Bruce Hempel - Jesus' balance (John 17)
Bruce Hempel - The Fruit of the Vine (John 15)
Bruce Hempel - Jesus' balance
The Word: Jesus knew the word very well.
Prayer: Jesus prayed a tremendous amount – Lazarus, before meals, and among the crowds. Another instance of prayer was before ministry he spent 40 days and nights in desert. Many times he spent all night praying.
Action: Jesus also had a strong element of action—doing. He confronted the error of his day in the temple and he healed many, but Jesus was balanced in his action and prayer.
Examine yourself and evaluate whether you have a balance in prayer, action, and reading the word.
John 17 – Jesus prayed as a father. He spoke in a real and loving manner.
Bruce Hempel – The fruit of the vine
John 15:1-11 – Jesus speaks about the vines and the vine-dresser. Once a vineyard is pruned we call it a “clean” vineyard. When you prune a vine, you prune 90 percent of the buds.
Outside of Christ we cannot produce any fruit. In Christ, we can produce a large harvest. The fruit comes from abiding in Christ. Abiding in Christ comes by prayer. We cannot produce if we are not abiding in Christ, albeit praying.
(Back to last two weeks of study on Esther) The king gave Esther the limit of half his kingdom. Jesus says that we have no limit. When we request something from the Lord, we are asking in Christ's name. Esther prayed first. Our first action, in every circumstance should be to pray.