Concerning the vine and the branches, here is what my notes say: Christ is the vine, and God is the gardener who cares for the branches to make them fruitful. The branches are those who claim to be followers of Christ. The fruitful branches are true believers who by their living union with Christ produce much fruit. But those who become unproductive-those who turn back from following Christ after making a superficial commitment- will be separated from the vine. Unproductive followers are as good as dead and will be cut off and tossed aside. I am interested to see how eternal security fits into this. To me it sounds like those branches are connected to Christ at one point and then cut off.
I love "Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete." And "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
It is the verses in the middle of 17 where I know that Jesus explains why as believers we are so out of sync with the world. "They are not of the world any more than I am of the world." We are not supposed to feel totally at home and comfortable here.
The last part of 17 is Jesus praying for ME! How cool is that!!!!
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