gaze at glory but on my King of grace.
Not at the crown He giveth but on His pierced hand;
The Lamb is all the glory of Immanuel’s land.

Who do you really wish to be with? Jesus indicates that those whom the Father has given Him are those who will be with Him. Have you decided that Jesus is the One you really wish to be with? He invites you to come to Him and be one of His chosen people for all eternity. Will you come?

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Further reading: As I read this, I couldn’t help but think of the earlier words of Jesus in John 14, “I go to prepare a place for you… I will come again and receive you unto myself.” (Yes, I know, KJV is how I memorized it as a child!) As it turns out, just a few days prior, Gordon Rumford wrote another devotional based on a verse in that same passage.

I Was a Stranger

Our scripture reading today is on video, or you can turn to Matthew 25:31-46.

At Bible Gateway (above link) the IVP New Testament Commentary begins:

This final parable in Jesus’ final sermon in Matthew brings home the reality of judgment. As the missionaries from Matthew’s churches spread the good news of the kingdom both among fellow Jews and among Gentiles, they faced hostility as well as welcome. This parable brings together some themes from the rest of the Gospel: Christ, like the kingdom, had been present in a hidden way (compare chap. 13), and one’s response to his agents represented one’s response to him (chap. 10).

…Which leads me to this excellent commentary at the blog, Reading Acts:

But is this a parable? Not in the normal sense of a parable, it is more of an apocalyptic prophecy with parabolic elements. The story is usually treated as a parable, despite the fact it is not a story drawn from everyday life. As an apocalyptic prophecy, the Sheep and Goats is an interpretation and re-application of themes from the Hebrew Bible to a new situation.

Clearly the “Son of Man” is not a symbol, Jesus is identifying himself as the one who will be doing the final judgement. There is, however, a shift from Son of Man to “the King” in verse 34. The King in this parable is not necessarily a metaphor for Jesus but an actual title of Jesus that he will have at that time. That Jesus sees himself as the central character in this parable helps us to read the previous parables – Jesus is the bridegroom in 25:1-12 and he is the king who went away in 25: 14-30.

The Sheep and the Goats are metaphorical elements that parallel the Wise and foolish virgins and the productive and unproductive servants in the parable of the talents. The elements of the judgement are not to be taken as metaphors, what the sheep do and what the goats do not do should be understood as a part of the judgement that they are facing at the end of the age. The wise virgin and prepared servant are more or less like the Sheep, the foolish virgin and the unprepared servant are more or less like the goats.

It is probably best to see this as a prophetic or apocalyptic parable using the metaphor of the separation of sheep and goats to indicate that at the end of the age the nations will be separated and judged. The basis of that judgement will be the treatment of the “least of these brothers of mine.” This prophecy may be based on several passages from the Hebrew Bible. For example, Ezekiel 34:11-17 describes Israel as a flock in need of a true shepherd. It is quite possible that the Sheep and Goats of Matthew 25 is an allusion to  Ezekiel 34:16: “As for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats.” (Joel 3:12 has a similar metaphor).

Like any of the parables, this story must be read in the context of the first listeners. The shocking end of the parables of the kingdom is that those that thought they were getting into the kingdom are not going to be there, and those that were on the outside do get in. The ruling Jews thought that they were going to be in the kingdom, in fact, they were the “keepers of the kingdom of God.” Yet when Messiah came, they did not recognize him. They never really had much of a chance to since they were not caring for the poor and the needy as they ought. Jesus is very critical of the Pharisees who liked their fine things, or the people giving in the temple and mocking the widow and her mites.

On the other hand, the underclass probably did not think of themselves are serious candidates for the first to get into the kingdom. They were told repeatedly that they were the unclean, “sinners and tax-collectors.” Yet they will enter the kingdom, and those that were accepting and caring for this underclass, as Jesus was, will enter as well.  Jesus demonstrated throughout his ministry this kind of grace by eating with sinners, now he is welcoming people into his kingdom who showed the same grace to other “least of these brothers.”

~Phillip J. Long

Reading Acts is one of those incredible online “finds” that often greet me when I’m preparing things here.  Since we borrowed a hefty chunk of material from it today, I want to doubly encourage you to drop by and read more great Bible commentary at source.