Fruitful Branches
God’s plan for us is to be fruitful. God unfolded this plan at the very beginning when man was created (Genesis 1:28). God wants our lives to be full of good fruit. A fruitful life brings glory to God (John 15:8). Bearing fruit is not an option but a necessity if we want God to be glorified in our lives, family, church and nation. We can see God’s distaste and displeasure with an unfruitful life in the account of how Jesus cursed a fig tree that wasn’t bearing fruit (Mark 11:12-14, 20-21).
It’s rare to see a tree without branches. The branches of a tree are the high point of the tree. The branches of a tree do a great deal for us. They provide shade from the sun. They are a resting place for birds and other animals. We pick fruits from the branches of a tree. It’s the branches of a tree that enable the leaves to stretch out and grow in different directions.
In releasing a father’s blessing on his son Joseph, Jacob prophesied into Joseph’s life that he would be a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine near the spring, whose branches climb over a wall (Genesis 49:22). Did this prophesy come to pass in Joseph’s life? YES! Joseph was indeed a fruitful vine near the spring. In the Bible, God and the word of God are compared to springs of living water (Jeremiah 2:13, John 4:13-14). Joseph was a man who stayed near to God, the Spring of Living Water (Genesis 39: 2). This close connection to God was the secret to Joseph’s fruitfulness. The way Joseph resisted the lures of Potiphar’s wife is clear evidence of the fruit of righteousness in his life. In Potiphar’s house, in the prison, in the palace, wherever Joseph went, his life was fruitful, his life was a blessing because he used the different gifts God had bestowed on him to help others. The fruits of administration, wisdom, interpretation of dreams were on the branches of his life for people to pick and benefit from. In a time of severe famine, he was like a branch that provided a shade from the heat and a resting place from the storm. The heat and hardship of a famine season was removed from many lives, his family inclusive, because of the wisdom God gave him to handle tough times. “And all the world came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe everywhere” (Genesis 41:57). Many lives were blessed because Joseph was a fruitful vine near the spring. People in different places, people from different directions were blessed because Joseph had branches that climbed over a wall.
Our existence, our success, our ability to produce much fruit is dependent on how attached we are to God. A branch detached from the vine has no life and can’t bear fruit. Without Christ we are nothing; we are like dry, dead branches that have no life, no leaves, no fruit; no purpose, no meaning.
God wants us to stay near to the Spring of Living Water; to stay connected to God. Yes, you have seen the goodness of God in our lives, but there’s so much more God wants to do in our lives; there are many Kingdom fruits God is still expecting to see in our lives that’s why He’s telling us to have a firm connection to the True Vine. As we do this, we will be a fruitful branch; our lives will be beneficial to those who come in contact with us. Just like the branches of a tree spread out in different directions, we will make impact for God in different places, and our territory and sphere of influence will greatly increase.
Branches can fall off a tree, branches can be cut off, branches can be removed and replaced. In the name of Jesus, we will not fall out of line or out of the faith; we will not be cut off from the love and mercy of God, and no one will take the place and blessings God has reserved for us.
Jacob released a father’s blessing on Joseph; Jacob spoke a word into Joseph’s life and that word came to pass. Our Father in heaven has released His blessing on us; He has revealed His plan for our lives and spoken His word concerning us in the Bible. God’s word will surely come to pass in our lives. We shall be exceedingly fruitful, we will multiply. We shall be like trees planted by streams of water. On a monthly basis we shall bring forth fruit, our leaves (our spiritual lives, marriages, businesses, health and strength) will not wither, and whatever we do will prosper to the praise and glory of the Most High God.
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