John 15:1-8
Thoughts from Pastor Brian
Dive Deeper
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. 3You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”
John 15:1-8
Behind the Scenes
There are so many lessons to be learned in this passage that I could easily write you a whole book lining them out. It’s such a beautiful passage packed with so much wisdom and practical application. But for the sake of today’s devo I want to draw your attention to one word… “abide”.
What does it mean to abide? Well, dictionary.com defines the word “abide” as to remain, to continue, or to stay. It also can be used to describe someone taking up residence within a space. The Greek word used is menō and it is used in reference to someone staying out of choice, not force. It is important to understand this difference too, because it speaks to what Jesus is calling each of us to do.
Make it Real
See, when we are adopted as sons and daughters of God through the blood of Jesus Christ, we are welcomed into the presence and the love of God. But we get to choose what we do when we are there. Will we sit on the back porch and do our own thing, never really resting in the house of God? Or will we come in, sit down, and take up residence there? Will we take ownership of our faith, or will we simply sit on the outskirts never really diving in?
We have a choice. When we choose to abide in Jesus, in His love, and in our new identity with Him, we will bear good fruit. We can’t help but do so as a result of the abiding. Take for example a child who is adopted into a new home: when they spend time with their new family, they start to do things like them. They start talking like them, saying the same things, and experiencing the same events. Studies have even shown that they begin to physically resemble the new family because their facial expressions start to mimic the new family and in turn the muscles in their face start to reshape them to look similar to the family they are in. It’s amazing! It’s a natural result of living in close proximity to their family.
So too, when we abide with Christ, we start to look more like Him. We start to sound more like Him and walk more like Him. We start to do things that He would do. It’s a natural expression of our proximity to Him. Like a branch which receives nutrients and life from the vine that it is attached to, we too receive nutrients and life from Christ when we abide in Him.
But just as absurd as it would be for a branch from an apple tree to be cut off from the tree and yet still be expected to bear fruit laying on the ground, we too cannot continue to grow, produce, and thrive if we do not abide in the vine. We will do nothing more than what that branch would do- wither and die on the ground. We need the life-giving vine to sustain all we were made to do, to produce the fruit that we so crave and desire to produce.
See, it’s not about behavior modification. That never works. If it did, we would have fixed all our problems long ago. What Jesus is talking about here is this abiding faith that draws us near to the heart of God. And it’s in HIS presence that we find all we need.
Crystal Garnett
ACF Digital Discipleship Team Lead
End in Prayer
Lord,
You are all I need. Please help me to draw near to you today. Help me to stop trying to be good enough, do enough, say enough, or perform enough. Instead, help me to come and rest in your presence, letting you be the source of what I need. Help me to surrender to the life-giving flow that comes from you and then flow through me into good fruit in my life. Help me to reject ideas of self-sufficiency and independence. Instead, help me to embrace my dependence on You even more.
In Jesus’ Name
Amen