15:2 - Jesus is all about simple and clear truths. Branches that don't produce fruit get tossed away - people whose lives don't bear anything truly good are not a part of the kingdom of God. It's also interesting that he says that those who do produce good are going to be pruned. Doesn't pruning involve being cut back? That sounds painful...sometimes even in the midst of honoring God through our lives we will experience hard things - try to look at those situations of ways in which God is preparing you to be even more fruitful.
15:5 - Without Jesus is the mix - any good we do is not truly good. It is good for our sake or good to get something we want. Jesus has to be central to the life of someone who is producing selfless goodness.
15:7 - Before you get too excited...Jesus is not saying that you can have whatever you want (If that were true I would already have a Toyota FJ). He says, "If you abide in me" you get what you want...and people who are living in step with Jesus are not going to ask for selfish things...they are going to ask God to help them expand His kingdom and serve others.
15:12,13 - Such a simple command - love one another, yet this is so freakishly hard for us to do. He shows us what real love looks like. He says that love is about laying your life down for someone else. This for sure includes dying to save someone else (Like Jesus himself did), but it goes beyond that I think...love is about living a lifestyle of laying your life down for others - putting people ahead of yourself. That is what a loving life looks like.
15:18,23 - Hey if people are hatin' on you because you are a a follower of Jesus - you have some good company...Jesus himself. If people don't think you are weird at all...you probably have some issues with making Jesus central to your life. Verse 23 seems to assert that these people who are persecuting you because of your allegiance to Jesus are people that hate God himself...probably not the kind of people to have as friends anyway!
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