This is a very simple idea that we can use to increase the power and fulfillment of our lives.
“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.” Jn 15:5 NIV
So let’s start with the first member of this lovely illustration: the Good Gardener. This, of course, is our loving and gracious Father. One of the three Persons of the Holy Trinity, the Father is the one Who plans everything. From the foundation of the world, God the Father has predestined all things because of His Omniscient Nature. (1Pe 1:20) He knows what will happen before anyone knows anything must happen at all! He knows the end from the beginning, and so the Father makes sure the right mixture of soil ingredients are available at the right time for the Vine to take Root, so that He can empower the branches to hold the fruit that He will produce.
The Father is the All-Knowing God Who knows exactly what trials He must allow, what blessings He will bestow and which people to place around us, in our lives, so that the best case scenario for our lives would result. The Father’s number one goal is the Salvation of as many humans as humanly possible. (2Pe 3:9) Creating us in His Image, the Father has given each human Free Will to choose for ourselves, and so, because God so loved the world, the Father must allow the sufferings, the heartaches, the trials that we face, drawing us to His side so that we can be His forevermore as He continues to shape us into that original image He had in mind. The good, the bad and the ugly things that happen to us here are all part of the nutrients in the soil around us. The Father plans for all things to work out for the good of those who choose to love Him and live a life reflecting that love to the best of their flawed ability. (My paraphrase of Ro 8:28) This is what our Good Gardener does. And without Him, there would be no Roots, no Vine, no branches and no fruit.
Join me in memorizing 52 verses this year:
January: 1- Jn 3:16; 2- 2Co 5:17; 3- Jas 2:26; 4- Eph 2:10
February: 5- Jn 10:10; 6- Ro 6:23; 7- Rev 21:4; 8- Php 4:13
March: 9- 1Pe 5:7; 10- Jn 8:32; 11- Dt 30:19; 12- Jn 3:30; 13- 2Chron 20:3
April: 14- 2Chron 20:12; 15- 2Chron 20:15b; 16- 2Chron 20:17
May: 17- Ro 8:28; 18- 1Co 13:13; 19- Php 2:12; 20- Mt 5:4
June: 21- Lk 23:42; 22- Jas 4:7; 23- Pr 22:6; 24- Mt 5:3; 25- Jn 14:6
July: 26- Jas 2:19; 27- Dt 31:8; 28- Jn 14:15; 29- Jn 8:11
August: 30- Ro 8:1; 31- Pr 4:23; 32- Pr 18:21; 33- Ps 118:24; 34- 1Jn 4:4
September: 35- Mt 16:24; 36- Isa 53:6; 37- Ps 23:1-6
38- Heb 4:12
39- Jn 15:5
<>< Peace, Diane
