HOW TO PRODUCE
REALLY GOOD FRUIT

by Miriam Nadler

He who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit;
for apart from Me you can do nothing.

~ John 15:5 ~

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As we consider why our Beloved has left us here on earth instead of taking us home to be with Him, we need to understand that our lives are to be lived in light of His eternal provisions because He is expecting each of our lives to produce good grapes.

One of the purposes of our lives as believers in Messiah is to point those around us to our Beloved. The lives that we touch should be drawn to consider a relationship with God through our fruit - to see His beauty, hear of His wonderful works, smell His sweet aroma emanating from our lives and thereby have the desire to taste and see that the Lord is good.

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.

~ John 15:4-5 ~

Messiah goes on to teach Peter, and the rest of us, what is needed to be fruitful. Yeshua said, Abide in Me, and I in you. What does it mean to abide? This Greek word for abide is meno, which means to remain, to stay, to live, and to continue. A vine branch is lifeless and useless unless it remains attached to the vine. The living sap from the stock flows into the branch, enabling it to produce grapes. Similarly in our lives, it is when we remain in union with Messiah and derive our life from Him, only then will we produce the fruit of the Spirit. Paul reiterates this truth in his epistles.

Galatians 2:20 - I have been crucified with Messiah. It is no longer I who live, but Messiah who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Philippians 4:13 - I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

This calls us to vigilance because abiding is not a casual idea of let’s hang out together, rather abiding means a sustained conscious communion with the Lord, whereby we maintain our fellowship with Him.

John 15:4 says, Abide in me and I in you. The two things are distinct, though closely connected. I in you is a matter of grace and takes place when we trust in Messiah as our atonement.

The other phrase, abide in me refers to our responsibility to look to Him for all our resources, in order to see His goodness, His grace, and His power in every situation as He enables us to bear fruit.

The final phrase, without Him we can do nothing reinforces the fact that we are totally dependent on what He alone can provide. Most likely our pride will agree to assistance, but not surrender. However, it is our yielded hearts that the Lord is looking for and our acknowledgment of our total dependence on Him.

Messiah is teaching His disciples how to bear fruit, bear more fruit, and bear much fruit. In John 15:5 Messiah repeats, I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing. Messiah, knowing of His impending death, wants to strengthen their faith. His earnest desire is that they keep abiding in Him.

BEARING FRUIT

It is important to remember that abiding is not automatic, but rather is a deliberate choice that His disciples will have to make daily. Messiah gives the contrast and lets them know that if they think they can do something apart from Him, they are sadly mistaken. However, He wants to assure them that they are eternally secure in His hand.

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

~ John 10:27-29 ~

We are eternally secure in Him but in order to produce fruit we must abide. Messiah wants His sheep, as He calls us in John 10 and His branches as He calls us in John 15, to realize we have choices each day to abide, or not to abide.

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This article is reprinted from the Word of Messiah Ministry's Shmooze letter of 2/12/12.
Other articles by Miriam may be viewed at www.wordofmessiah.org,
and http://www.miriamnadler.com.

Miriam Nadler has assisted Hilda Koser in Brooklyn, interned with Chosen People Ministries, studied at Hebrew University, helped to open a coffeehouse outreach in Jerusalem, and was a member of The Liberated Wailing
Wall music outreach of Jews for Jesus, where she met, and then married, Sam Nadler. Sam later opened
the New York branch of Jews for Jesus, where Miriam discipled women. From 1979 to 1996, Sam was
in leadership with Chosen People Ministries during and since which time they've planted Messianic
congregations worldwide. In 1997, she and Sam opened Word of Messiah Ministries
to focus on making Messianic disciples through congregations.

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