El versículo que El Señor me está enseñando vez tras vez este último año es Juan 15:5, “Yo soy la vid, vosotros los pámpanos; el que permanece en mí, y yo en él, éste lleva mucho fruto; porque separados de mí nada podéis hacer.” Memoricé el versículo hace mucho años pero para que este versículo podía comenzar a llevar fruto en mi vida he tenido que pasar muchos años también. Juan 15:5 está llegando a ser el versículo de mi vida. Leí algo acerca de él hoy día en el blog de Pastor Jon.(www.pastorjon.typepad.com) El escribe en Inglés pero lo he traducido lo mejor que pueda. Lo que dice realmente me llega porque es tan cierto. Está hablando del ministerio. Habla de lo que hacemos en El Espíritu y lo que hacemos en la carne. Dice, “Es la vida que tiene su fuente en una relación. Y para que la vida tenga su fuente en la relación, la relación obligatoriamente tiene que ser primero. Esta es el génesis de la acción. La acción, fuera de la relación, y la acción por el bien de la relación es una esperanza en vano. No puede mantenerse. Nuestra vida en Cristo es relacional. Seremos útiles para el reino de Dios solo a la medida que tenemos esa relación con El. Debemos actuar de parte del Señor y Su reino, pero debemos hacerlo con nuestra relación con El, como la fuente. Sino es así, nuestra esperanza es una esperanza vana y los resultados apestarán.
The verse the Lord has been teaching me over and over the last year or so is John 15:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” [1] I memorized this verse many years ago but it has taken a lot of time for it to really start producing fruit in my life. It’s really becoming my life verse. I read something that Pastor Jon shared in his blog (www.pastorjon.typepad.com) about it today that really rung true. He was talking about the ministry and what we do in the Spirit and what we do in the flesh. He said, “It is life working out of relationship. And for life to work out of relationship, the relationship must come first. That is the genesis of the action. Action outside of relation and action for the sake of relationship is all a vain hope. It can never stand. Our life in Christ is relational. Only to the extent that we are rightly related can we be of real use to the Kingdom of God. We are to act on behalf of our Lord and His kingdom, but we are to do so out of relationship. Otherwise our hope is a vain hope and the results will need some deodorant.
[1]The Holy Bible, New King James Version, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc.) 1982.
2 comments:
Pastor Brian,
I was teaching at a homefellowship last Tuesday (at Brian Thacker's home in Brentwood TN) and I taught this same passage of scripture. I also used Ezekiel 15 where God tells Ezekiel that the branches worth is what they where created for and that the wood was good for nothing else except to be burned, unless was producing fruit. Knowing that we are created to worship and glorify our creator Jesus Christ, truly made this come alive for me. I talked about how the only other use for the branches was making vine wreaths (ornamentals)and the danger of becoming an ornamental christian producing no fruit and sitting in church pews collecting dust. I also learned that fruit was not only the physical work we are doing for the Lord, but also the praise that we bring to the Father.
Keep on producing fruit!!!
Love you guys and are excited about serving with you soon.
Robin Shelley
Robin,
Thanks for sharing. Glad to hear that you're excited. We are too. God is working here in the church bringing us deeper. We're so thankful.
Hasta La Vista.
Making disciples in Peru,
Brian Vander Kodde
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