It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord has commanded blessing, life forevermore. (Verse 3)
Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the Vine and you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he or she it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me, you can do nothing. Jesus John 15
Speaking of what the unity of Christians is like. Soothing like the anointing that flowed down the beards of the priests. Now it's like the dew that falls on Mt. Hermon, a high, snow-capped mountain in northern Israel. Refreshing and necessary for the growing vegetation in the dry seasons.
Dew is created when the heat of the day gives way to the cooler temperatures of the evening, particularly a calm, windless night where the refreshing drops can form atop the leaves on vines and grass and sink into their veins. Grape clusters need this kind of temperature in order to prosper. Hot days--cool nights. That's why California is such a great environment for vineyards. An abundant crop of grapes needs the harshness of the heat and the refreshing of the cool, damp nights.
Jesus wants us to grow in clusters. To experience the heat of life together and to be refreshed in relationship when the evening calm brings refreshing. To be a lone Christian is to miss the joy of the dew, the companionship of taking the mutual heat of the struggle. It is also to be severed from the Vine that flows through the veins of each branch and into the whole. We are to be refreshed as a community by each other, to be soothed as a group by the dew that settles on us as we fellowship, sweet and encouraging, making facing the searing sun the next day bearable to all.
July 19 was the deadline for Iraqi Christians to leave the ancient towns of Mosul and Nineveh or face execution, the renunciation of their faith or payment of a crippling tax. The understanding among them, however, was they should leave or be killed. Once a city with well over a hundred thousand Christians, it's estimated that at the time of the edict there remained only a few thousand in Mosul. They left their homes, which were red-tagged by the Islamic extremists and taken over. Without their belongings, homeless and in fear, they lined the highway out of their city awaiting permission to cross over into Kurdish territory. Fleeing separately, they are finding refuge in their community on the other side of the border. A dew settling on them in a calmer environment. Just being together, branches of the common Vine, gives them strength to cope. Perhaps it will make them even stronger, as it did the early church. Left penniless and homeless by the declaration of their faith in Jesus, they have only their common hope--and prayer. I'm sure as they hold each other's hands and invite Christ to soothe their grief, it is good and pleasant, like the dew in the mountain after a scorching day.
We need each other. We branches. It's not God's desire for us to pump out grapes from branches that aren't bursting from the Best Vine. And we would do well to remember that there are those days when the impossible heat of living withers our hearts and tests our souls and we need the refreshing dew of fellowship, praying together, grape against grape, soaking in the balm of fresh anointing, resting for a while in the cool, still air of His Presence. It's the only way we will make it through what is surely before us all.
Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the Vine and you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he or she it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me, you can do nothing. Jesus John 15
Speaking of what the unity of Christians is like. Soothing like the anointing that flowed down the beards of the priests. Now it's like the dew that falls on Mt. Hermon, a high, snow-capped mountain in northern Israel. Refreshing and necessary for the growing vegetation in the dry seasons.
Dew is created when the heat of the day gives way to the cooler temperatures of the evening, particularly a calm, windless night where the refreshing drops can form atop the leaves on vines and grass and sink into their veins. Grape clusters need this kind of temperature in order to prosper. Hot days--cool nights. That's why California is such a great environment for vineyards. An abundant crop of grapes needs the harshness of the heat and the refreshing of the cool, damp nights.
Jesus wants us to grow in clusters. To experience the heat of life together and to be refreshed in relationship when the evening calm brings refreshing. To be a lone Christian is to miss the joy of the dew, the companionship of taking the mutual heat of the struggle. It is also to be severed from the Vine that flows through the veins of each branch and into the whole. We are to be refreshed as a community by each other, to be soothed as a group by the dew that settles on us as we fellowship, sweet and encouraging, making facing the searing sun the next day bearable to all.
July 19 was the deadline for Iraqi Christians to leave the ancient towns of Mosul and Nineveh or face execution, the renunciation of their faith or payment of a crippling tax. The understanding among them, however, was they should leave or be killed. Once a city with well over a hundred thousand Christians, it's estimated that at the time of the edict there remained only a few thousand in Mosul. They left their homes, which were red-tagged by the Islamic extremists and taken over. Without their belongings, homeless and in fear, they lined the highway out of their city awaiting permission to cross over into Kurdish territory. Fleeing separately, they are finding refuge in their community on the other side of the border. A dew settling on them in a calmer environment. Just being together, branches of the common Vine, gives them strength to cope. Perhaps it will make them even stronger, as it did the early church. Left penniless and homeless by the declaration of their faith in Jesus, they have only their common hope--and prayer. I'm sure as they hold each other's hands and invite Christ to soothe their grief, it is good and pleasant, like the dew in the mountain after a scorching day.
We need each other. We branches. It's not God's desire for us to pump out grapes from branches that aren't bursting from the Best Vine. And we would do well to remember that there are those days when the impossible heat of living withers our hearts and tests our souls and we need the refreshing dew of fellowship, praying together, grape against grape, soaking in the balm of fresh anointing, resting for a while in the cool, still air of His Presence. It's the only way we will make it through what is surely before us all.
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