Title: STAY CONNECTED
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, 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, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
John 15:4-8
I love John 15 because it is part of the scriptures the Lord used to establish my faith and pursuit of usefulness in the Kingdom. It is rightly called the Chapter of the Vine and the Fruits, just the way Hebrews 11 is the Chapter of Faith.
In this chapter, John 15, Jesus began to show the Church a glimpse into the oneness they would have in Him. As being in Christ Jesus, He is our head and we are His body – Eph. 1, 2, 2Cor. 5:17, Col. 1, etc. The same way, Jesus now said, we, the Church, you and I, are the branches while He is the Vine or Trunk of this Divine Tree.
Its joyous and worth thanking God for, knowing that from the day you give your life over to Jesus as Lord and Savior, you become engrafted into this Family ‘Tree’. You become Jesus’ branch also. -Rom. 11.
But, then again, what next? After knowing I’m a branch of the Vine, Jesus, what does my life now mean and pursue? It is the ignorance of this that makes believers live like they aren’t saved and/or like there isn’t any difference in them and the unbelievers. But this shouldn’t be so.
Look again at the relationship and function between the branch and the Tree. One feeds the other, while the one which receives nourishment grows and reproduces after the kind of Vine to which it is connected, thus satisfying the Gardener and also continuing the existence of the species of the mother-trunk through the production of more seeds.
Let’s use the orange tree and its branch for example and that will help us connect ourselves to this title. Make sure to see the trunk as Jesus and you, the branch. It will help you understand it better. If God expects me to be fruitful, I believe He has put a system in place to make that possible.
The branch only exists according to the tree. And as long as the branch is joined to the tree, it draws its life and freshness from the tree. I’ve seen short trees will long branches as well as thin trees with large branches. Whatever the branch is, big or small, doesn’t make it independent of the tree. It still only exists because of its connection to the tree. The moment the branch disconnects, it loses the connection to all the juice needed to sustain life. Such branch will dry up and die. And that’s what being connected to Jesus is like.
Have you noticed that each time you get entangled with things that make you have little or no time for the Lord, maybe sin, work, companies, habits, etc. you begin to feel dry on the inside, you feel naked, weak and vulnerable? This is the simple reason why. You’re connected to Him and your life is in Jesus. If you continue like that, you’ll soon wound up as a nominal christian professing godliness (that’s if you still can) but denying its power. It’s like a living thing and its habitat. No living thing can survive outside its natural habitat. Fish, man, etc. Why, that’s how they’re wired.
Likewise, your new creation life is hidden in Jesus. It is therefore necessary that daily, you stay connected and keep yourself connected to your Source, Jesus. Don’t let, I’m busy, keep you away. They’re traps. You’ll end up drained. Rather do what the Word says, stay grafted and hinge your survival on Jesus only. That way, you’ll stay fresh, maintaining a balanced spiritual health.
You stay refreshed through fellowshipping with Him daily in quiet time and meditation. Don’t joke with your private altar beloved. Don’t joke with your personal spiritual health. Don’t put it aside, you’ll die. Then you’ll realize the vanity of your pursuits as compared to your soul’s health. Prepare plans and schedules that’ll allow you give quality time to feed your spirit daily. When this happens, you can draw strength, help, inspiration, hope, ideas, guidance and more light in this dark world. You can’t underestimate the value of being connected to Jesus.
You need it to be a better you. And as you do, you’ll be a better representative of Jesus here on earth. No wonder Paul said in Philippians 3:10 that his earnest prayer was to know the Lord. This is because, you can only represent what you know and not what you’re a stranger to. You can only not be a stranger if you have Koinonia with the One you represent.
Ask the Father to establish you in your connection to HIM that will make you a better Christian and enable you to walk in the Kingdom realities today, in Jesus name.
Glory!
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