Y Saturday, October 18, 2008Y
12:41 am
He who abides in Me... bears much fruit.John 15:5 NAS
Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me… bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing." As branches we bear fruit, but the life-giving substance required to do it flows to us from the vine. Any time we try to produce our own fruit it's going to be plastic fruit. When someone says, "I don't love my wife or my husband," that's not the issue. The issue is, can Christ love your wife or husband through you? The answer is yes, because love is a fruit that's produced in you by the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). So, the question is, are you willing to allow Christ's love to flow through you?
Abiding in Christ is just another name for intimacy with Christ. He wants to express His life through you, which comes through your attachment to Him. If your prayer life is just a matter of shooting up an occasional SOS as emergencies arise, you're missing this intimacy. If you just have your devotions in the morning so you can "get them out of the way and get on with your day", you don't understand abiding.
After years of smoking, one lady decided to kick the habit. She tried every stop-smoking product on the market but nothing worked. Finally, she decided that instead of focusing on all the things she was doing to quit, she would just focus on being in God's presence and coming to really know Him. Within 30 days she had quit smoking - because of the power of the vine. So, the word for you today is 'abide'.