–Louis L’Amour (Galloway)
“Casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully].”
–1 Peter 5:7 (Amplified)
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8 — You have brought a vine out of Egypt; You have cast out the nations, and planted it.
9 — You prepared room for it, and caused it to take deep root, and it filled the land.
10 — The hills were covered with its shadow, and the mighty cedars with its boughs.
11 — She sent out her boughs to the Sea, and her branches to the River.
12 — Why have You broken down her hedges, so that all who pass by the way pluck her fruit?
13 — The boar out of the woods uproots it, and the wild beast of the field devours it.
14 — Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts; look down from heaven and see, and visit this vine
15 — And the vineyard which Your right hand has planted, and the branch that You made strong for Yourself.
16 — It is burned with fire, it is cut down; they perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.
17 — Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand, upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself.
18 — Then we will not turn back from You; revive us, and we will call upon Your name.
19 — Restore us, O LORD God of hosts; cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved!” (NKJV)
Have you ever thought of yourself as part of the vine? Psalm 80 is one that speaks of the vine referring to Israel. One small branch connected to the main stem from where the sap flows to give nourishment. We should, we are told to abide in the vine. We are to live off the true Vine–Jesus Christ. Being off the main vine the smaller vines are subject to abuse. The sun might beat down on them, people and animals brush against them. The fruit that is borne there are plucked off sometimes not too carefully.
We are, as the vines, the branches, to cling to the main vine. We cling to Him in the nightime, and when the sun scorches down. We cling to Him through the storms and our only hope is that we are tied securely to the Vine. The sun and the rain are needed, but it is the Vine that is life-giving. Our character is seen only as we cling to the heavenly Vine. If we become cut off all is then lost, however, that does not mean that there may not be many prunings. There may be pain, but the growth is better and stronger than ever.
But woe to the vine that does not produce fruit. It is better to be cut off and cast into the fire. We, as the vine connected to the Vine are to be bearers of fruit. Some may say I can’t bear such and such fruit, but that is a lie. There is one fruit of the Spirit bearing nine characteristics. When one says they do not have the fruit of peace they are trying to live peace in the natural and not in the Spirit. Also remember, it takes time for fruit to grow; it must blossom and ripen, then it is fit for use.
Vines are able to regenerate quickly. I remember that Pappy tore out all his black raspberries and blackberries vines and threw them down in the woods. In a short time, they were growing and producing the most tasty berries. See, it was man that tore them out, that bruised them, but they were not to be denied the production of their fruit. We are the same, we are planted by the right hand of God, He will make us strong for Him, but we must abide.
“It is a thing most wonderful,
Almost too wonderful to be,
That God’s own Son
Should come from heaven,
And die to save a child like me.”
–William W. How