IN the VINE - get plugged in!!

Hey all!
Well, as promised, I finally got us a blog set up. Hope all is going well for you all on the daily reads. Today is John 15 - I am the VINE you are the branches. We must be pruned in order to produce Godly fruit in our lives. Sometimes pruning is painful - we have to deny ourselves and take up our cross, but the long term results are good!!! God cuts away the branches in our lives that are not producing good fruit. What's the fruit, you may ask? Check out Galatians 5 and see the FRUITS of the SPIRIT... love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, self control...etc. The beautiful thing is in and of ourselves, we CAN'T produce anything that will please the Lord. However, when we are plugged in - praying in the Spirit, reading HIS Word, allowing it to transform us by obeying HIS word - then the SPIRIT of God has room to work and produce the fruits in our lives that bring HIM glory! Another way to look at is this. When we are in HIS presence, we get to taste of the fruits of God's character through worship (same fruits as in Galatians 5), AND, by tasting of HIS character in relationship with HIM - we BECOME what we EAT!!! ;-)