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The truth that I was safe and secure, in Him, that nothing can separate me from His love, that no one can take me from His hand and that I am to grow, in Him, as a branch grows outward from the vine, gave me a deep sense of peace and security.

And He is responsible for the growing! I have nothing to do with it. I am not responsible, even for my own growth. I am only to be attached to the vine, I am not the vine but a branch, a part of the whole.

Yet, I experience all that the vine has to offer, nourishment and growth. As a branch attached to the vine, everything that happens to me is according to the plan of the vine, for the purpose of the vine. I am called to be a branch to fulfill the purpose of the vine, for the sake of the vine, always attached to the vine, to grow as and where the vine pleases.As I experience that oneness with the vine, He manifests Himself in the leaves and blossoms and fruit that others may be grafted into the vine and thus fulfill their calling, according to His purpose.

For the first time I began to understand what He meant by being, when He said I was not to do, but to be, to be in Him, as a branch is to the vine. Again, His words echoed my thoughts."To be is a state of existence, of oneness, for the vine and the branch are one.

As My life flows from the vine through the branch, there is no separation, no distinction from within. The life of the vine flows through the branch and extends to the very tip of its existence and grows continuously in the direction and the course of My choosing. Only I know what is best for each branch, as an extension of Me, the vine."

"So, I am to continue to grow in You and to be in You and in Your love?"

"Yes, as an extension of My love. For though you are in the world, you are not a part of the world. You are now in the vine, attached to the vine, are an integral part of the vine, and We grow together to reach the world. Although I may send you into the world to touch the world, the world cannot touch you. You are a part of Me that together We may touch the world."

"I have overcome the world. The circumstances of life can no longer affect your life, for in Me and in My life I am the only circumstance that matters. There is no suffering, no loss, no pain, no sorrow, no hurt that I have not already experienced and that I have not already suffered and that I have not already overcome."

"In Me, I will send you back into this world, but the world cannot harm you, for you are complete in Me, and I will keep you in My love and you will continue to abide in My love forever."

"And nothing can separate me from your love?"

"No, nothing. My love is all encompassing; it fills the universe. You don’t need to ask for it, to seek it, to want or even try to get more of it. For I am love, and in oneness with Me and the Father, abiding in Me, the vine, you have all of the love that there is. You have all of My love. And by dwelling in Me you are surrounded with My love and filled with My love and become My love for others. That is your purpose."

"To be loved?"

"Not exactly. Rather, to become love, to become a being of love. To be filled with My love, dwelling in Me, immersed in My Love, experiencing My Love."

"Experiencing?"

"Yes! Daily, moment by moment, you are to dwell in My love and abide in My love that you may experience My love. And thus you become the full manifestation of My love, that others may see My love in you, exuding from you, so that they may experience the manifestation of My love and My life through you.’

"I called you to become the demonstration of My love, but you seemed to sprinkle My love on your life like a seasoning, adding Me to what you wanted and needed in order for you to feel loved by getting the things you requested. But I didn’t come to be sprinkled on your life so that you could continue to seek my love to fulfill your need of love. I came to give you love that you might become My love in the life of others. For your life is already fulfilled in Me and in My love. And I have transformed you into My image, as a being of My love, so that you may become My love and be My love."