shadow

Remain

Connected Branch

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“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”
John 15:5, NLT

Luke, chapter eight, gives the account of a woman who’d been afflicted for twelve years with non-stop bleeding. In that day, she was considered “unclean”—someone nobody wanted to come in contact with. As such, she was likely an outcast, not connected in her community, and unable to find a cure for her bleeding. One day, while Jesus was passing through a town, she made her way through the crowd of people in an effort to get close enough to touch Him. She reached His clothing and touched the edge of His robe. Right then, she stopped bleeding. Jesus wanted to know who touched Him. Everyone around Him said they didn’t do it. The apostle Peter told Jesus the entire crowd was pressing on Him because so many people were there.

“But Jesus said, ‘Someone deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me.’ When the woman realized that she could not stay hidden, she began to tremble and fell to her knees in front of him. The whole crowd heard her explain why she had touched him and that she had been immediately healed. ‘Daughter,’ he said to her, ‘your faith has made you well. Go in peace’”  (Luke 8: 46-48, NLT).

This woman had been outwardly disconnected from healing for years. By touching Jesus she demonstrated her faith that He was the true source of the healing power that she needed. Jesus said He felt healing power go out from Him when she touched His robe. She was connected to him in her heart! Read today’s Dose verse.

God wants our lives to be like fruit-producing branches of a grapevine. This happens when we stay connected to Jesus (our vine), and let God (our gardener), prune our lives. It prompts growth and fruitfulness. God’s cultivating, weeding, and pruning within us results in godly character development, progress in our walk with Jesus, and an abundance of spiritual fruit. Remaining in Jesus means to stay connected to him (in all situations) in our hearts, through faith, just like the woman did. We must persist in keeping connected to Jesus, our power source for living godly, fruitful, and productive lives. Without Him, we become disconnected, and therefore, can’t do what He requires of us.

Are you a fruitful branch connected to the Vine today?

By grace through faith,

Rita

Stay With Me.

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“Remain in me, as I also 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.”

John 15:4, NIV

start-with-jesus-stay-with-jesus-end-with-jesus-quote-1One of the definitions of “remain” in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary is “to stay in the same place with the same person or group.” Pretty simple. Or so it would seem.

But any of you who have or have had small children know this is not always so easy. How often have you been in a public place and told your children, “Stay with me,” and yet, you turn around, and they’ve wandered a few feet away, or even to another aisle where you can no longer see them? They have no concept of how dangerous it is to stray from you and the safety of your watchful eye.

We’re a lot like that, you know. We think we can “just go look at this” or “just step over here for a minute,” without thinking how dangerous it is to step away from Jesus. And just like a child who has wandered away from Mom and suddenly realizes he can no longer see her, we look up and realize just how far we’ve wandered from Him. He’s still there, just like the mom on the next aisle. We just can’t see Him at that moment. The difference is, He can still see us, and will patiently wait until we come back.

The Bible says “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (NIV)  are the “fruit of the Spirit.” If we, as branches, are to produce this fruit, we must remain in Him. That means we must stay in the same place with the same person – Jesus! With Him is not only the safest place to be, it’s the only place to be if you wish to bear fruit in your life.

He said so Himself.

“Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” 

Remaining in Him,

Amy