In John 15:4, Jesus said, “Abide in me.” Those words form the only command found in the entire lesson on the vine and branches. Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches, meaning that Jesus is our only source of spiritual life, and we are totally dependent on Him. For Christ’s life to flow through us unhindered, we must maintain our vital connection to Him, purposely living in total dependence on Him. When we do, Jesus reassures us that He will abide in us. His life will be in us and flow through us.
We must abide in Him. That is the one command he gave and the one responsibility we have in the relationship. Everything that comes from our lives will be Jesus working in and through us to produce the fruit He wants to see.
Too often, Christians try to live independently of Christ. They attempt to reform themselves instead of letting God conform them into Christ’s image. They perform religious rituals instead of allowing the Holy Spirit to produce His fruit in them. They depend on their willpower and discipline to change their behavior more than they depend on Christ to strengthen and enable them.
The result of not abiding in Christ is frustration and failure. Jesus reiterated this fact when he said, “ As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.” We cannot succeed in anything that truly matters unless we abide in Christ.
- Jan 28, 2024Abide in Me (John 15:4)
Abide in Me (John 15:4)
In John 15:4, Jesus said, “Abide in me.” Those words form the only command found in the entire lesson on the vine and branches. Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches, meaning that Jesus is our only source of spiritual life, and we are totally dependent on Him. For Christ’s life to flow through us unhindered, we must maintain our vital connection to Him, purposely living in total dependence on Him. When we do, Jesus reassures us that He will abide in us. His life will be in us and flow through us.
We must abide in Him. That is the one command he gave and the one responsibility we have in the relationship. Everything that comes from our lives will be Jesus working in and through us to produce the fruit He wants to see.
Too often, Christians try to live independently of Christ. They attempt to reform themselves instead of letting God conform them into Christ’s image. They perform religious rituals instead of allowing the Holy Spirit to produce His fruit in them. They depend on their willpower and discipline to change their behavior more than they depend on Christ to strengthen and enable them.
The result of not abiding in Christ is frustration and failure. Jesus reiterated this fact when he said, “ As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.” We cannot succeed in anything that truly matters unless we abide in Christ.
- Jan 24, 2024David’s First Royal Assignment (1 Samuel 16:1-14)
David’s First Royal Assignment (1 Samuel 16:1-14)Whatever God calls us to do, we can be certain that God has already give us all the preparation we need to do the task. We may feel like we are inadequate, and the truth is that without God we are. We must determine to always do our best by the grace of God and for the glory of God.
- Jan 21, 2024Compromising Christianity (1 Samuel 13:9)
Compromising Christianity (1 Samuel 13:9)
- Jan 21, 2024The Pruning Shears of Scripture (John 15:3)
The Pruning Shears of Scripture (John 15:3)
As the Heavenly Husbandman tends His vineyard, He frequently prunes the branches. The process involves discarding the unfruitful branches and trimming the fruitful branches so they can bear more fruit in the future. In John 15:3, Jesus said, “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.” The Bible is the Father’s tool to prune and purge the branches.
To prune a vine, a vinedresser has to come close and put the pruning shears in contact with the branches. Force is then applied, and cuts are made. For God’s word to do this kind of pruning work in us, there must be regular contact with the Bible. The healthy branch understands the need for pruning and submits to it, but the unfruitful branch fears the pruning and avoids it.
A proper relationship to God’s word is essential, then, to abiding in Christ. If His words do not abide in you, then you are not abiding in Him. (John 15:7) If His words are abiding in you, then they will have a sanctifying effect on your life. God uses His word to show us sinful attitudes and actions and selfish thoughts and desires so that we might remove them through repentance and confession. No other tool can accomplish what the Bible does. No writings of man, no self-help seminary, and no secular TED Talks will do what God’s word can do for you. It is a hammer that chips away the rough edges of our hard hearts. It is a sword that cuts clean to our innermost being, even revealing motives and thoughts we might not have acknowledged were there.
- Jan 17, 2024David, God’s Chosen Man (1 Samuel 1:1-13)
David, God’s Chosen Man (1 Samuel 1:1-13)When we first meet David in 1 Samuel 16, he is a young man, probably just at teenager, who was all but forgotten by his family. God had a plan for David, and even though he may not have been man’s first choice, he was God’s chosen man.
- Jan 14, 2024The Pruning of the Branches (John 15:2)
The Pruning of the Branches (John 15:2)
Every good farmer and gardener knows that to get maximum yield from plants, you have to weed and prune. A field, garden, orchard, or vineyard that is left to itself will grow wild, and the harvest will suffer. It is especially true for plants like grape vines that regular pruning is necessary. The dead wood must be trimmed away, and the fruitless branches must be cut off. Without pruning, the fruitless branches would take water and nutrients away from the fruitful ones, and the dead branches would invite disease and rot that could infect the otherwise healthy parts of the plant.
Jesus said, “I am the vine, ye are the branches,” and God the Father is the sovereign husbandman of this spiritual vineyard. As an all-wise farmer, God the Father employs the same techniques on the branches of the true Vine as an earthly farmer does on a grapevine. God’s will is for our lives to be more and more fruitful, and for that to happen, providential pruning is necessary.
God’s pruning comes in two forms. John 15:2 says, “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” When God prunes, the fruitless parts are removed, and the fruitful parts are trimmed to enable even greater fruitfulness. Cutting, amputating, and trimming are violent processes, but they are necessary for the health of the vine and its branches. Though God’s work in our lives may often be uncomfortable in the moment, it is necessary, and it is worth it to let God prune us so that we can live a more fruitful life.
- Jan 10, 2024The Kings Book (Deuteronomy 17:18-20)
The Kings Book (Deuteronomy 17:18-20)God, in His wisdom and mercy, gave instructions in the law for the future kings of Israel. Included in those instructions were details about the role that God’s word was to play in the life of the kings. The Bible is not just a book for kings, it is the Book of the King of King’s for everyone.
By making application of these truths to our lives, reading the Bible for ourselves and following its teaching, we too will enjoy the blessing of The King’s Book. - Jan 7, 2024Love Not The World (I John 2:14-16)
Love Not The World (I John 2:14-16)
- Jan 7, 2024Abiding in Christ (John 15:1-5)
Abiding in Christ (John 15:1-5)Our home is built on a piece of land that was left untouched for generations. When we purchased it, it was a tangle of pine trees, hardwoods, and lots of vines. There were vines everywhere, and most of them were undesirable. To pull them all out of the trees would have been impossible without damaging the trees themselves, and spraying them with herbicide would have cost a fortune. Instead, I have employed a simple but effective solution. I cut the vines off at the ground and over time, the vine branches in the tops of the trees will wither and fall to the ground. This is remarkably effective because the vine branches are incapable of sustaining themselves. The branches cannot live without their vital connection to the vine.As simple as this may sound, it has profound implications in the spiritual world. In John 15:5, Jesus said, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” Just as a branch cannot exist without the vine, we are completely dependent on Christ for everything. For that reason, it is of vital importance that we stay connected with Christ by “abiding” in Him. He’s not just our main source of spiritual life. He is our only source. If we distance ourselves from Him, we will become dry, fragile, and fruitless. Our life will be a drudgery, not a delight. But if we abide in Him, we will enjoy the blessings of His life flowing through us, resulting in a fruitfulness that brings joy to us and glory to Him.
- Dec 31, 2023The Doctrine Of The Atonement (I Peter 1:19)
The Doctrine Of The Atonement (I Peter 1:19)There are so many aspects of the Christmas story that serve to illustrate Christ's purpose in coming to earth. For instance, Jesus is the Good Shepherd and the Lamb of God. It is fitting then that he was born in a stable and laid in a manger and that the shepherds were the first to receive the news of his birth.But the imagery of a lamb goes much deeper than just illustrating the humility of Christ's birth. It goes back to the garden when God first sacrificed an animal to make a covering to replace man's self-righteous attempt to hide his guilt and shame with fig leaves. It continues through the Passover story when the Jews sacrificed a spotless lamb and painted their doorposts with its blood so the death angel would pass over their homes, and they would be saved. It culminates with Jesus shedding His blood on the cross to atone for our sins.The basic meaning of the word translated "atonement" is a covering. It describes how our sins are pardoned by God, "hidden" in a sense. Our English word conveys the idea of how we have been restored to a right relationship with God. "At-one-ment" is the literal meaning of the word. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice and made atonement for our sins once and for all on the cross of Calvary. It is through Him that we enter into a relationship with God, and it is through Him that that relationship remains right. Our sins are covered, and we are redeemed by "the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:" (1 Peter 1:19)
- Dec 20, 2023Beware and Be Growing (2 Peter 3:14-18)
Beware and Be Growing (2 Peter 3:14-18)God uses all kinds of people. He uses the refined and educated, but He also uses the rough and ignorant. Simon Peter was the kind of person that most people would place in the latter category. He was the kind of guy that always had something to say, even when he should have kept his mouth shut. He probably would not have been the first man that you or I would have voted for if a pulpit committee had presented him as a candidate to pastor a church, but that didn’t matter to Jesus. Jesus called Peter to follow Him, changed Peter from a fisherman to a fisher of men, and later charged Peter with shepherding His sheep.
The change that came over Peter’s life through his time with Jesus is best summarized in Acts 4:13. “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.” Peter may not have been very polished to begin with, but through the grace of God Peter changed. As he learned more about Jesus, he grew in grace and in knowledge. The life of Peter is a case study in the power of Jesus to transform an individual. We can admire Peter for his loyalty and his boldness, but we must give Jesus the glory because it was only through His teaching, training and empowering that Peter became the man he was.
As Peter concluded his last letter to the believers, he knew that his time on earth was coming to an end. He had reminded them of the promise of Christ’s return. He had warned them that scoffers would continue to mock them for believing that promise. He had encouraged them to live right anyway. He wanted to impress on the believers that he loved so much the importance of living holy lives and continually growing for the glory of God while we wait for our blessed hope. Life is too short to waste our time with frivolous pursuits and false doctrines. We must be growing for the glory of God. - Dec 17, 2023The Doctrine Of The Virgin Birth (Genesis 3:15)
The Doctrine Of The Virgin Birth (Genesis 3:15)
- Dec 10, 2023Zachariah’s Song (Luke 1:67-79)
Zachariah’s Song (Luke 1:67-79)
- Dec 3, 2023Challenges to Sanctification (2 Timothy 2:19-21)
Challenges to Sanctification (2 Timothy 2:19-21)
- Nov 29, 2023The Failure of False Prophets (2 Peter 2:17-22)
The Failure of False Prophets (2 Peter 2:17-22)
