Quotes about Vine

If we bring forth any good fruit, it is not of our own growth, it comes from him, the true vine.

The familiar words of Jesus are "Without me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). But these must be balanced by the insight that, in general, if we do nothing it will certainly be without him.

it was as if he had swung outward at the end of a grape vine, over a ravine, and at the top of the swing had been caught in a prolonged instant of mesmerized gravity, weightless in time.

God wants to be as close to us as a branch is to a vine. One is an extension of the other. It's impossible to tell where one starts and the other ends. The branch isn't connected only at the moment of bearing fruit. The gardener doesn't keep the branches in a box and then, on the day he wants grapes, glue them to the vine. No, the branch constantly draws nutrition from the vine. Separation means certain death.

Because the grape was proudly multipurpose, the shelf life it had to offer the ancient world was practically without rival. Grapes could be eaten fresh, straight from the vine. Dried, they were renamed raisins, and in the Bible, they were eaten plain or baked into cakes. Pressed, the grapes produced fresh juice, or far more significantly, they could be utterly transformed, possessing new properties and chemistry, into vinegars and wines.

Peace is the fruit of righteousness which, in essence, is obedience to God's commands—the product of abiding in the vine. The wine which flows from the ripened fruit is joy!

O Love! what hours were thine and mine, In lands of palm and southern pine; In lands of palm, of orange-blossom, Of olive, aloe, and maize and vine!

Jesus never commanded believers to produce fruit. Fruit is the *purpose* of the branch, but it is not the *responsibility* of the branch. The branch cannot produce anything on it's own. However, if it remains attached to the vine, it will receive life-sustaining sap, nourishment, strength, everything it needs.

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing" (John 15:4, 5)....

It does no good to nail an unattached branch to the vine; there is no life-giving connection. But those branches that are an integral part of the vine share in the life of the vine.

However strong the branch becomes, however far away it reaches round the home, out of sight of the vine, all its beauty and all its fruitfulness ever depend upon that one point of contact where it grows out of the vine. So be it with us too.

A soul filled with large thoughts of the Vine will be a strong branch, and will abide confidently in Him. Be much occupied with Jesus, and believe much in Him, as the True Vine.