Good Morning Gorgeous,
Its a fresh day. A brand new start. Afresh, anew, again, rejuvenated, regenerated over night, darkness chased away by sweet, sweet rays of sunlight.
Are you facing an adversity today?
Are you rising with a pit in your stomach?
Are you dreading the sunrise before it has even taken flight on the horizon?
These things pushing against you, blocking the sun, and leaving you on empty are the very things that will strengthen you for fruitfulness.
The bible is filled with metaphors and parables. Yesterday, I wrote about the amazing behavior of eagles soaring right into the storm with boldness to use the force of the winds to sail with little effort.Soaring on Eagle’s Wings
Today, let’s look at the grapevine. The grapevine is found in scripture from Genesis to Revelation. It is used by God to illustrate a wide variety of lessons for us. The nation of Israel was referred to as the Vine until Jesus Himself proclaimed that HE was the Vine, and His people are the branches. Anyone abiding in Him will produce much fruit. And the fruit of the Spirit is love and all of the benefits of love: peace, patience, joy, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.
Sustaining adversity and still producing. That is the work of the grapevine. I got this next revelation from Beth Moore’s book: Chasing Vines. Beth Moore writes a jaw dropping revelation. Grapevines have a peculiar behavior. If they are given everything needed for survival, plenty of water, rich soil, room to sprawl out and grow, and plenty of sunlight, they make a show of their beauty. They sprawl out, grow luscious eye catching leaves, and they look incredibly healthy
Take a closer look, and you’ll be surprised to find that the well supplied grapevine that never struggled a day in its life is barren. No fruit to be found. Its beauty is all skin deep.
Yet, take that same grapevine and have it go through a drought or a freeze or a time when the conditions are less than ideal and the roots will grow deep in search of water. The energy of the plant shifts from showiness to survival. Instead of producing bountiful, beautiful leaves, it decides it better produce something lasting in case it dies. It better get to production of a fruit that will outlast its existence and continue the life cycle of the grapevine. And out of a season of struggle, a grapevine will produce abundant clusters of sweet, juicy fruit!
Friends, the Lord says that He is the Vine and we are the branches. When we abide in Him, we are like grapevines that can produce abundant clusters of heavy, weighty lasting fruit right through the struggles of life.
We will go through stormy seasons, dry seasons, rocky seasons, but as a follower of Jesus, those adversities are the very things that will strengthen us to bear lasting fruit. The struggles will awaken faith that will outlast this lifetime just as the struggles awaken the grapevine to produce a fruit that will outlast itself.
You are not here to produce showy leaves. You are here to produce lasting fruit in the earth. So the struggle, the pain, the drought, none of it will be wasted. Not a single thing. Jesus will use it for fruit bearing. It’s your story. Your testimony. Your triumph. Your words. Your faith. Your deepened sense of empathy. Your understanding. Your love.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Help us to bear much fruit. Let us be a people who can fly like eagles because we have trusted in You and people who bear fruit right through adversity because we have stayed abiding in the Vine.
In Jesus’s name, Amen.
