Daily Encounter: A Week-day Devotional by a staff of ACTS International.

Wednesday, October 7, 2020

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in Him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing."¹

"A Bible scholar and pastor tells about a piece of wood that he keeps on his desk. He took this piece of wood from a vineyard in the San Joaquin Valley. It is a section of vine out of which grows a branch.

"The owner of the vineyard told him that if two people were in a tug of war using this section of the vine, it would break. However it would never break where the vine and branch are joined together for that is the strongest point of the vine. A vine, according to this teacher, is different from a tree. If you pull on a branch that goes into a tree, it will break at the trunk of the treeâ€"in a tree that is the weakest place. But in a grapevine that is the strongest pointâ€"where the branch is joined to the vine."²

Perhaps this is one reason Jesus likened those who truly put their trust in Him as a branch grafted or joined into the vine, the vine being Him. That bond is unbreakable. As Jesus said, "And this is the will of him [God] who sent me [Jesus], that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."³ For further help see: “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christianâ€� at: http://tinyurl.com/real-christian.

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank You that my bond to Jesus is unbreakable, not because of anything I have done (except to believe that Jesus died for my sins), but because of what Jesus has done for me in giving His life to save me from my sins. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus's name, amen."

1. John 15:5 (NIV).
2. The Best of J. Vernon McGee, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1988).
3. John 6:39-40 (NIV).

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