"If you remain in me..." John 15:7-10

Here is the question, does fruit strive to (abide) or remain connected to the vine or branch for its nourishment and sustenance, or is remaining connected to the vine just a natural consequence of the relationship between the fruit and the vine?  The answer may seem obvious, but some strive to bear fruit disconnected from the vine.  This short video with Francis Chan below speaks to that.

Jesus says: If you remain in me and my words remain in you, you will produce fruit. It is a known fact that the fruit-bearing seed produces fruit from its own kind.  For example, apples produce apples, cherries produce cherries, and so on.  When the seed of Jesus’ word is planted within us, it produces after its kind, the very person (or nature) of Jesus is produced within us.  

Remaining (or abiding) in the vine presents a challenge for some, in essence abiding is resting.  We cannot force ourselves to remain connected to Christ any more than an apple can force itself to remain connected to its branch to bear fruit, but...we can rest.  It is in the rest we know that we can put our complete trust and confidence that will produce long-lasting fruit that will remain connected to the source of life.   Jesus says that the Father is glorified when we produce much fruit. 

Paul describes this further in Colossians 1:27 (GNT) “…And the secret is that Christ is in you, which means that you will share in the glory of God.”  So remaining (or abiding) is resting in the fact that Christ is in you, we have no need to sweat the hard stuff because Jesus has provided everything else.  We can have the assurance that being connected to the vine will produce fruit.

Jesus loves us just the way the Father loves Him, He becomes the fruit in us that will remain.

Be Blessed;

Stephen Barnett