Vine & Branches

"I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will 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 a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."
John 15:1-8

Jesus tells us in his word "I am the vine & you are the branches"; He taught most of His lessons outdoors. I like to believe that He was in a vineyard with His hands on a grape vine sharing with His followers the truths of the Kingdom. Showing them the vine with the branches coming off & how the fruit grew from them. Explaining that if the branch remains attached to the vine it will thrive & produce fruit, but when it is removed, He may have torn one off & dropped it to the ground & said it can't do anything. Without Christ we can't do anything good for God without the Holy Spirit working through us. I remember one time I took it upon myself to share the gospel with this person & I laid it out sweet, it was the best I had ever heard, if I must say so myself, but when I finished the person I was talking to looked very confused & didn't accept Christ. I couldn't believe it, it was so…so perfect. But, it wasn't God it was me & pride. There was another time that I stopped before I shared & asked Christ to speak through me, when I finished I thought surely that they were bound for Hell as confusing as I just made them. But they accepted Christ that night. See it wasn't me it Christ speaking through me. If it's not Christ speaking through you it's worthless. I learned from that point on that anywhere, anytime that I was going to serve God I would & do ask Him to do it through me.
Another part to the scriptures is where Jesus says that His father is the gardener & he prunes or removes the bad parts of your life that do not bear fruit. If you haven't come to Christ yet, remember that you can't clean up enough to come to Christ, just come as you are. You don't clean fish & then catch them; Christ will clean up your life after you are his.
Now the fruits thing, very confusing for me when I first read these verse years ago, but Galatians 5:22 explained a lot for me:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."

(These things are needed in your life to hold down a job, have a good marriage, etc…)

These things don't just show up in your life you have to work toward them, by remaining in Christ & Him in you. How do you do that? With Bible study & prayer. Get into God's word & read. If you are a new Christian, start in Ephesians read a chapter at a time. Don't rush through it just so you can say "I read it through in one year!" It doesn't matter if you can't remember what you read. Study it, search it, and dwell on it., ask God to speak through it. It's not a novel it's God's word to use to show us how to live & enjoy life to the fullest.
Next, pray. Talk to God as a son comes to his father. Nothing makes me happier than when my son comes to me for help or to thank me or just to say he loves me. Imagine how that makes an all Holy, Perfect God feel.
Talk to Him as you normally speak. I hear people stand to pray in public & they say "Oh Heavenly Lord, Thy great & wonderful Lord, I lovest Thee…" come on man your not King James. You don't talk like that. Speak to God with respect, but don't try to impress Him. He loves you & wants to hear from you.
Lastly this these verses say: "ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you." People look at this verse & think God's some kind of blue, Robin Williams voice over genie, which will grant their every wish. They always for get to quote the first part of this verse: "If you remain in me and my words remain in you," If this happens then when you ask for things you will be thinking in accordance with God's will, not selfishly.
Get in God's word, get a quiet time, away from everything for a little time each day. It will make a world of difference for your spiritual life.

Vern