I Am the Vine, Ye Are the Branches: Lessons That Transform the Human Soul

By Wisdom Emamuzo Peter

Lessons that Transform the Human Soul provides important truths and principles, which we all need to live effectively in the Kingdom of God. As the branches of the vine, we are peculiar set of beings that are divinely position on the earth to express the beauty of divinity. In this second series, Pastor Wisdom teaches that the fruit of the vine . . . is the expression of the hidden pleasure, beauty and nature of the Father embodied in Christ. God greatly desire that we get transformed and conformed to the image of His dear Son. Learn from this series:
Your chief purpose on earth which is revealing the nature of Christ,
The nature of Christ producing your desires,
The real Image of God
You have overcome and triumphed over the wickedness of the world through the work of the Cross,
The conformity of prayers and the will of God, and many more.
No doubt, the revelation in this book will transform you to who God wants you to be.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 8, 2011
• ISBN: 9781469131214

Wisdom Emamuzo Peter

Wisdom Emamuzo Peter has earned degrees from Rhema University (RU), where he is currently studying for his Doctorate (Ph.D.) in Theology. Pastor Wisdom leads the Path Founder’s Ministry headquartered in Abuja, Nigeria and his apostolic teaching and healing ministry has brought joy to many people around the world. His radio program reaches hundreds of thousands of people within and outside Abuja, the Nigeria capital. He resides in Abuja with his wife, Dorcas, and two daughters, Oruaroghene Awesome, and Charis Evi.

Book preview

Copyright © 2011 by Wisdom Emamuzo Peter.

Library of Congress Control Number   2011961697

ISBN:         Hardcover                               978-1-4691-3120-7

                   Softcover                                 978-1-4691-3119-1

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4691-3121-4

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

All Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Holy Bible, except otherwise stated. Scriptures marked with AMP are taken from the AMPLIFIED BIBLE. Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Used by permission. (www.lockman.org) Scriptures marked with NIV are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Scriptures marked with LB are taken from The Living Bible, copyright © 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

108595

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

INTRODUCTION

LESSON ONE

LESSON TWO

LESSON THREE

LESSON FOUR

LESSON FIVE

LESSON SIX

LESSON SEVEN

LESSON EIGHT

LESSON NINE

LESSON TEN

LESSON ELEVEN

LESSON TWELVE

LESSON THIRTEEN

LESSON FOURTEEN

LESSON FIFTEEN

LESSON SIXTEEN

LESSON SEVENTEEN

LESSON EIGHTEEN

DEDICATION

To every one who has accepted the call of Christ to become His branch and already bringing the world under the canopy of our Lord Jesus and His Kingdom.

To the millions of people who will be grafted into the Vine via this book. You are a jewel in the hands of Jehovah.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

No one has ever achieved a goal all by himself. There is always a contribution from other people for the success of each goal. Knowing this, it will be illegal for me to claim the success of this print material to be all of my efforts. So many people both known and unknown to me have contributed immensely for its’ success. And I remain grateful to their selfless contributions.

First of all, I wish to thank my wife, Dorcas, and daughter, Oruaroghene Awesome, for the patience, suggestions and support in the realisation of God’s calling upon my life.

Great thank you to my mentor, Dr. Myles Munroe, who ushered me into the 21st century with a new perspective of God’s Kingdom, the message of Christ and challenge to take my generation for God. Thank you, sir.

I give warm appreciation to all my associates, ministry’s members and partners who have stood with me in establishing the canopy of Christ in wherever we are found. I want to appreciate Bro. Christopher A. John for his steadfast service in our ministry. You have given me the privilege to share my insight about Christ and His Kingdom.

To my publisher that accepted the responsibility of publishing this book and make it readable to the world as we jointly canopy the earth with the presence and nature of Christ. Also great thank you goes to Rosedog Books, USA, who published the first series of this book. Thank you so much.

Lastly, I give all my heart-felt appreciation to my True Vine who gave me the awesome privilege to be His branch and to share with the world the revelation in this book.

INTRODUCTION

LESSONS THAT TRANSFORM

THE HUMAN SOUL

I am the vine, ye are the branches

John 15: 5

The soul plays a vital role in the human life. It is designed with high intellectual cells to relate both with the spirit and the physical worlds. Through the soul, man is able to make spiritual things physical. And also through it, man controls the physical. As it were, with the soul, which is made up of the mind, intellects, will and emotions, man makes things of the invisible or spirit world visible, controllable and useable in the physical world. Therefore, it holds true that a man’s life is largely dependent on the degree to which the soul is used.

Right in the Garden of Eden, the first man—Adam, made effective and proficient use of the soul and he got a commendation from his Creator. With the soul perfectly at work in Adam, he effected the reign of God’s heavenly kingdom on the earth; he brought the things of the world under the control of the Spirit of God. Adam was, in other words, in touch with God through the soul and the spirit.

However, an event took place that corrupted the soul of man. That event never left Adam and all his descendants the same afterward. From that moment onwards, the human soul became dead and corrupt to the things of God; deformed and lost relevance in the affairs and administration of God the Creator. The soul, due to that one event brought the entire human race under the bondage of oppression, sickness, poverty and the evil manipulations of the enemy of God.

The effect of the event made man to:

1. lose his position in the Godhead

2. lose his true habitation

3. lose the sense of purpose

4. lose the authority to govern the earth on the behalf of the heavenly kingdom

5. become unfit to reveal the true nature of God in the physical world.

6. finally, man became a victim of his environment made to struggle for survival.

For these reasons and many more, the first century Scriptural writer, Paul, said:  . . . the natural man (soul) receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2: 14)

However, in the midst of this deadness and deprivation of the human soul, God sent light to illuminate it in order for man to once more regain himself and function in his original position and purpose which God has designed for him. This means until the soul is been illuminated, the human mind cannot get transformed, and hence cannot function in his position in the Godhead. And until it gets transformed, man will be unable to live in his true nature, fulfil his real purpose and access the richness of the blessings of God.

Nothing illuminates the soul like light, that is, the light of the knowledge of God’s Word. The cure to the darkness in the human soul is the light of God. And this light came in the person of Jesus. Jesus said, " . . . I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life". (John 8: 12). God’s Word tells us that "In him was life; and the life was the light of men (John 1: 4). Another translation renders this verse this way: What came into existence in him was life, and the life was the light of men."

The light that brings life to man is Christ. This means, whatever comes out of Jesus brings life, and the entrance of this life—light—into the human soul brings transformation. It is this transformation that establishes a new life in Christ. John helped us understand that in Christ  . . . was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. (John 1: 4-5)

Whenever we come in contact with Jesus, we encounter light—the Word of Christ, information—that transforms the human soul. This transformation is what brings life to us: life in which we both experience and express the very nature of God. To this end Paul admonished us strongly that we should not " . . . be conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God"(Rom. 12: 2).

If we must express Christ as His branches, we must renew our minds. Our soul was originally made new, but sin destroyed it. So, when we come to Christ, we have the responsibility of making it new again (that is, re-new) so as to allow it function at its best as we take heed to the Words of Christ. As we renew the soul, transformation is initiated. And this transformation brings us to the point of experiencing and expressing the very life of Christ as the branches of the vine.

However, nothing renews and illuminates the human soul like the Words of Christ. This is because through the Words of Christ, the soul was made. So, it will only take the Words of Christ to renew, illuminate and transform the human soul and in turn make man a new creature enveloped in the Image of God.

One of such Words of Christ that guarantees the transformation of the human soul is what I have brought you, which is, I AM THE VINE, YE ARE THE BRANCHES. If you allow these words to permeate your spirit and mental fabrics, it will bring out a new breed of person in you.

These words have become my stronghold for life. And by God’s grace, I have brought you lessons that have transformed my life and equally making me a blessing to others. I know it will do the same in your life if only you will let the Holy Spirit have His way as you read along.

The lessons here are to help you understand your place, function and glory in the Godhead through Christ. In this second series we will examine every verse of John 15 where Jesus Christ brought life to the mortal soul by saying I am the vine, ye are the branches.

I welcome you to another atmosphere of revelation, expectation and transformation as the Holy Ghost takes us through the Words of Christ. One thing is sure: you will encounter a change as you discover the deep things of the Lord from this book. Please, be ready to receive all the blessings God has packaged for you in the pages of this book.

Now, let’s learn the lessons that transform the human soul.

Blessings!

Wisdom E. Peter

LESSON ONE

THE VINE

I am the vine, ye are the branches:

John 15: 5

To tap into the blessedness and live in the reality of these divine words of Christ, we must begin by discovering the source and purpose of the vine, our Lord Jesus Christ. However, we have to examine the purpose of the earth upon which the vine is planted. This is because until we really understand the purpose to which God created the earth, we will miss the whole purpose of the vine—Jesus Christ.

Jesus began the amazing metaphorical teaching of the vine and branches by saying:

I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. (John 15: 1)

Although we would come back to this verse in the course of our study, I want to say that the vine needed a land to be planted. Again it is good to know that the vine is not planted in the space or in heaven but on the Earth. The Father who is the husbandman had a piece of land called ‘Earth’, and He desired to plant only His vine on it. He desired that whenever He looks down on the earth, He would see the vine, the shade the vine has created over the earth and the fruits which the vine has produced through the branches all over the land—the earth—it is planted.

Understanding the Purpose of the Earth

It is important to remind us that God had a special purpose for creating the earth. The ancient scribe and prophet of Israel, Isaiah, told us that "God himself hath formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain . . . " (Isaiah 45: 18). This means, God did not create the earth because He had nothing doing or for nothing. He had a special purpose for creating it.

God created the heaven and the earth, according to Genesis chapter one verse one. Now the heaven is the spiritual realm that is inhabited by God and the heavenly beings—the angels. The earth is the physical realm where plants, animals and human beings inhabit. This is not enough to know the intention of God for the creation of the earth.

From a careful study of the book of Revelation, it is evident that God’s presence is in every corner of heaven. The heaven is ultimately indwelled by the presence of God and influenced by His will. The heaven is where God has His throne. This means, God’s presence and dominion is permanent in heaven.

We could say:

1.) Heaven is occupied by the presence of God

2.) The heaven is perfectly under the government of God.

This means, heaven is a kingdom where God reign as the King. But don’t forget that the heaven is a spiritual world.

However, God planned to have a physical world where His presence and government would reign just as it is in heaven. God wanted a physical world where His spiritual reign would be physically made manifest. This is the intention of God for the earth. God wanted the earth to be clothed with His presence and governed by His decrees. God wanted a physical world that would be a replica of heaven ruled by His will and sovereignty.

God wanted the earth to be clothed with His presence and governed by His decrees. God wanted a physical world that would be a replica of heaven ruled by His will and sovereignty.

These purposes were hidden in the statement which God made regarding the creation of man. The Scripture says:

And God said, Let us make