The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

John 15:1-2, “’I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.

2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and

every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit.’”

Why is all of this happening to me? Did you ever say that? I’m sure

we all have at some time. Understanding the Word of God is key to

understanding a lot of the problems that come our way. These two

verses have been quite often been misunderstood. Fruit means the

attributes of Christ Himself. Read Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of

the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” These

nine elements were ever present in Jesus’ life; and His Holy Spirit lives

within us to reproduce them in our lives. The absence of this fruit may

mean that we’ve never trusted Him at all –that we do not belong to Him!

Or, it may be that the flow of the life of the Vine is being hindered by a

branch that is not producing the likeness of Christ. So, the Vinedresser

prunes (cleanses) the vine by cutting off the non-productive branches.

This cleansing may come in a variety of ways: sickness, losses of

different kinds, even death. Think of it like a football coach. His job is

to train his players so they can win games. Any player who does not

perform well on the field is subject to being removed from the game.

The removal may be temporary or permanent, depending on the coach’s

judgment. Jesus is our Coach. If we do not perform up to His expectations,

we are subject to His “pruning.” Don’t mess with God! He’s serious about

our being like Himself.

We love you more than you will ever know,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”