Constantly Abiding

In John 15:4, Jesus said, "Abide in me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me."  In this passage, Jesus reveals to us our sole purpose in life - to bear fruit.  To bear fruit means that we are influencing others to know Christ as their Savior and to be His disciples.  God told Adam and Eve to "be fruitful and multiply", and in a spiritual sense, that is what He expects of us - to reproduce ourselves through our influence and make disciples of Jesus Christ.

Our purpose in life is bearing fruit, but that is not our job; our job is to abide in Him.  When we abide in Him, fruit will be produced.    To abide in Christ means to live every moment in the awareness of His presence and to constantly yield our will to His.  We call someone's "abode" a house, because that is where they live.  God lives in us through the Holy Spirit, and we are His "abode."  So, when we are acknowledging His presence and obeying His every command, we are abiding in Him.

Several things will be evident in our life to indicate our constant abiding:

First, we will be fruitful if we are abiding in Him.  Verse 5 says, "He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit."  Again, we are not on this earth to fulfill our pleasures, to work, to make money, to marry, to have children, etc.  If that is all you are living for, life is going to be empty.  Our sole purpose is to bring glory to God, and that can only be done by bearing fruit.  Verse 8 says, "Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit."

Is their fruit in your life?  Are people coming to know Christ as a result of your witness and testimony?  Are you inviting others to church so they can hear the life-changing Gospel message?  Fruit is not limited to character qualities - it involves reproducing ourselves.

Secondly, we will be pruned if we are abiding in Him.  Verse 2 and 3 says, "Every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now are ye clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you."  You may be satisfied with how much fruit you have, but God isn't; He wants more.  He uses His Word, which is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword,  to cut out anything unnecessary in our lives.  If we do not respond correctly to His Word, He uses trials to cause us to submit our will to His.  It is all about more fruit!  The more fruit we produce, the more He can be glorified, and the more we can fulfill our purpose for living.

Now, it may not be too appealing to us to get cut on just so God can get glory, but God has blessings for us as well.  You see, the third evidence of abiding in Christ is that we will receive answers to prayer.  Verse 7 says, "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you."  What an amazing prayer promise!  The greatest joy in life is to see God answer your prayer, but in order to experience that, we must live in the constant awareness of His presence and surrender our will to His.  This will produce fruit, which will give Him glory, and empower us to pray in His will and receive what we pray for!  It is sin and selfishness that blocks most of our prayers and leaves us empty-handed and discouraged.  But, when we are abiding in Him, producing fruit, bringing Him glory, and praying according to His will, there will be showers of blessings!

The fourth thing you can expect when you are abiding in Christ is joy - full joy!  Verse 11 says, "These things have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you and that your joy may be full."  Permanent joy is what is missing in the lives of many Christians.  Why would unbelievers want to get saved when so many believers are so discouraged and distraught?  The secret to having joy is abiding in Christ, surrendering our will to His, bringing Him glory, and seeing Him answer our prayer!  We will never have joy when sin is dominating our lives and our will is prevailing.

Now, I must introduce you to a negative aspect of this abiding.  The fifth thing we can expect if we are abiding in Christ is that we will not fit in with the world.  Verse 18 says, "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you...I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you."  Friend, if we are abiding in Christ, bearing fruit, winning souls, and glorifying God, we will not fit in with the world.  Many people are not willing to pay that price.  They want to fit in with the world and have God's joy and power, but it doesn't work that way!

Satan, the prince of this world, is out to conform us to the mold of the world.  He wants us to love the world so we will not love God. (1 John 2:15) The pressure is all around us to conform, but if we are abiding in Christ, we will not fit in.

But, the world is passing away.  1 John 2:18 says, "And the world passeth away and the lusts thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever."  Cheer up, Christian disciple; the world will not be here long.  We are citizens of Heaven and soon, we will be home.  So, don't despair not fitting into the world's mold.  It is passing away, even as we speak.

The sixth thing you can expect to see in the abiding Christian is love.  Verse 10 says, "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love.  Verse 12 says, "This is my commandment, that ye love one another."  As we are abiding in Christ and submitting our will to His, He commands us to love others the way He has loved us.  If we do not obey His command, we stop abiding, and therefore, stop being fruitful.

It is not easy to love certain people, but it is easy to submit our will to His.  As we do it, the love of Christ flows through us to others.  We become a conduit of His unconditional and merciful love.  When our will is lost in His, our selfishness and hurt feelings do not come into the equation, and we can love people like Jesus did.  John 13:35 says, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples; if ye have love one for another."

May God deliver us from our selfish and fleshly attitudes of bitterness, unforgiveness, and hate.  May we allow the love of God to flow through us as we are lost in His will!  Then, we can expect revival in our churches and our homes.  How life changing is this concept of abiding in Christ!

Are you abiding in Him?  Have you entered into a relationship with Christ?  You can do so by admitting you are a sinner, believing Jesus died on the Cross and rose from the dead, and calling on Him in faith and repentance to save you.  Then, you can begin to know His purpose for you and experience the joy of a fruitful Christian life.  For more information on how to receive Christ as Savior, contact me through this blog.

If you have already trusted Christ, yet you are not constantly abiding in Him.  Do it now!  Surrender your will to His, allow the Holy Spirit to direct every thought, word, and deed.  Be completely obedient to Him in all things.  Saturate yourself in His Word for guidance and submit to the knife of trials as He cuts away all unnecessary components of your life that thwart the richest grapes of Christlikeness.  As you do, you will witness  and experience God using your influence to bring about new life in unbelievers.  You will see amazing answers to prayer.  You will display contagious joy as you live out your sole purpose in life - bearing fruit and bringing God the glory due to His name.