John 15:1-17
Here’s a scripture that, in my view, captures the message of Jesus, the New Testament and
the Bible in one message. If you ask me to give you a Readers Digest breakdown of all
Jesus taught, did and said, here it is.
(Go home and read it over and over and meditate on it – it will cause massive Spiritual
growth to take place.)

It is the Gospel in a nutshell!
Here it is:
        1.        Love God and people.
        2.        Abide, rest, and stand still in God.
        3.        be fruitful. This will give you joy.

Friday was a disaster for me. I allowed myself to get angry. All holiness left me for a whole
day, I was bitter, angry, wanted revenge, aggressive, destructive, and you name it. That was
me… and guess what? I was unhappy! Joy left me… I was joyless… I bumped the car… I
broke things… It escalated.

It took Saturday to recover. By Saturday night I was my normal self. Fine, good and happy.
What a waste of time! It was a choice I made and I had to live with it.

God is calling us to fruitfulness, deep inner peace, joy and to a life of divine love. But is this
life possible? Not just now and then but always… You bet it is possible! Not just possible but
God’s plan for your life… God wants this for you and your family.

Here are three keys to this life of joy and peace. If they are in place the door to love and joy
opens for you.

Key 1:   
Abide in Jesus (The Vine)

“Apart from me you can do nothing”

“Separated, you can't produce a thing”

“Anyone who separates from me is dead wood”

But if you abide, rest stay, stand still in the Vine (of God’s presence) and flow with the Vine
you will produce a harvest of fruit.

Then “ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you”
“Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.”

Joy Dawson  helped me hold those two opposites together (I can’t and I can)
Say this:
1.        By myself, apart from Jesus, apart from the Father’s love I can not produce fruit – in fact
I am unfruitful.
2.        But with the love of Jesus, the Father’s love I can produce a huge harvest of fruit. In fact
John 15:5  and John 15:16  say I can ask for anything and it will be given to me.

When you ask God he usually answers in one of two ways:
1.        He could send a rocket and you could get your answer very fast. (Like courier service –
fast)
2.        He could send you a tortoise. That takes a while but will get to you. Only problem is the
tortoise is fuelled by what words you speak and the thoughts you think. You govern the speed
of its delivery.

Key  2:
Walk in divine love
On Friday I chose to step out of divine love into my own anger, which was “my choice” Love
left me and joy left me.
Love is the energy of the vine flowing through the branches to the fruit.
It is divine love that enables us to be fruitful. A branch that is cut off from love can do nothing
and is unfruitful.

So when we say that we are impatient, irritable, unhappy, unkind, demanding our own way,
loosing our temper we are saying I am separated from the flow of divine love.
When that happens, the Bible says  such a branch is unfruitful and will be cut off and put into
the fire. Such a branch is good for one thing only – to warm the water for coffee or cook a
meal.

Key  3:
Ask what ever you wish and it will be given to you
(I’ve already touched on this)
Why is this important?
Because if we are going to witness a vibrant Christian community need to be hearing of
answers to prayer and that can only happen when we ask God.
The Bible also says you have not because you ask not, ask and you will receive that your joy
may be full.

Father wants to bless His family. Father wants to answer our prayers. We need to be part of a
dynamic community who are constantly asking and receiving. This leads to more joy, more
faith.
That in turn to more fruitfulness.
1.         Abide in Jesus.
2.        Walk in love.
3.        Ask and you will be joyful

Three simple keys to take into this week.

May God truly bless you.
Church on the Way.
The Gospel in a nutshell! 18/11/07   Sermon - week 46
St. Georges Presbyterian Church  Bluff, Durban, South Africa.