ABIDING

My grandson and I were riding around the other day on an old golf cart Charles had recently gotten me and that we now affectionately refer to as “The Donkey”. As we were riding around in the fields, my grandson pointed out to me that the bushes that had flowers on them a couple of weeks ago now are heavy with red berries. The branches were just drooping from the weight of all those berries. He and I both are looking forward to picking them when the time is right.

Ever wonder how a branch can be so bogged down with what may appear to be a burden of heavy fruit and yet look so healthy? How does it manage the strain of bearing so much heavy fruit and yet for the most part stay fully intact and attached to the vine? What is the secret of those branches? Do you think that they are naturally ingrained to do so….or maybe their DNA understands that their responsibility for production or results is solely on the vine and not on the branch. Well one thing we do know for sure…is that, that is How God created and plan it to be. The scripture tells us that if we belong to God and are His Children, that Christ is the vine and we are the branches' and that we are always only one step away to having peace and harmony in our lives if we abide in Him.

Yet abiding can be so very hard to do…why? In John chapter 15, Jesus told His disciples to “Abide in Me and I in you”…and went on to say that, “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine; so neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” The problem with abiding is that the flesh in us is constantly struggling to break away and be independent and on our own, especially if things are not going like we want them to or moving at the pace we are expecting. It’s a power struggle thing …the Flesh in us to do it our way and the Spirit of God in us to do it the right way. Abiding is fine as long as things go our way…but when life throws us a curve ball, it is then we are tested to see if we are abiding in the vine or allowing the weight to become an excuse to break away from the vine adn venture out on our own.

You see….Abiding is not simply a matter of coming to Christ or being still…but it is a way of life. As the fruit is connected to the branch for it’s nourishment and life…we are to be connected to Christ for our life support, every breath, thought, motive we have is to become captive to the captor which is Christ the Lord. His Word tells us that He is molding us and making us into His likeness. Now if we do not like this, then we had better reconsider if we are even a part of the vine or not. What I mean is that while we may not like the pain of the change, if we belong to Him we are glad that He is making that difference in our lives and we crave with the strongest of desires to be more like Him and that is the glue that holds us to the vine…the simple fact that we want to be.

While at times when Christ is slaying us…we must understand that He is only molding us into His image; which is a pretty good image if you ask me! God wants us to endure the race, and we can not unless we learn to abide in Him and His Word in us. Abiding is a choice, it is a verb that shows action; something we do. Abiding is not being idle, it’s making a direct decision to do something and that something is obedience to Christ and what He is asking us to do; trust Him…obey Him….for there is no other way to be happy and at peace. Yes, peace will be there if we are abiding….it only leaves us when we allow doubt or disobedience to step in and replace it!

The fruit that God intends us to bear will never come until we learn to abide in the vine. Fruit can be defined as the outward expression of the inward nature of the vine; and that is exactly what God wants us to see. The scripture tells us that lost folk should be able to know that we are part of that spiritual vine if we are producing spiritual fruit in our lives. The inward nature of a Christian should reflect a visible manifestation that Jesus Christ is there; present in that person that claims the name of Christ. The fruit of a branch is produced only because of it’s attachment to the vine. The branches should flow with the spiritual fruit of the nature of God Himself manifested in His only Son through His Holy Spirit. It is that very same Holy Spirit that longs to manifest Himself in us filling us with the very nature of God Himself.

Jesus said Himself, when we see Him, we see the Father; when we know Him, we know the Father! The key to staying connected to the vine and bearing constant fruit is described in Psalms 1:3 “and he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.”

But to be like the tree that David is talking about and how the man becomes successful starts back in verse 2 “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.” Those streams of water in verse 3 is the living word of God that flows freely but we must be willing to drink of it for it to do us any good. We must study it, meditate on it… to know Him better….otherwise it’s like passing up a crystal clear water hole in the middle of the dessert… because we choose not to take from it the nourishment needed to sustain and keep us attached to the vine let alone produce growth and fruit in it’s season.

When we are abiding in Christ, we have His best! Even when life does throw those curve balls at us and the weight on us seems momentarily more than we can bear; in Christ we are not swayed by that weight….neither hopeless or even helpless…others may look at us and wonder how we manage it with such difficulties all around us…yet if we stay connected to the vine He promises to hold up our branches that yes even others may be witnessed to by and even encouraged!

Abiding is simply staying the course, not breaking away from our spiritual source…staying connected in His Word and obeying what He tells us to do …and may I say peace to anyone who can find it….but I tell you there is no Peace like the peace that God gives to His children!

Loving and Praying for you today! Hang In there...Don't you dare give up!

Bren

John 15-1"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. 9"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.