August 16, 2018 ABIDING
John 15:4-5 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches, he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; far apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned up.”
Recently, I was pruning muscadine plants; I cut of the excess long branches that were not going to produce fruit. A couple days later, I went back out to look at the plants, and just as this verse says-the branches that had been cut off had dried up and was ready to be burned. Sometimes, we are so busy or so preoccupied, that we miss the obvious lessons. Everyone knows that when you cut off a branch from a vine or a limb from a tree, it dies. If we believe what Jesus said in regards to the branches and the vine, then there is nothing more important than that of our abiding in Him; if we do not, we die to the life that flows from Him to us. In Christ, we have the opportunity to produce much fruit, but with our upmost determination, we cannot produce any fruit in our own strength. The fruit Jesus is referring to is the fruit that comes from living in the kingdom of God-living in His supply. The fruit that Jesus, the vine, produces in us the branches, is good fruit, lasting fruit, and fruit that satisfies. Galatians 22-23 is a list of some of the fruits that the Holy Spirit produces in us: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” To abide in Him means that we know that He is the source of real life. But, we must understand and be aware of the fact that one can know the Lord, but yet go about living according to the flesh, and not abide in Him. Abiding in Him is trusting Him, depending on Him, acknowledging Him in all we do, having a heart to do the things that are pleasing to Him, seeking to know Him in greater depth, and feeding on His word. For every believer, there will be both mountain top experiences and some valley experiences, but no matter what circumstances we face, we can abide in Him and experience the good fruit produce He produces in us. Jesus has given us a marvelous promise-that of Him abiding in us, and us abiding in Him! Let us choose to order our life in such a way that we are indeed abiding in Him.
John 14:17 “that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”
Blessings,
Buddy
John 15:4-5 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches, he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; far apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned up.”
Recently, I was pruning muscadine plants; I cut of the excess long branches that were not going to produce fruit. A couple days later, I went back out to look at the plants, and just as this verse says-the branches that had been cut off had dried up and was ready to be burned. Sometimes, we are so busy or so preoccupied, that we miss the obvious lessons. Everyone knows that when you cut off a branch from a vine or a limb from a tree, it dies. If we believe what Jesus said in regards to the branches and the vine, then there is nothing more important than that of our abiding in Him; if we do not, we die to the life that flows from Him to us. In Christ, we have the opportunity to produce much fruit, but with our upmost determination, we cannot produce any fruit in our own strength. The fruit Jesus is referring to is the fruit that comes from living in the kingdom of God-living in His supply. The fruit that Jesus, the vine, produces in us the branches, is good fruit, lasting fruit, and fruit that satisfies. Galatians 22-23 is a list of some of the fruits that the Holy Spirit produces in us: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” To abide in Him means that we know that He is the source of real life. But, we must understand and be aware of the fact that one can know the Lord, but yet go about living according to the flesh, and not abide in Him. Abiding in Him is trusting Him, depending on Him, acknowledging Him in all we do, having a heart to do the things that are pleasing to Him, seeking to know Him in greater depth, and feeding on His word. For every believer, there will be both mountain top experiences and some valley experiences, but no matter what circumstances we face, we can abide in Him and experience the good fruit produce He produces in us. Jesus has given us a marvelous promise-that of Him abiding in us, and us abiding in Him! Let us choose to order our life in such a way that we are indeed abiding in Him.
John 14:17 “that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”
Blessings,
Buddy
RSS Feed