Description
The words of Jesus, found in John 15:5, bear close scrutiny. How do we ‘abide’ in Jesus? What difference does that make … (visit YouTube for more)
Transcript
Jesus speaks precious words of truth to us in John 15 verse 5. He says, I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.
When meditating on this verse, we should ask ourselves, how do we abide in Christ? How do we live in him? How do we remain close to him? How do we remain rooted in his teaching, in his very presence? Living in Christ causes his life to grow in us and to produce fruit, to produce evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
He also says that apart from him, we can’t do anything. That nothing that we do will be of value unless it comes from a life that is rooted in the Vine.
And Jesus says that we are to abide in him, but he also abides in us. He lives in us, and that is the way that we gain strength to abide in him: that he’s in us first, that he places the power that raised him from the dead inside us. That’s incredible.
And so with the living Christ, with His Holy Spirit within us, remaining close to Him, remaining grounded in Him, remaining centered on Him, staying close to His words, His teaching, His example, then we will be fruitful, and that fruit will be effective.
Jesus Christ, You are dear to us. Thank you that we are dear to you. Please help us to remain living in you. We know that you long for us to be fruitful, that you long for you to be revealed in us and through us. Amen.
And now friends, I suggest that having meditated along with me, you spend some time now meditating further on what this means to abide in Christ. God bless you.
