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NASB | John 15:8 "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 15:8 "My Father is glorified and honored by this, when you bear much fruit, and prove yourselves to be My [true] disciples. |
Subject: No Fruit? |
Bible Note: Greetings Sister Val, Thanks again for the response! I don't know about you but I'm enjoying the discussion :-) I think fruit here is broad in it's meaning. I think the making of disciples is one measure of fruit. But to say we must first make disciples would limit the application of the meaning. Abiding in Him is much much more then making disciples. It is as He says John 15:9-10 (NASB) 15:9 "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. 15:10 "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. You said something I want to key on to stir some thought on this as I believe it applies to what is meant by fruit. You said " Ok, now to application to me - how am I to obey this verse in my life. I have heard Christ's call to me. I responsed by following Him and all that entails." Keep in mind I am not judging you okay :-) But when you say you responded by following Him and ALL THAT ENTAILS I have to wonder, has any one of us actually reached "all that entails"? What need of pruning is there if we have? If making new disciples were the only fruit then I could see the constant need of pruning. But there is more to it then making disciples. It is keeping all His commandments! Not just once or twice but at all times. The more we are pruned, the more we become like Christ. Consider this. My original question would be much easier to answer if the measure of fruit were only new converts. This is one of the reasons I struggle with where I am at because it is much more then that. Even if it were, I would still be left with trying to understand if it is God leading me on to something else or is it me, not abiding in Him as I should. But there is one thing you said that really stands out to me and I want to thank you for the reminder. I thank you for all your thoughts on this but this is important. You said "prayer I think is the key - everything we do is bathed in prayer - being sensitive to hearing God's answer is key." Yes it is! And not that I don't know this, but perhaps I have found myself thinking my way through this too much instead of spending more time in prayer. Thanks for the precious reminder! Steve |