John 15:5, “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.”
Do you feel at times you need regenerative power to go on in life? Are you abiding and thriving in God’s redeeming power? In John 15:4, Jesus states, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.” Then, as Jesus declared to the disciples in John 15:5b, “For apart from me you can do nothing.” Jesus is saying, stay close to me; know my words of instruction, wisdom, and correction.
How do you stay connected to Jesus throughout your day? We all get so busy being busy, yet Jesus taught the disciples in John 15:1-2, “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.” That is what he is referring to in verse 5. In this chapter, he talks about the fruit of answered prayer, joy, and love as fruit (15:7,11,12). When your life is filled with holiness (Rom. 6:22), helping others (Rom. 15:28; Col. 1), giving praise to His name (Heb. 13), and showing love to others (Gal. 5:22), witnessing to the lost boldly, joyful, peaceful and patient, you are exhibiting and producing the “fruit” Jesus is talking about in John 15:5, continually abiding in putting God first in your life.
I have to ask myself how much time I give to praying. I so often feel anxious or irritated with a situation and stew and stew. But do I remember to talk to God first about it, rather than to anyone else, and remind myself that God is sovereign and omnipresent? He already knows the outcome and the reason. In John 15:5 Jesus tells me, “apart from me you can do nothing.” That is so true! If prayer was the first response, then being filled with the Holy Spirit is life-giving water to our soul, and food from God’s Word should be how we connect with Jesus throughout the day. I recently read that if you want to hear God speak, read His Word out loud!
The focus for our prayers should not be “God, this is what I want.” But “God, what do you want of me to glorify and be more like Christ in this situation? It requires living in steadfast endurance, obeying God’s will, and staying close to Christ in our thoughts, producing much fruit. Jesus declared in John 8:32b, “the truth will set you free.” Yes, God’s Word of truth will set us free from depression, anxiety, fears, loneliness, and grumbling when we are having it feed our soul and hearts and minds.
Are you in a crisis or somewhere in between? Ask God to help you bear fruit out of it, which will be peace, love, and righteousness (Jeremiah 17:5-10). Jesus is the source of life, grace, and spiritual fruit. Stay connected by abiding in Christ through prayer, reading and meditating upon God’s Word, and realize apart from God you can do nothing.
Listen to Lauren Daigle – Lord I’m Tired (Lyrics Video)