5/14/22
I am the True Vine.
My father is the gardener.
Every branch in me
that bears no fruit,
he cuts off.
Every branch in me
that does bear fruit
he prunes,
so that it will grow
and be even more fruitful.
You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.
Remain in me, as I 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.
I am the vine;
you are the branches.
If you remain in me
and I remain in you,
you will bear much fruit;
apart from me
you can do nothing.
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.
But ~ if you remain in me
and my words remain in you,
then ask whatever you wish,
and it will be done for you.
And this is is to my Father’s glory
that you bear much fruit,
showing yourself to be
my very own disciple.
As the Father has loved me,
so have I loved you.
Now: remain in my love.
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.
I tell you this
so that my joy may be in you,
and that your joy may be complete.
My command is this: Love one another, just like I have loved you.
Greater love has no one than this:
to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if do what I command.
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.
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give it to you.
This is what I order: love one another.”
~ Jesus, John 15:1-15
