Journey Through Johnናሙና

Scripture:

John 15:5 “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.”

Observation:

In these last hours of Jesus’ life before His crucifixion, He speaks about some of His greatest concerns for His followers. And at the top of His priority list is that each of us stays connected to Him, keeping the relationship with Him fresh and real and constant. He is our source of life and power to live right. From Him comes spiritual nourishment that will keep us growing. If we lose touch with Him, we can do nothing of real eternal value.

Application: 

It’s easy to get so busy that I don’t take time to really enjoy Jesus’ presence and His love. Taking time with Him first thing each morning by reading His Word, praying my concerns, and taking time to worship and listen to Him in prayer helps get my day started in a spirit of “connectedness” to Jesus. Then throughout the day, I find I need to keep reminding myself of His presence and His love – taking moments here and there to remember Him, enjoy Him and be thankful for Him. When I get in the habit of doing this, my perspective on life and people is healthier and more positive. I feel the joy of the abundant life Jesus promised. I receive promptings from Him that lead to exciting opportunities to be involved in His work in the world. But when I let myself get distracted, simply forgetting for long periods of time that Jesus is with me, my attitudes and spontaneous responses grow less and less like Jesus. Ultimately my relationships suffer when I lose that connection, because I respond with less patience and love, and I tend to be more self-focused. 

Prayer: 

Jesus, help me stay connected with You throughout this day and every day. I love You. Amen. 

Truths to notice:

15:4-5 Jesus is like the central vine, and we are like the branches. He is our source of nourishment and life, so we need to stay connected to Him to continue to live well and bear fruit (that is, to see personal growth and development of Godly character qualities). 

15:8 Character development is the evidence that we are really Jesus’ disciples.

15:14 Another way to describe the evidence that we are Jesus’ friends is that we live out His commands of love.

15:19 Since genuine Christ-followers don’t fit into the world’s ways of doing things, they are often mistreated by the world. 

15:22 Once people have had God’s truth spoken to them, they bear more responsibility before God.

15:26 The Holy Spirit testifies to us about Jesus and helps us testify to others.