I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
Since my teacher is sitting here with me while I'm writing this blog, it would be good to publish some of his teachings. (actually it's not 'his' teachings because he said it is what God directly teaches him. It is knowledge from God, not his own) My teacher often reminds me of the above verse as a way to survive in this world. He said that we need spiritual nourishment from God all the time, otherwise we will live like the dead. In all circumstances, if we connect to the "Vine", troubles will be gone and we will be all right. Jesus came to die on the cross so that we may have "life", but we also need to keep connecting to Him. Things will flow more smoothly. Our heart will have more peace. We will not lose our way.
However, if we make no effort to connect to the Vine, we will drift further and further away and will wither and die spiritually. The world will have power over us and we become slave to the world.
My teacher said there are five ways to connect to "the Vine."
1. Love
2. Faith
3. Obedience
4. Suffering
5. The Eucharist
Love-Jesus told us to Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself. (Luke 10:27) Love connects two beings into one. If we truly love God with all our heart and soul, we are one with Him. God resides in each human being, so if we love others, we also love "the essence of God" inside each person. As soon as we "love", the branch will immediately connect to the Vine, we will connect to God and recieve nourishment from Him right away. My teacher said that we can meditate on our love for God, whenever we feel that we love God, hold on to that love and express it more and more from your heart ("holding and expressing the love that you are"[from Love Without End by Glenda Green]), when a single emotion is expressed, our spirit will focus and concentrate on it. Finally your spirit will enter a trance and become one with God. The branch will completely connect to the Vine. Well, for basic level, praising God and expressing our gratitude to Him is also the way that we connect to the Vine and receive spiritual nourishment right away.
Faith- When we trust someone completely, we trust that person even more than we trust ourselves. God asks us to trust Him completely, to let go and let Him work His own way in us and in our life. When we trust God, we connect to Him. When we trust God, God lives in us and we lives in Him. When we trust God, we will be like Him. God can do anything, if we trust Him, we can do anything as well. My teacher said "Trust" is like "Love" in that it makes two beings connected into One. We can be one with God, when we trust in Him. It is a way that our branch will connect to the Vine. As soon as we decide to trust and believe comepletely in the Lord, tremendous joy would flow into our heart. We do not have to see before we believe, we just have to trust although we do not see it. 1 Peter 1:8-9 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Miracles happen in such way. Miracles happen when we believe, when we trust...that is when our branch connect to the Vine, and we recieve "anything and everything" from Him. Luke 17:6 If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you. / Hebrew 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
Obedience- This means keep the commandments of the Lord. Jesus said "Follow Me" and that is what we have to do. Follow Jesus. Be good. Don't give our life to sins. Matthew 5:48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. The Vine is holy, the Vine is clean, the Vine is white. If the branches are sinful, dirty, and dark, we can't connect to Him. Actually, that's the reason that Adam and Eve died from eternal life. They sinned. But Jesus has already provided the way that we can have life again. We accepted his salvation, and after that we keep His commandments. That's what Jesus said we should do. Obey Him and live according to His Words. John 15:7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. Be Good. Stay away from evil. Being holy may sound too difficult a thing to do, but we have to keep our life on one straight path in order to receive this spiritual nourishment. God will stay "in" us if we keep his temple holy. John 14:23 Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.
Suffering- This may sound crazy but my teacher said it is for real. When we are in great pain, and we accept it with peaceful mind, our spirit will concentrate on the pain and enter a trance. The pain will no longer be painful because we share in the suffering of Christ. The pain will instead become an ecstasy. (Well, but I think this is for the high-level: the saints or those who are nearly saints) Carrying the cross is our duty. Jesus said "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me" (Matthew 16:24) Accepting suffering is a way that we purify the soul, and when our soul is pure, the branch will connect back to the Vine. But the important thing is that we must accept everything with total surrender, without bitterness or anger, then the peace of the Lord will overflow us. The bible told us that we cannot avoid suffering if we are to live in Christ.
2 Timothy 3:12 Indeed, all who desire to live Godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
Indeed,
all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. - See
more at:
http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Suffering,-Of-Believers#sthash.lugPRDwb.dpuf
2 Timothy 3:12
2 Timothy 3:12
The Eucharist - John 6: 53-57 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. This is the simplest and easiest way to connect to the Vine. The above quote should already speak for itself. Jesus has provided "Himself" so that we can have spiritual nourishment from God, that we can connect back to our Source of Life. Receiving the body of Christ in the form of Eucharist with faith and respect will nourish our spirit. If we refuse to receive Christ, then we will "wither" and "die" because we cannot escape from sin and the results of it. Roman 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. As Catholic, it is best for us to get rid of our sin (death) first, then recieve Christ (life). That's why we usually go to confession before we receive the Communion.