THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES, PART VII.

THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES, PART VII.

John 15 : 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should (might) go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should (might) remain; that what ever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it you.

From this we know, if we did not know it before, that it is Jesus who chooses his disciples. He did then and we may trust that it is no different today.

A disciple is a follower, a student of the Master, so that wherever the Master goes, he may impart his truth, his ways and his character in his disciples.

Likewise, in Matt.28:19 we are commanded to go and make disciples, which implies that mature believers disciple those whom the Lord is adding to the Church.

What this verse is telling us, is that we who are mature in the Lord, must baptize, must immerse young Christians as well as our children in the doctrine of who the Father is, who the Son is and who the Holy Spirit is, teaching them to observe all the things that I have told you.

What made Christians ever assume that this has something to do with water??

The twelve disciples that followed Jesus in their travels found themselves in all kinds of different situations, from a bucking boat in a storm on a lake to mocking Pharasees in the temple.

Likewise, you and I find ourselves in all kinds of situations every day and Jesus is as present with us in spirit as he was present physically with Peter and John and all the rest of them. And for us the same purpose applies, that he may impart his ways in us.

We, his disciples learn of his ways by means of our teachers, disciplers if you will, and when the Holy Spirit makes it real to us in our spirit, God’s truth becomes part of our being.

In that way the things we believe about our relationship with God in our mind, become a reality in our hearts, when we see and experience these truths in our everyday lives.

….. and appointed you that you might go and bear fruit …..

Notice immediately that it does not say: “produce fruit”, entirely in keeping with earlier statements in this chapter that, when we abide in him and his words abide in us, that we will bear much fruit.

Now, what is fruit?

My teacher has taught me this about fruit and I believe it without reservation:

Fruit is the life of Jesus Christ, expressed in and through the daily lives of believers.

Gal.2:20 teaches that I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.

When the divine life that is in us comes to expression, when the life and character of Jesus is displayed in us and through us, it is the fruit that the Vine produces in the branches.

It is the love, compassion and patience that Jesus displayed in his life on earth.

As grapes define the character and the quality of the vine on which they grow, even so does the fruit that believers bear, display the character and the quality of the Vine which is Jesus Christ.

One question now is : how does this fruit come to be expressed, what does it look like?

The very next verse, verse 17 says: “These things I command you, that you love one another”, a repeat of what he said just a minute ago in verse 12.

I believe this has special significance.

So what would be the fruit of his Son’s love expressed through his body, the church?

Significantly, Jesus does not say here, I command you to love God first and foremost.

Many times Jesus gives variations of the same message: a new commandment ….. that you would love one another.

In John 8:31 Jesus says to “those Jews who believed in him”: If you continue in my word, then you are truly my disciples.

Jesus implores his disciples to love each other “as I have loved you”, (John 15:12).

Loving one another on a continuing basis is the hallmark of a disciple of Jesus.

It is also the hallmark of such a person that the love of the Father is resident in him/her and conversely that our love for the Father is a present reality.

In Gal. 5:22 the first fruit of the Spirit mentioned is love, that also is not without purpose.

Love is the principal fruit, love is the principal attribute of the character of God.

When love is manifested in the child of God, then all the other fruit is present as well.

Love is the catalyst, when it is present, joy, peace, longsuffering, faith and all the others must follow.

That is why love is held to be greater than hope and faith in I Cor.13:13.

The fruit that the Vine desires to see in us the branches is that we would love one another.

To demonstrate the importance of the foregoing, ask yourself:

How do I experience the love of Jesus in my everyday life? It is one thing to believe that Jesus loves me, it is quite another to experience his love in a tangible way.

The only way that we experience that kind of love is in the love that others express towards us.

And others experience his love in the way that I conduct myself towards them in my daily activities.

In II Cor. 5;20 we read that (in effect) we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us on Christ’s behalf to be reconciled to Him.

Because He, (the Father) made Him, (the Son), who was sinless, to be sin for us,(so) that we (sinners) might be righteous, justified before the Father in Jesus Christ.

(My free translation.)

And, ultimately, that is why Jesus repeats over and over again that we, his disciples would love one another, even as he loved us to the extend that he sacrificed his life for us.

….. Continue in my Word ……. Keep on loving one another ….. Then you are my disciples indeed.

And that brings us to the last part of John 15:16, ….. that whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

Whatever you ask ….. anything you ask concerning bearing fruit, he will give it to you.

Wisdom is knowledge properly applied.

To apply the wisdom of God’s Word is more than we are capable of in our own strength and ability.

It takes the ministry of the Holy Spirit in us to make the Word of God a reality in us.

What it takes on our part is desire and time.

Jas.1:5 says that if anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men liberally, and without reproach, and it shall be given him.

Or Prov. 2:1-5 is excellent advice for those of us who are serious about displaying the fruit of the Vine which is Christ:

“My son, if you will receive my words, and hide my commandments with you,

So that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding,

Yes, if you cry out for knowledge, and lift up your voice for understanding,

If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasure,

Then will you understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

For the Lord gives wisdom, out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.

He lays up sound wisdom for the righteous”.

That wisdom (the application of truth from God’s Word) is available to every believer who takes the message of Prov.2:1-5 to heart.

….. Whatever you ask of the Father in my name, (when it concerns the expression of His Life in us and through us) he will most assuredly give it to any one of His children.

This is the final installment on the topic “The Vine and the Branches”.

May you all experience the Life of our Savior Jesus Christ in the New Year.

St.Thomas,Nov.’10. Simon VanderKooy.

THE CROSS OF CALVARY.

THE CROSS OF CALVARY.

Jesus died on the cross of Cavary to deliver us from sin.

That fact has been firmly established in our traditions and is a spiritual reality to believers.

The cross has also delivered us from self.

That is much more of a problem for believers.

This too is an established Scriptural fact, but regretfully, has become a reality in the lives of few believers.

What it takes for this truth to become an experiential reality in the lives of believers, that is what this message attempts to explain.

The cross has not only delivered us from the guilt of sinful deeds,

The cross has, more importantly, delivered us from what we were.

We were sinners, not as a result of sinful deeds, we were sinners because of our sinful nature, inherited from our forefather Adam, Rom.5:12.

Rom.6:3 tells us that God baptised, immersed us in Jesus, he made us part of him, our sinful, corrupted nature and all.

And he became part of us, he became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him, II Cor.5:21.

God united us with Jesus, so that when he was crucified, we were crucified with him, along with our sinful nature.

All of this is confirmed to us in Gal.2:20 I was crucified with Christ ....... .

But ...... since we fully shared in Christ’s death, we also fully share in His resurrection, Rom.6 : 5.

Truly, the old has been done away with and the new has come, II Cor.5:17.

The new spiritual nature of the children of God is a present reality, even as the resurrection of Christ is a present reality.

So how does the new spiritual nature express itself in daily living? There are many aspects of this, but let us take Eph. 4: 22-24 as our example.

It says : That, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self…. and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. (NAS.)

And then follows a whole list of things not to do any longer if one is to be serious about laying aside the old self and putting on the new self.

Like : Do not lie or steal, do not be bitter or angry, or gossip, etc.

In short, not only read or hear the law, do as it tells you to do.

That would in effect be putting on the new man according to the old system of law.

Now any child of God who has ever seriously tried to do all this, knows very well that failure is the order of the day.

Those are the people who agree with Rom. 7:18 …..for the willing is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not.

And the personal admission of failure is meant to bring us back to Jesus: You know Lord, you ask me to put on the new man.

Well, I have failed, I am an utter failure at living a life of obedience, even though I am supposed to have a new, spiritual nature.

If you want me to put on the new self, then would you please do it, because I am giving up trying right now.

The putting on of the new man is a work of the Holy Spirit in us, rather than the result of effort on our part.

Do with me whatever it takes, make me what you want me to be.

This in effect is taking up our cross and following Jesus.

This is what Jesus prayed in the garden: Father, not my will, but yours.

Jesus allowed himself to be stripped of His dignity, authority, protection, friends, possessions, rights, priviledges, even of His very life.

When we give God permission to re-shape us into the image of His Son to this extend, He may put circumstances in motion to strip us of our self-confidence, our self-sufficiency, our self-righteousness, our possessions, our health, anything that we put our trust in above our trust in God.

This is what it means to share in the fellowship of His sufferings, Phil.3:10.

The first time we met the cross of Jesus we found forgiveness of our sin.

This is the second time we meet up with the cross.

Now it is our cross as well, in the sense that we will actually experience suffering in order to be delivered from self, in order that we might live unto God and not ourselves.

This is a hard message, but an absolute pre-requisite for knowing Jesus as our very life and experiencing the power of His resurrection, Phil.3:10.

That we would be willing to suffer the loss of everything in order to gain Him who is Life and peace, Phil.3:8.

The dispair that the children of God experience the day that they admit failure at living the Christian life, is ordained of God, who will now go to work to bring a glorious new day to those who are so painfully aware of their failure at living a Godly life.

The way of the cross of Jesus is a part of that journey, it cannot be avoided.

The children of God who have had this experience are the ones who know what it is to pass through the valley of the shadow of death,Ps. 23:5.

They are also the ones who will feast at God’s table in the presence of their enemies and they shall also dwell in the house of the Lord forever, the house of the Lord being the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom we live and move and have our being, Acts 17:28.

These are the redeemed of the Lord who shall return (from living after the flesh) and come with singing into Zion, and everlasting joy shall be upon their head, they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and morning shall flee away, Is. 55:11.

Only those children of God who have been there understand these verses to their greatest extend.

They possess a peace that passes understanding, even in the most difficult circumstances. They wait upon the Lord, their strength has been exchanged for His strength, they mount up with wings as of eagles, they run and do not become weary, they walk and do not faint, Is. 40:31.

Conversely, this message will have little to say to those children of God who are reasonably satisfied that God is pleased with their performance at living the Christian life the way they are living it.

These dear people have skipped Rom.7:18 and their lives are characterized by Rom.8:5a.

And because Rom.7:18 is being skipped, these folks also do not progress to Rom.7: 24 and 25a and Rom. 8:1 and 2.

Often they are so pre-occupied with overcoming the truth of Rom.7:23 that the following verses escape their attention altogether.

The cross of Calvary ....... deliverance from sin and deliverance from self, Rom.7:25a.

St. Thomas. June’08, Revised March/’11. Simon VanderKooy.

SAFE IN MY FATHER'S BOSOM.

SAFE IN MY FATHER’S BOSOM.

Since my life is hidden with Christ in God (Col.3:3), the devil cannot touch me.

I John 5:18 We know that no one who is born of God sins, but he who is born of God, God keeps him and the evil one does not touch him.

Since the devil cannot touch me, he will attempt to deceive or intimidate me by planting thoughts of unbelief in my mind through my 5 senses.

I Peter 5:8, 9a ….. the devil as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour (deceive). Whom resist steadfast in the faith …..

Who am I?

Since I am born of God, (John 1 : 13), I am a son/daughter of God.

And Jesus is my elder brother.

I am the apple of my Father’s eye, Zech.2:8 ….. he that touches you, touches the apple of his eye.

I am the sheep the Shepherd carries on his shoulders, he that would harm me, first has to deal with the Shepherd, my Savior and Protector.

I am forever secure in my relationship with my Father, who is my Life, my Provider, my all-sufficiency, my everything.

Whatever I believe the Scriptures say about the devil, he can only deceive or intimidate me to the extend that I am unsure of who I am in Christ.

Hosea 4:6 ….. my people are destroyed, (perish, gone into captivity) for the lack of knowledge ….. , untrue traditions that I would hold on to are just as deadly.

The “thief” of John 10 : 10 is sin, self, law and lastly, the devil, in that order.

God’s people ascribe authority and power to the devil to the extend that they fail to trust their God.

Jesus says: you cannot serve 2 masters …..

We either worship the devil by fearing him, ascribing power to him and speaking to him in our prayers,

or,

we worship our Father by trusting him implicitly at all times, no matter what circumstances we encounter.

St. Thomas, Oct. ’10. Simon vanderKooy.

The Vine and the Branches, Part VI.

THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES, PART VI.

If you keep my commandments, you shall abide, (dwell, remain) in my love.

Even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love, John 15:10.

Here we have one of these seeming paradoxes in the teachings of Jesus.

Jesus has been teaching about abiding, dwelling in him. How that the branch receives life from the vine, how that the branch is an integral part of the vine.

And now he adds a condition: I’ll love you if you keep my commandmends.

You see, he adds, I keep my Father’s commandmends and I abide, I remain in his love.

It’s really quite simple: Do as I do and there will be no problem.

But now we have touched on a very real problem: the keeping of those commandmends.

Rom. 7:18 says that there is nothing in us that comes even close to being able to do any good, let alone perfect obedience to ALL the commandments.

Jesus does not just raise the bar just beyond our reach, he raises the bar so high that the only sensible response from us would be: Lord! What you are asking is impossible for me to do!!

And that is exactly what our wonderful Lord is looking for by raising the bar so high: our admission of inability.

It is like he is saying: it is impossible for you and I want you to be absolutely convinced of that impossibility, that is why I raised the bar that high.

At the same time he is also assuring us that he is so willing and able to do for us what we are not able to do ourselves.

Because, he says, I am the end of the law for righteousness (and abiding) if you will believe me, (Rom.10:4).

For the same reason the Apostle Paul can exclaim in Phil.4:13, I can do all things through Christ who is my strength, ( my life, my ability).

Conversely, that means that on my own I am completely helpless.

Paul knows very well that “it is not I that live, but Christ that lives in me”.

We have no strength in and of ourselves, therefore we depend completely on the ability of Jesus to do for us any of the commands we find in the Scriptures.

That is the message of John 15:10.

Vs.11. These things have I spoken unto you that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy might be full (complete).

When we try to avoid evil and try to keep God’s commandments to the best of our ability, it is nothing but a drag and frustation.

When however, we know and are able to rest in Christ’s willingness and ability to do in us and for us that which we cannot do ourselves, then we experience the joy of the Lord.

Joy, a happiness, a pleasure that is not subject to pleasurable circumstances.

This joy, his joy, our joy is constant because he, our Lord is constant.

This entire sermonette about Jesus being the vine and us disciples being branches of that vine and our abiding in the vine and all that is but for one purpose.

And that is to teach us, even to convince us that only in him ( the vine) do we (the branches) live and move and have our being, Acts 17:28.

God’s children bring glory to his name by accepting that reality, by resting in his complete willingness and ability to do in us and for us everything that he desires to do.

Our part in all this is that we submit to him, that we verbally give him permission to remove anything in us that is not like him.

That we would live a submitted life, just like he lives a submitted life unto his Father.

That we would ask him to prune away our self-centredness, our self-dependency.

Even more that he would reveal to us just how much we are self-centred and self-sufficient.

Prune away our stubborn notion that our good works that we attempt to do for God will enhance his glory.

Joy, true joy is found only in the assurance of resting in the everlasting arms of God’s love and faithfulness.

Of allowing him to use our gifts when he desires to do so, rather than us always dreaming up new programs in an attempt to be more obedient more efficiently.

Our attempts at diligent service, greater obedience and battle against the world’s sins, all done for what we believe is the glory of God, will always lead to pride, frustration and bitterness.

The Preacher of the Old Testament calls these activities vanity, profitless, all the more because vanity implies pride.

There is no joy in that, because if we then would be honest with ourselves, we would recognize our own deficiency, no matter how successful the programs were in themselves.

For the joy of the Lord to become our true strength, we need to be his instruments of mercy in a needy world around us.

Instruments in his hands, like a violin in the hands of a master violinist, producing a world of music of the highest kind.

These things have I spoken to you, (so) that your joy might be full.

What did he say to us?

Well, let’s read it again, starting with verse one.

What does it say?

I am the Vine, you are the branches, you and I we are one, I am your LIFE, I am your all-sufficiency, for now and for all eternity.

Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.

And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord (the Vine, the Lord Jesus Christ) forever. (Ps. 23:6)

St.Thomas,Dec./’08. Simon VanderKooy.

THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES, PART V.

John 15:6 If a man abides not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered, and men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned.

This verse refers back to vs. 4. ….. As a branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine ……

There can be no fruit except through life union with the vine, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Through this life union with the Lord Jesus Christ, his life will flow from him through us, so that we may be the bearers of much fruit.

This fruit in practical terms, is the expression of the Life that is in the Vine and becomes visible as fruit in the lifestyle of the branches.

Time and again Jesus says: “This is my commandment, that you love one another”.

Loving one another, is the expression of the Life that is in the Vine.

We will remain in that condition of abiding, not by our efforts and Christian performance, but by the faithfulness and the power of God working in us to will and to do that which pleases him.

I Peter 1:5 ….. who are kept by the power of God ….. .

Our part is to always yield to him, like, “Lord do with me whatever seems good to you”. Resting in the truth that he is our shepherd and that in him all our needs are met.

The next verse, verse 7 has for many years been a mystery to me.

Ask what you will, anything, and I will do it. That is plain enough.

But we all know that, even by our own experience it really does not work.

And we also believe that Jesus would never lie to us. But what does verse 7 say?

“If you abide in me”…… We now know that abiding is not the problem, we abide, we remain in Jesus, not by our own efforts, but by his faithfulness and his power.

….. “And my words abide in you …..”.

In other words, do his words resonate in our hearts, as do the words of a loved one?

What did Jesus say the reason was that he came to earth in the form of our human nature?

We find that reason in John 10:10 …… I am come (so) that you may have LIFE, and that you may have it in abundance.

That, and that only was the mission of Jesus, to restore LIFE, real life, life that is found only in the Father.

Life that was lost to man when Adam and Eve decided they would chart their own way independently, when darkness and death enveloped them and all of their decendants.

Everything Jesus taught was in direct relation to restoring that LIFE, that eternal LIFE, Life that is in the Father. That LIFE that we have been made partakers of, by grace, through faith.

In that relationship we need to see the verse that says: “Ask anything and I will give it to you”.

“Seek and you will find, ask and it shall be given unto you, knock and it shall be opened unto you”.

All this has to do with LIFE, the LIFE that is in Jesus.

When we ask him to do whatever it takes so that we might experience more of that LIFE, he will certainly do as we ask.

When you rest assured that you are a child of God and you take to heart those things that he told us, ask what you will and he will give you to experience that LIFE that is already in you in greater abundance, (my free translation).

And that is exactly the thing wherein the Father is mostly glorified, the outward expression of that new LIFE in the believer.

Isn’t that wonderful? We ask and he gives. Why?

Because the Father seeks to glorify himself in his children.

Remember, the expression of that new LIFE is what we call the fruit of the Spirit of Gal.5:22 and 23.

All this we find in verse 8, Herein is my Father gloryfied, that ye bear much fruit, so shall you be my disciples, (thereby proving that you are my disciples indeed).

Verse 9, As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you ……

How much does the Father love his son Jesus?

That is how much he (Jesus) loves us.

To rest in that love, that is what abundant Christian living is all about.

To wake up in the morning and know: He loves me……

To put your head on your pillow at night and know: He loves me…..

I Cor.13: 4-8 gives us a glimpse of what the Father’s love means in it’s expression to us.

Verse 9 ……. continue in my love.Bask in it, bathe in it, be immersed in it.

That implies we must not attempt to enhance his love for us by any sort of works that we might do for him, however noble these works may seem.

Invariably these works will diminish instead of enhance that very glory.

God’s love is perfect, wholly complete, altogether sufficient.

That love has provided that new LIFE, it has made us ALIVE in him, not for the purpose of what we might do for him in this world, but for the purpose of what he might do in us to bring us to maturity in him. To glorify himself in us, his children.

Does all this imply that the Christian life is supposed to be a life of passivity?

Certainly not. But it does imply a total change of attitude.

No longer will obedience to commandments of all sorts be what drives us.

What motivates us now is that new LIFE, the expression of it, the fruit of the Spirit compells us to reach out in love to our Father in adoration and also to our neighbors in love and compassion.

This Life is also a life of wholly trusting our Father that all our circumstances are in his hands and work together for our good.

Through this new resurrection LIFE our Father gives us a foretaste of heaven in this dark world.

St.Thomas, Oct./’10. Simon VanderKooy.

THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES, PART IV.

John 15:4, 5. Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can you, except you abide in me.

I am the vine, you are the branches. He that abides in me and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit; for without me you can do nothing.

We started out in Part I by saying that in the natural setting the branches of grape vines are indelibly connected to the vine itself.

Likewise it is God’s doing that we have been grafted into the Vine which is Jesus Christ, Rom.11:17.Therefore, abiding in Jesus is not a condition, but a position.

(The word “abiding” comes from abode, which indicates a dwelling place.)

Our Father has accepted his children in the beloved, Jesus Christ, Eph.1:4. That is a permanent position, for God is forever faithful.

The condition is that we, being children of the light, live in a constant awareness that only by God’s grace we are what we are.

Abiding in the vine does not call for any action on our part, anything that we must do, except a moment by moment awareness that Jesus, (the vine) is the source of our life and being. Jesus is very clear about this when he says: Without me (the life that flows from the vine into the branches), you can do nothing!

We do not even have the wherewithal to abide, to dwell in or to remain in the vine.

But Jesus is all sufficient, he is the provision for that situation also.

I Peter 1:4 and 5 tells us that we are partakers of an incorruptable inheritance, one that does not diminish with time.

And that we are kept, preserved in order to partake of that inheritance by the power of God through faith, that power of God being the life of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Or Rom.5:10 ……For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being (having been) reconciled, shall we be saved (kept, preserved) by his life.

Abiding (being constantly aware of our position, provision and protection in Christ Jesus) will produce much fruit.

The fruit being the peaceable fruit of righteousness also called the fruit of the Spirit.

Fruit like love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance and such like.

And the fruit of righteousness will make us fit for the Father’s use, to be his instruments of mercy in a fallen world.

Philippians 4:13 …….I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength, (no, he is my strength, my life).

When anything is done through Christ, then he is the one who is doing it, not I.

Conversely, when I can do all things only through him, then that also means that without him I am incapable of doing anything.

An old and still very relevant song goes like this:

I’ve found a new way of living, I’ve found a new life divine,

I have the fruit of the Spirit, I’m abiding, abiding in the Vine.

St.Thomas, Dec./’08. Simon VanderKooy.

THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES, PART III.

John 15:3 Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken to you.

How can Jesus declare these men are clean, does he not know that within this same week they all will abandon him? Even deny that they are associated with him?

And yet Jesus declares them to be clean. Clean because of their acceptance of his claim that he is the Christ, the promised Messiah.

They heard his voice, they believed his words and are declared clean by their Teacher.

Jesus declares that they are clean, branches of the Vine that are bearing fruit, the fruit of righteousness.

How did that come about?

Through the words of life that Jesus had “poured” into them for almost three years.

This truth is confirmed in John 5:24, Most assuredly I tell you, he that hears my word and believes on him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment; but has passed from death into life.

It is a work that God himself accomplishes in us as well through the Lord Jesus Christ and that through the gift of faith works mightily in us who believe and are yielded to the work of the Holy Spirit.

Again, in I John 1:9 we are assured that it is God (and not us) who cleanses us from all unrighteousness on an ongoing basis.

Children of God may humbly consider themselves clean, holy and without blemish, because they have been washed with the water of the Word, (Jesus Christ), Eph. 5:26.

They have been (past tense) made whole and at the same time are being made whole, a work in progress.

Col. 2:10, “You are complete in him, (Jesus) …. And through the Holy Spirit’s working in us we grow to greater maturity in our Christian walk.

It is immaterial what our eyes observe around us at Sunday mornings or at any other time in our fellow Christians.

We observe the outside, but our Father observes the inside of his children and he is delighted, Zephania 3:17.

For he sees a people that he personally has called out of darkness into his marvelous light, I Peter 2:9.

He sees a people that he has gathered from many nations, denominations and even some abominations, and he has brought them home to himself.

A people that he cleaned up from all their filthiness and idols, Ez. 36:24, 25.

He put a new heart and a new spirit in each one of them and removed the stoney heart out of them, this new heart is meek and plyable.

Our Father sees a people in which he planted his own spirit, the Holy Spirit, who will transform them so that they will delight to walk in ways ordained by him.

A people who know that they have been redeemed, who know that their Father rejoices over them with great joy.

A people who take delight in doing their Father’s will.

(Free translation of Ezekiel 36 : 24 – 28.)

Our Father delights, he is joyful to see a people who are clean through the words that he has spoken to them, living branches that are bearing the fruit of faith.

Living branches that are bearing the fruit of righteousness, the fruit of the Spirit in abundance, Gal. 5:22, 23.

Fruit that is the manifestation of the Life that is in the Vine, the Lord Jesus Christ.

St. Thomas, Aug./2010. Simon VanderKooy.