“WE EXIST TO PROCLAIM THE REIGN OF JESUS CHRIST OVER ALL THINGS; GLORIFYING AND ENJOYING GOD, NOW AND FOREVER!”

7 – I AM the True Vine!

“I AM!”

Having washed the disciples’ feet, Jesus said to His disciples, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are MY disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35). While many are told that God loves everyone in the same way and therefore, we must love everyone in the same way, too, Jesus gives this specific command to His disciples, to those who know Him, who believe in Him, in whom His Spirit is at work, who have experienced HIS love for THEM! It is through our special relationship with Jesus that we who believe are empowered to “bear fruit” according to God’s Word because HE is at work IN us for His glory. Jesus was about to go to the cross and He would not be physically with the disciples as He had been before. He knew that in order to carry out the mission He was entrusting to them, they would need to remain connected to Him AND they would need to be connected to each other. Being part of the Church, the “called-out assembly,” can become lonely unless you are spiritually connected to brothers and sisters in Christ in a relationship of mutual love for one another. As with the rest of the New Testament, these words are spoken to those who by God’s grace believe in Jesus Christ and are now empowered by His Spirit to bear the fruit of love for one another. May our Father in heaven be glorified as we obey Jesus’ command and show ourselves to be HIS disciples!!