✨ Those Who Walk With Jesus — Part 47 ✨ The Lofty Vineyard
✨ Those Who Walk With Jesus — Part 47 ✨
The Lofty Vineyard
📝 Their Message (Summary)
This post begins with honesty: “The woman I want to tell you about was me.”
She had done everything “right” as a faithful Latter-day Saint: temple worship, callings, tithing, family home evening, ministering, service projects. Her life was full of fruit—but Christ was blurry in the background. Prayers often felt like they hit a brass ceiling. Despite her checklist of devotion, she lacked the assurance that she was truly known by Him.
Then the realization came: ordinances and works are not ends in themselves. They point us to Him. Service done from mechanics, reputation, or expectation may yield fruit, but not fruit the Lord of the Vineyard can preserve.
Jacob 5 shows a tree heavy with all kinds of fruit, but when the Master tastes it, none of it is good. Why? Because the branches (works) had overcome the roots (Christ). The lesson: without abiding in Him, all is vain. The only fruit preserved is the fruit of oneness—the At-One-Ment.
The author confesses her old life of “organizing crayons when the Lord asked her to clean the mess.” In other words—doing many good things while ignoring what the Spirit actually asked. Even temple attendance, service, and callings can become distractions if they replace simple obedience to the Living God.
🔥 My Reflection
This is one of the most piercing posts yet. It unmasks the danger of religious busyness—the loftiness of the vineyard. We can stack up endless fruit (service, ordinances, activity) and still hear Him say, “I never knew you.”
The fear and trembling comes when discipleship stops being about scheduling good works and starts being about obeying the Spirit in the moment. It means fasting when He asks, praying when He calls, giving when He nudges—even when it terrifies us. That is what it means to be “at-one.”
This is not about doing more—it is about abiding in the Root. Every ordinance, every law, every calling points to Him. He is the True Vine. Apart from Him, we are withered branches.
🕊️ The Invitation
If your life feels heavy with fruit but hollow in Christ, it’s time to reset the lens. Shift the focus. Let Jesus come into sharp relief.
Begin with repentance and praise.
Ask Him plainly: “Who are You, Jesus? Show me my sins. Teach me to know You.”
Counsel with Him in all your doings (Alma 37:36–37).
Don’t just do “good things”—do His things.
And when the fear comes—fear of hunger, fear of exhaustion, fear of loss—remember: His Atonement calls us to trust Him above all rivals.
📖 Scriptures to Ponder
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven…Then will I profess unto them, I never knew you.” — Matthew 7:21–23
“Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good.” — Alma 37:37
“I am the vine, ye are the branches…for without me ye can do nothing.” — John 15:5
“Seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written.” — Ether 12:41
🔗 Walking with Jesus — A Family’s Story
This is part of a series sharing the six-year testimony of a family walking daily with Jesus.
Previous: Post #46 — Jesus, I Love You
Next: Post #48 — (coming soon)
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