Cody Spencer

Jesus said, “Every branch that continues to bear fruit, He repeatedly prunes, so that it will bear more fruit.” Pruning is part of fruitfulness. In Israel, many grapes grow close to the ground. Large grapevine trunks can rest on the ground, propped up by rocks. As the branches bear fruit, the clusters can lie against the stony soil. They get dirty. They can even burst under the weight of resting on the rocks. The vinedresser cuts, lifts, and cleans them so the fruit can mature the right way....

Jesus said every branch in Him is supposed to bear fruit. That matters because people often use the word “fruit” the wrong way. Sometimes people point to money, influence, power, platform, or visible success and say, “You will know them by their fruit.” Then those earthly things get used to excuse behavior that does not align with the Bible. The fruit Jesus is talking about is the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-25 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,...

John 15 gives us one of the clearest pictures of what it looks like to be a true disciple of Jesus. Jesus said, “I am the true Vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.” This connects directly to what Jesus has already been teaching. He is in the Father. We are in Him. He is in us. This is union with Christ language. We are not disconnected people trying to produce spiritual life on our own. We are branches connected to the Vine. A branch only lives because it remains connected. The life of the...