Unlock Your Full Potential and Thrive Trusting God’s Process

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

You have the potential to do real good in a world that is desperate for good. To unlock your potential and fulfill your calling, you ought to heed God’s instructions.

Introduction

From today’s scripture, we’ll see that God desires for Christians to reach their full potential so that they may fulfill their calling.  Do you share in this same desire?  Some of us may say, ‘Pastor, I don’t know what you’re talking about.  I don’t have any potential or a calling.’  Yet in this moment of rebuke, God rebukes that notion, making it clear that all of us have a calling to fulfill and the potential to do it.

The Christian’s Gift and Calling

When I think of our calling and God’s gifts, I often think of Paul’s teaching about God’s gifts.  In 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, Paul told the Corinthian believers that there are diversities of gifts from God.  This is to say that there are many varieties of gifts from God, and every child has been blessed with one of God’s gifts.  

To some, Paul said, they have been given the word of wisdom, while others have received the word of knowledge.  Paul said that some have been given great faith, others prophecy (teaching, others discerning of spirits, and others the discerning of tongues.  These were just a limited number of spiritual gifts that Paul had in mind as he wrote that letter.

Paul also made it clear that all of our gifts are manifested through the Holy Spirit, not for the profit of oneself, but for the profit of all.  In other words, the gifts we have received from God are to help us in fulfilling our calling.  This is a reminder to us that Christianity, while mistaken as another religion, is a service.  Christians are to use their gifts in the service of others, imparting grace to their neighbors – this is your calling as a child of God.

The True Vine Discourse

In John 15, Jesus taught a powerful lesson to the disciples to help them understand God’s desire for them to fulfill their calling.

In John 15:1, Jesus expressed to them that He is the true vine.  Then, in John 15:4, He encouraged the disciples to abide in Him.  Jesus said, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”

Christ’s desire for us is made clear

To understand what Jesus meant by likening Himself to a vine, we must consider the role of a vine to a plant.  A vine carries nutrients gathered at the roots to the branches, to the leaves growing from the branches, and to the fruit that also grows from the branches. Therefore, the vine gives life to the plant so that it may be healthy, strong, and fruitful.

Jesus’ desire, therefore, is for one to be in communion with Him.  This is to say that Jesus desires for one to be connected (attached) to Him.  The reason why Jesus has this desire is because He wants one to reach their full potential so that they may bear good fruit.  

Good fruit, I want you to understand, is fruit that inspires, satisfies, and gives life and hope.  Our calling as Christians, no matter our age, no matter what you think your potential may or may not be, is to inspire, encourage, give life, and hope to all, just as Christ did.  Christ, the only begotten Son, desires for us to reach our full potential and fulfill our calling.

Many are withered branches

As Jesus expressed this desire, He spoke to a certain truth that we can see today.  As I have said throughout this series – A Moment of Rebuke – there is a brand of Christianity that is not in communion with Christ, and it shows.

In John 15:5-6, Jesus expressed that those who abide in Him will bear much fruit; however, without Him, one can do nothing.  Jesus said, “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”

A branch that is disconnected from a vine is a dead branch.  A branch that is barely attached to the vine will wither, and if it bears any fruit, the fruit will be withered.  Withered fruit isn’t healthy, it doesn’t satisfy, nor does it give life and hope.  

False Christianity, as we see today, isn’t bearing healthy fruit; its fruit is bitter and sour.  The fruit of the false prophets of false Christianity is also unhealthy; its fruit is bitter and sour.  Their fruit is leaving a sour taste in the mouth of many while polluting and corrupting the heart and soul of those choosing to devour it today.

The purpose of the true vine discourse

Jesus shared this discourse so that the true believer would choose to be and to remain in communion with Him.  Jesus’ desire is not for one to become a withered branch that is unable to bear healthy fruit or any fruit at all.  Jesus does not want one to be like a withered branch that will be tossed into the fire.

The Holy Spirit has given us gifts to use so that we may fulfill our calling.  The Son desires for us to be in communion with Him so that we may produce healthy fruit and fulfill our calling.  Again, the goal is quite clear: the Lord desires for us to fulfill our calling, imparting grace, life, and hope to all.

The Father’s Helping Hand

We have seen the Holy Spirit and the only begotten Son’s role in us reaching our full potential to fulfill our calling.  I want to now take a look back at something Jesus stated, as shown in John 15:1.  When Jesus said that He is the true vine, He stated that the Father is the vinedresser.  We now have the complete Godhead in this picture when it comes to us reaching our full potential and fulfilling our calling.

The Father is a gardener

With the Father being likened to a vinedresser, we now know everything we need to know about His desire for us.  To understand what I mean by that, I have to put my gardener hat on because the Father is like a gardener.  Gardeners, I want you to understand, care a great deal about their plants!

We gardeners will regularly inspect our plants, both morning and evening, to make sure they aren’t diseased or infested; we check to make sure they are doing well.  We gardeners will regularly water and feed our plants to help keep them healthy and strong.  We will then go through all of our plants, removing dead or diseased parts, and removing any obstacles and hindrances – we will prune our plants.  

We gardeners want to see all of our plants reach their full potential and thrive.  As we care for our gardens, the Father cares for His garden.  The Father tends to us and cares for us as He desires to help us reach our full potential and thrive.

The work of the vinedresser

In John 15:2, we will see where Jesus tells us the role of the Father as the vinedresser in His garden.

As the vinedresser, the Father does the necessary work of pruning every branch in Christ.  Every branch in Christ being pruned speaks to the fact that all true believers are tended to and cared for by the Father.  This work of correction, we must understand, is done out of love and care, not to hurt or harm.  

Now, one may wonder, why do we have to be pruned?  The reason that the Father has to prune us is because we aren’t perfect!  Yes, we are Christians, but the true Christian ought to understand that they are as flawed as the next person.  

You see, we have dead and diseased parts that can hinder our growth.  We have parts of us that aren’t bearing any fruit that can block our production.  The Father has to remove these parts because, as Jesus expressed, the desire is for us to bear much fruit.

You see, if a plant isn’t pruned, it will grow wildly and uncontrollably.  Not only that, but if a plant isn’t pruned, it can become pest-infested and diseased.  Therefore, the fruit that happens to grow from it won’t be nearly as good, nor as plentiful as it potentially could be.  

God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, desires for us to reach our max potential.  If we aren’t pruned, then we would grow wildly, leaving ourselves vulnerable to attack.  Sin will infest and corrupt our souls.  Therefore, if we bear any fruit, that fruit would be corrupt (sinful) and off-putting.  What good would such fruit do for anyone?

Don’t Quench the Spirit

God is rebuking “Christianity in this moment and for good reason – He wants us to do better, and wants more to taste and see that He is good.  So, the Lord is rebuking false Christianity, and He is rebuking the believer who doubts their potential, their gift, and their calling.  The Lord desires for us to live a life of meaning.

The Spirit desires to move

The question that we must answer today is whether or not we truly desire to live a life of meaning.  We must answer the question of whether or not we will heed God’s help.  We must answer the question of whether or not we will heed or disregard the Father’s pruning (rebuke).

Do you want to reach your full potential?  Some of us grow content with the thought of not having a gift or a calling to fulfill.  Some of us consider that ministering is only for the pastor and the preacher today.  Yet, Christ commissioned all of His followers to go unto all people with the good news (Matt. 28:19-20).

I am reminded of something I heard my uncle say recently, when he, a pastor emeritus, told a congregation, “Salvation is not free”.  Yes, the salvation of God is free, as it cannot be purchased at any price.  However, our salvation came at a price.  The Father gave His only begotten Son so that you and I can inherit everlasting life in His kingdom.

Christ laid down His life, not for a religion of extreme hate to come forward.  Christ laid down His life, not for a religion of segregation, prejudice, and violence to come forth!

Christ laid down His life so that mercy and grace can come upon us who choose to receive Him.  Christ laid down His life to reconcile our relationship with the Lord.  Christ laid down His life and ascended so that we can receive the Helper (John 14:26).  The Helper, that is the Holy Spirit, does not manifest gifts in us for us to sit and do nothing.

The Holy Spirit desires to move!  Jeremiah said that the Lord’s word was in his heart like a burning fire shut up in his bones (Jer. 20:9).  We have received the Word in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, and it desires to move!  

Paul told the Thessalonians not to quench (put out) the Holy Spirit, and I say the same to all of you today (1 Thess. 5:19)!  Let the Holy Spirit run!  Let the Holy Spirit burn.  Let the Holy Spirit have His work!

I implore you not to be stubborn and despise this, God’s rebuke, in this moment of rebuke today.  As Paul said, “For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives (Heb. 12:6).”  God rebuking us today shows us that God cares and loves, not just us, but He still loves the world.

Meeting the Moment of Today

In John 15:11-12, Jesus plainly stated, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.  This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”

The Lord desires for all of us to reach our full potential and thrive in this moment, not just for ourselves, but for all of those around us.  You see, I believe that in all of the turmoil of today, there is even more of a craving for the fruit of God.  With all the hurt, pain, suffering, and sorrow, many truly desire to receive God in their hearts.

You and I must not fall short of our calling because we have the spiritual fruit that one is craving for today.  One is living in need of hope, and to be inspired, we have the fruit that can help them to do so.   Jesus tells us that when we move with the desire to fulfill our calling, glorifying the Lord, God will give us what we ask so that we may glorify Him (John 15:7-8).  The Lord is with us today, and blessed are those who hear His word and keep it.