John 14:12-14 Personal fruitfulness_

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” ‭‭John‬ ‭14:12-14‬ ‭NASB‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

I’ve always been wary of someone who rattles off a long list of Bible references to support their point, as though the volume of verses somehow should convince me. Yet as I read through Jesus’ final conversation with his disciples in John 14-16, I am impacted by how many times he instructs them to ask. He repeats it again. And again. If you are about to leave on a long journey and have something important you want someone to remember while you are away how would you get it to stick? Here is Jesus in his last night alive on earth with his final opportunity to teach those closest to him and he focuses on a few things: the Holy Spirit will be with you; love one another; don’t be stumbled; and finally, ask and be fruitful.

So at the risk of sounding irrelevant, I want to list all of those verses.

“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.” ‭‭John‬ ‭15:7-8‬ ‭NASB‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

“You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.” ‭‭John‬ ‭15:16‬ ‭NASB‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

“In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.” ‭‭John‬ ‭16:23-24‬ ‭NASB‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

And finally:

“In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father.” ‭‭John‬ ‭16:26-27‬ ‭NASB‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

If that were not enough, these things were spoken with the backdrop of what he had been teaching all along:

Matthew 7:7, “Be asking, and it shall be given to you…” 7:8 “For everyone who asks, receives…” Luke 11:9 “…seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you.”

And in Luke 11:5-8, Luke 18:1-8, Jesus adds the need for us to have persistence. Both of these examples are for people asking for things they have need of personally — for food to set before an unexpected visitor and legal protection requested of a judge.

It is significant that Jesus urged his disciples to ask. But why?

The Father’s heart of supply and freedom

I love the clarification and reasoning Jesus used to make his point in John 15:8, you do this because… “by this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”

There is a value in many religions and faiths for asceticism, or self-denial of anything pleasurable. Somehow you seem more valid, religious, and pious if you have performed some act of great self-sacrifice. Having been cut from a Catholic cloth, and born into the kingdom through a fundamentalist Bible-believing church, the idea of going to great lengths to deny my flesh is a familiar message. There is a value in discipline and self-control — the ability of the flesh to control the flesh. Yet when looking through this lens at what personal fruitfulness looks like, it easily focuses only on the benefit it brings to others. If I am dead with Christ, personal benefit in this context seems irrelevant. As noble as this thinking sounds, it is deeply flawed. Jesus didn’t save us so that we may take a vow of poverty and live in a monastery in seclusion in the mountains someplace. He redeemed a man who has intrinsic value. A value that was so dear to the Father that he gave his most precious possession for him. Yes, man has a fallen nature and a dark side, but once redeemed, the beauty, grace, and gifts he has given me when I started this life as a baby may be fully realized.

Even if you look at fruitfulness from the perspective of what it can do for others, how can I help another understand the love of God if I haven’t experienced it first? The blessing and personal benefit I experience then puts me in a position to share it, example it, and encourage it in others. There is something about knowing I have sufficiency that permits me to think, “what can I give, how may I bless you?” But even looking at fruitfulness in these terms, at its core is a self-dismissal which measures my value in terms of what I can do for others. Don’t get me wrong, I’m convinced that believers should work together, prefer each other, love and give generously and impact our world by demonstrating our love for each other. But the starting point is me. Not a fake me that has accepted someone else’s version of what I should be. But the real me. I am a son. I am a branch connected to the vine!

Knowing the extravagant love of God for myself sounds incredible. So in making room in my heart for true, personal fruitfulness, the first thing I think of is a belly laugh. Deep carefree laughter where threats are removed. Wrongs are righted. Needs are met. And a perspective shift: perhaps, he loves me. Really loves me.

When a grape vine is flourishing, what does it look like? Corn? An arbor? A mountain meadow? No! A lush green vine with large clusters of juicy purple grapes. It is intrinsically flourishing according to the DNA of a grape. Planted in rich soil, it comes with healthy green leaves, climbing, growing, and sent out to collect the sun’s light and growing-power. Ultimately it blossoms, then the fruit appears. Verdant vineyards filled with grapes that produce a joy-filled harvest wine. If I am that branch, that means the deposits he has made in my individual life grow. The things I value prosper. Those talents that I have flourish. The curiosity I have is fulfilled. When I am thriving, there is a sense of deep connection, continuity, harmony, peace, joy… you get the picture. It fits. It’s right. That personal fruitfulness is not the branch becoming something it was never designed to be. Nor to pick up another’s mission or call. Nor to take on the self-responsibility to achieve something the Father has never laid on me. Jesus says, “Follow me, for my burden is light, my yoke is easy.”

When I am fully me, alive, thriving, from me flows permission for others to do the same — they may personally flourish too. And they may experience the deep belly laugh and intrinsic joy from being fully alive and free in Christ too. Isn’t that what he came to do? It starts with one person at a time. And that first one is me.

In this context I consider what “asking” and “receiving” means. The things that are important to me are the things I am asking for. And receiving. That my joy may be made full and I may glorify my father in my fruitfulness.

As I align with my Father, his values become my values. The things meaningful to him become meaningful to me. The life he spends on others, I want to spend on others too. But first things first. Pull the oxygen mask to my own face first. Ask, and receive. Joy in the fact I am heard. Always heard. Know some things take persistence. Others, not so much. But he dearly loves me.

In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father. ‭‭John‬ ‭16:26-27‬ ‭NASB