The Father is Glorified

I believe it is an impossible task to do justice to John 15 in a blog post.  Of course, this is not the first time I’ve felt this way.  It’s been a huge task to properly exegete these chapters and then condense the teaching into a post.  I’ve attempted, a few times, to share a portion of what I’ve learned, but it’s never been comprehensive.  Looking through the chapter for this week has brought me to a point of frustration.

Here are just some of the topics we could dive into:

The true Vine,  the Vinedresser, fruit, bearing fruit, branches, pruning, Romans 12, Psalm 80, abiding, abiding in the Vine, My commandments, love, loving one another, friends, sacrificial love for friends, friends of Jesus follow His command, I chose you to bear fruit, I command you to love one another, hate, the world hates Me, the world will hate you, the world persecuted Me, you will be persecuted, the world does not know Me, My Father sent Me, the world does not know My Father, the world has no excuse for their sin, they saw Me and hated Me and the Father, they hated Me without cause, Psalm 69, the Helper will come, the Helper is the Spirit of truth, He will testify about Me to you…

OVERWHELMING!!!  And I’m not at all sure I found every topic.

For a few years, Chuck Swindoll was our pastor.  Wow…they were great years learning under a phenomenal teacher.  He would choose a book and then spend as much time as necessary to complete it.  It took us a little over a year to get through Job.  AWESOME.  Each week we learned much due to his careful exegesis and outstanding communication skills.  Yet, there were still times he said he would love to spend even more weeks on a topic, but instead he implored us to study on our own.  Those were great years.  

Now to the point of a Blogged Bible Study.  I admire Carl for choosing to challenge us to look at the book of John and share what the Lord has put upon our hearts.  I don’t really know how everyone involved studies, but I do know everyone does.  We were not given the task to write a commentary, only insights from our studies.  The insights shared have been encouraging and many times, quite challenging.  I have been uplifted, convicted, amazed, edified and strengthened DAILY from these studies.  I’ve been reading the chapter during the week, contemplating the meaning, digging into passages and word studies, and enjoying my fellow contributors’ insights. 

So…please forgive me… for this will be the worst of my posts for the study.  But I’ve felt the need to thank everyone involved for the perseverence given to, and the fellowship I’ve experienced through, this endeavor.  It’s been good for me and has blessed my life.

Thank you, Carl, Darla, Joe, Scott, Annie, Dale, Nor, and Nate (miss you, Nate).

I’m happy to be a part of an undertaking which brings glory to the Father, for as it is stated in John 15:

Abide in Me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing . . . My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.  ~John 15:4,5,8