I always say that the only reason people hate on me is because I have something they want but they can't have; and it's true! As a matter of fact, this is true for everybody. If I could go to one of my haters and ask, the conversation would go something like this:
Conversing With a Hater
ME: "Yo hater!"
HATER: "Yo, get out my face man!"
ME: "Yo hater, let me ask you something: why you playa hate so much?"
HATER: "Cuz!"
ME: "Cuz what?"
HATER: "Cuz! You swear you all that! You swear you got it like that! You ain't got (BEEP)!"
I better stop, this conversation could get foul and ugly!
John 15.
I'm sure that back in the days, someone had to think: why do people hate so much?
I'm sure during Jesus' time, someone had to think: man, what's up with all these haters?
I'm sure one of Jesus' disciple was walking somewhere and a hater gave him one of them 'I'm hatin' on you' type looks, and the poor guy was like, "Geez! this guy hatin'!"
In John chapter 15 Jesus is kickin' it with his crew, taking a stroll, mindin' their own business, having a convo. I'm sure since it's Jesus we're talking about here, He started saying some interesting stuff like:
"I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing." John 15: 1-5
At least one person in the crew must have thought, "Man, that's deep! But He's right, though. I mean, before when I'd be fishing, I really didn't catch that many fish. But ever since I've been kickin' it with Him all this time, I'm a fish magnet. Huh..."
Someone else must of thought, "That's why business has been blooming! Since I've started chilling with J, things have been going alright. It sucks for my competitors..."
Before anyone thought any further, Jesus wanted to finish what he'd been saying:
"Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father." John 15: 6-8
Maybe no one thought this but I am: no wonder at times I'm able to undergo life's fiery trials. It's because those were the times when I was kickin' it the most with J! The times when I've gotten burned I was too busy kickin' it with someone else. . . WAIT A MINUTE, I ain't hear a thing from my haters then!
"This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me." John 15: 12-15
That right there is very VERY cool! I am friends with Jesus. Think of the cheesiest movie you've seen about high school students. Jesus is the coolest guy in the entire school, like the All-American Quarterback for the football team, and the disciples are the geekiest, no life, unpopular freshmen; but they're ALWAYS seen with the All-American. The only exception is that Jesus, instead of being an All-American, He is The Almighty!
BAck to the story. So things start making sense now. It's like an equation:
ME + JESUS = MUCH FRUIT
therefore
ME - JESUS = LESS FRUIT
I like that. I like that a lot! The crew liked it too. As a matter of fact, they LOVED it!
Now, it just so happened that the disciple who got that dirty look from that random hater was pretty good in Math, so after he made some calculations in his head, something troubled him, so he had to ask, "Yo, J! I've been getting dirty looks all over, man. Now, from what you've just said and from what I've seen, you're pretty tight with your Father, you know, the whole vine and branch thing: yo, do you get hated on too, like, a lot?"
Jesus probably gave him the 'you have no idea' look and then said, "If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first.The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you... Anyone who hates me also hates my Father... This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures: 'They hated me without cause'." John 15: 18-25
Jesus was hated on too.
So what does this mean to me and you? What does knowing this do for you and me?
Simple: let 'em keep hatin'.
The fact of the matter is, we're the ones kickin' it with J. The fact of the matter is YOU're the one kicking it with J. The fact of the matter is I'M the one kickin' it with J. They hate because we're kickin' it with J. It doesn't (or shouldn't) bother me (or you) whether father or mother or brother or sister or friend or foe or church member (where church stands for C How U R Constantly Hatin') or pastor or anyone hate simply because I'm kickin' it with J.
Check it: the important question to always ask yourself (that I'll always ask myself) is: Am I kickin' it with J?
Nothing else matters. Period.
Enjoy this song by the group Philips, Craig, and Dean called "Friend of God" - you may click on the song title and it'll send you to the YouTube page.
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