"I am the Vine, you are the Branches"

 -internet

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It is the branch that bears the fruit,

     That feels the knife,

To prune it for a larger growth, 

      A fuller life.

Though every building twig be trimmed,

      And every grace

Of swaying tendril, springing leaf,

      May lose its place.

O you whose life of joy seems left,

      With beauty shorn;

Whose aspirations lie in dust,

       All bruised and torn,

Rejoice, though each desire, each dream,

       Each hope of thine

Will fall and fade; it is the hand

       Of Love Divine

That holds the knife, that cuts and breaks

        With tenderest touch,

That you, whose life have borne some fruit,

        Might now bear much.

-Annie Johnson Flint

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John 15:1-11

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.

Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.

You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

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.

If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.

Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.

If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full."...

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