To Abide is to remain, to stay, to dwell, to reside, to submit, to connect

Ever find yourself trapped in a frantic pace?  You’re running every night, your husband is complaining he never sees you, you can’t remember what your kids look like and you’re not sure when you all sat down to dinner together.  Oh yes… and you are tired, cranky and overwhelmed.  To top it off, you have convinced yourself that this is all in the name of ‘Serving Jesus’.

You’re working hard to produce fruit for Jesus, but you have never consulted Him about any of your decisions.  You’ve said yes to anyone who asks, because that’s what ‘Good Christians’ do and it’s left you feeling alone and empty.  You mt dear, have become disconnected fro the only one who can sustain you, Jesus.  Jesus warns us what will happen when we disconnect from Him –

The Vine & The Branches

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit;for without Me you can do nothing.  John 15:5

 I am the Vine

Jesus declares that He is the Vine, the stem that is full of all the nutrients we need to produce fruit in our lives.

 You are the Branches

A branch is the subdivision, a limb, an off-shoot of the main stem.  The branches are dependent upon the stem to sustain life.  Jesus declaration is clear He is the Vine – We are the branches.

He (or She) who abides in Me

We choose rather our branch stays connected to the Vine or not, we choose to abide.

• We choose to stay connected to Jesus
• We choose to submit to His way of doing things
• We choose to dwell in His presence
• We choose to pray
• We choose to listen
• We choose to remain in Him

 Bears much fruit

Here is the promise for those who abide in Him- they bear, bring forth, produce, give birth to much fruit. 

What kind of fruit are we to be producing?

His Love 

His Joy

His Peace

His Patience

His Goodness

His Faithfulness

His Gentleness

His Self-Control

 

This is spiritual fruit and we cannot produce it on our own.  It’s impossible! It flows from the Vine into our branches that touch the world around us. We can try to muster it up ourselves, but we cannot sustain this fruit on our own.  Before we know it our branch is wilting.

 for without Me you can do nothing

In case there is any question, when you separate your branch from the vine, you may have some left over fruit for a time, but be assured apart from Jesus, there is no way to produce His fruit.

When we plunge into serving without staying connected to Jesus, we will find a whole lot of work, a whole lot of running that leads to one withered lady. The only place we’ll be finding fruit is in the produce isle.

Pray, listen, graft yourself into Jesus, say yes to the fruitful things and no to the fruitless ones.  Then you will feel him flowing through you, nourishing you, sustaining you.  Instead of feeling exhausted and cranky you will be healthy and vibrant, producing beautiful and delicious fruit, that draw all those around you to Jesus.