Today’s reading: Romans 10:14-21; John 15:5

“I am the vine; you are the branches….”

John 15:5

As an ardent reader, I was attracted to this week’s theme from Romans, “The Story We’ve Joined”.  From Paul’s letter to the Romans we get the message that as Gentiles “we are grafted into the vine, and live by abiding in Him.”

When we read these words, we tend to think of them on a personal scale.  Maybe we think of our family members or our church family also grafted along with us, but do you ever think of it on a global scale? 

When you read Romans 10:14-17, do you see The Vine wrapped round and round and round the globe?  Do you see grafts made into Him from everywhere the Word of God has been spread?

I was blessed to witness an incident on a short term mission trip to Kenya in 2009 that I will never forget!  We were given a translation device to take with us.  A small radio-like box that contained portions of the Gospel being read in the primary/ native language of the people we were working with. 

This was not English that they had learned as a second language, but their first learned, most understood lan-guage.  The gasps of excitement and the joy that lit the faces of those hearing Jesus proclaimed to them in a language they fully understood is a sight I will always remember.  Fellow believers were being grafted into The Vine!

Prayer:

Dear Jesus, we pray for ourselves and believers all around the world, that we would remain firmly grafted to you so we can bear fruit.

Contributed by LaDonna Johnson