“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 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. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also 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. 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:1-5 (NIV)
For believers to bear fruit in anything, we must remain connected to the vine. That vine is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Let the world be the world; let them promote and make each other famous and prosperous. First John 2:15 tells us, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Fatheris not in them.” (NIV) This is not about hating people; as Christians, we know we are called to love everybody, even our enemies. This verse is telling us not to love the world system. James tells us the same thing but a little more aggressively when he states,
You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. James 4:4 (NIV)
Beloved, we are not supposed to become friends and lovers of that world system, but many of us are. We turn our backs to God in the name of sophistication. We have a form of godliness as we deny the power of God[1]to heal and prosper us. We camouflage our faith, and we water down the gospel seeking acceptance. Jesus addresses this hypocrisy, cowardness, and lack of faith by stating,
But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Matthew 10:33 (KJV)
Many times, we don’t see the breakthroughs that we were expecting simply because we refuse to understand that 1) apart from the vine (Jesus), we can do nothing; 2) we stand as enemies of God because of our friendship with the world and 3) we keep denying Jesus in front of men.
A severe judgment is coming to the portion of the Body of Christ who has become so progressive and sophisticated that they think they can do anything apart from God. Judgment is coming for those who use God as a decoration and do not place HIM at the center of their ministry or business. A judgment is coming for those sells outs willing to delude the gospel and their faith for a couple of extra dollars.
[1] 2 Timothy 3:5
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