Jesus is Truth and the True Vine. God’s word is true and trustworthy. In John 15:8, we learn that God makes true disciples yield much fruit. As a result, God gets the glory. True disciples are the kind of follower-abiders who make a difference and produce hearty, lasting fruit. However, what about the hypocrisy that has caused walls to be built up against Christ.
We need to live our lives in authenticity. We need to be as real about who we are in Christ behind closed doors as much as we are in a large group setting. Let’s look at some scripture about hypocrisy: Amos 5:21, Matthew 23:28, Mark 12:15, and Luke 12:1. What do you learn from these verses? Now, what does Galatians 2:13 teach us about how hypocrisy can spread? What does 1 Peter 2:1 tell us to do with hypocrisy?
What is a disciple? It is a person who is a learner, a pupil, a student who follows, learns from, and emulates his or her teacher. A true disciple is a person who learns, follows, and emulates Jesus. When we produce good fruit by being a true disciple, God will get great glory. What does this mean to bring God great glory? It is our thinking, acting, and feeling that reflect God’s greatness. It gives evidence of the absolute greatness of all his attributes and the all-satisfying beauty of his diversified perfections. What does it mean to be a true disciple of Jesus? Read Matthew 28:18-20, Luke 6:40, Luke 9:23, John 8:31-32, John 13: 34-35, and 1 Peter 2:21.
What does it mean to produce many good fruits? It means to have enough to give away. It takes a lot of pruning to produce good fruit. This is what our gardener/Father does in our lives; he prunes all the bad stuff in our lives to produce good fruit that reflects who he is. We don’t have to do it on our own. God is always tending to us. Jesus always supplies us with what we need. This is how we yield a plenteous harvest. We need to stay tender to God’s pruning shears of our Savior. It is God who produces the fruit in our lives. Our job is to carry it and bring Him glory.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for helping us be true disciples. I pray that we will be tender to your pruning and that we will bear much fruit for you.
In Jesus Name
Amen
