Apicontent

At the very moment that you received Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you stepped across a threshold to begin an exciting adventure. You took the first step in fulfilling the purpose for which you were created — to glorify God by loving Him, doing His will, and enjoying Him forever.

God’s goal is to transform us into the likeness of Jesus so our character reflects the fruit of His Spirit — “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22, 23).

God is glorified as our lives bear this spiritual fruit. The apostle Paul explained, “For we are his creative work, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we can do them” (Ephesians 2:10). As our character takes on the likeness of Christ, we become capable, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to accomplish all God has planned for us.

Shortly before Jesus was to be crucified, He explained to His disciples how they could live victorious fruitful lives after His ascension into Heaven. Jesus used the Parable of the Vine to illustrate the importance of continuing to “abide in Christ.” The word “abide” means “to remain” or “to stay.”

Jesus explained, “I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me—and I in him—bears much fruit, because apart from me you can accomplish nothing” (John 15:1, 4, 5).

It is only by abiding in Christ that we are able to fulfill God’s purpose for our life.

The Parable of the Vine reveals how we, as believers, are to remain in Jesus, vitally connected to Him, in order to accomplish all God intends for us. The branches can only produce fruit as long as they are connected to the vine and receiving nourishment. They live in complete dependence upon the resources the vine provides.

It is the same for followers of Christ. The fruitfulness God expects cannot be produced through our striving and self-effort. God does not want our focus to be doing good things for Him but rather to focus on our connection to Jesus. This will result in our becoming the people He wants us to be and in us doing the things He has designed for us.

Abiding in Christ involves allowing the Bible to transform our thinking so we see life from God’s point of view. Jesus promised, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). Once our thinking conforms to God’s point of view, we will desire what He desires. And as a result, He will grant our requests.

Abiding in Christ also involves a continual awareness of Christ’s enormous love for us. Jesus told His disciples, “Just as the Father has loved me, I have also loved you; remain in my love” (John 15:9). He went on to explain, “If you obey my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commandments and remain in his love” (John 15:10).

Jesus reveals the result of abiding in Him: “My Father is honored by this, that you bear much fruit and show that you are my disciples….I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete” (John 15:8, 11).

In essence, the Parable of the Vine stresses the importance of living in union with Christ with a total dependence upon His empowering Spirit, renewing our minds with the Word of God, and loving Jesus as demonstrated by faithful obedience. That is the only path to the fruitful, fulfilling life for which you were created. Are you abiding in Christ?

Read “Abiding Room“.

“The person who has my commandments and obeys them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal myself to him.” – John 14:21

“If you obey my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.” – John 15:10

Walking with God means to trust and submit to the Father. Active (willing) obedience to the Father is an expression of our love for God and faith in Him. It is also the way to remain in His love. The Father does not love us more because we are obedient to Him. He does not love us less when we are disobedient. Obedience to the Father helps us experience His love by becoming more aware of it.

Another amazing promise of God is that when we are obedient to the Father, Jesus will manifest himself to us. The fullness of His presence in our life is life-giving and life-changing. The rule and reign (Kingdom) of God accompanies the presence of Jesus.

When Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom of God, He demonstrated it by His own life of complete submission to the Father. When we, as His beloved children, willingly submit to His authority and obey His will, our obedience to God helps make His Kingdom a reality wherever we are.

Now how does obedience fit in to a love-based relationship with God?

We get to know who God really is through living a daily life He tells us to live. And the incredible part? How He tells us to live makes it possible for us to experience a purpose-filled life with peace, contentment, and joy, as well as His love, goodness, and greater intimacy with Him.

There are more reasons than love when we try to submit to the Father’s will. Sometimes we are motivated by a blessing or benefit of obeying Him. Sometimes, our motive is the sense of duty. Sometimes, it is fear of the consequence of disobedience.

Each of these motivations for obedience are related to a particular relational metaphor, and are not altogether bad. The one who obeys to receive a blessing, acknowledges the goodness of our heavenly Father who rewards faithfulness. The one who obeys out of duty, rightly acknowledges God as the sovereign Ruler of the universe who gives the marching orders. The one who obeys out of fear of punishment rightly acknowledges God as the only true Judge, whose justice includes punishing sin.

Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandment” (John 14:15). We ultimately follow a Person, not a rule book. A purer motivation for obedience flows naturally out of the security of being loved by Him and our desire to please the One we love.

Because God gives you freedom, it is possible that you can quench or grieve the Holy Spirit. Even though He dwells in you and never leaves you nor forsakes you, you can short-circuit the flow of God’s power when your fellowship with God is strained or broken. To live in harmony with God, you need to:

Surrender Your Will to God

You are a new creation with a new identity in Christ. The Word of God declares that your old self is dead with Christ on the cross and your new self is alive with Him in His resurrection!

You no longer belong to the domain of darkness where your own will tried to rule over your own life. You are now transferred to the Kingdom of His beloved Son. A kingdom is the domain of a king where the will of the king is the law of the land and obeyed by its citizens.

Now that you belong to the Kingdom of God, you are no longer under any other will and power, including your own, but His.

Just as Jesus willingly submitted himself to the will of His Father all the way to the cross, trusting Him, you are to surrender your will and submit yourself as His child under the loving will of your heavenly Father. The obedience to the Father is foundational to the supernatural living, the natural life of believers in Christ.

Walk in the Light of Truth

“Then Jesus said to those Judeans who had believed him, ‘If you continue to follow my teaching, you are really my disciples and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'” – John 8:31-32

“For you were at one time darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live like children of light.” – Ephesians 5:8

“But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” – 1 John 1:7

Because God is light, you who are in Christ are light and can walk in the light as the child of light! Light of truth always dispels the darkness of lies, deception, and ignorance. Bring all things under the light of truth. That is, to bring Jesus the truth into every circumstance and to speak the truth of the Word in your situations.

Trust in God

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth and all their hosts, everything was good! Imagine! The life of Adam and Eve was surrounded by nothing but goodness, beauty, abundance, and freedom! Still deceived by the serpent, they mistrusted God. They did not believe in His absolute goodness. They did not have faith in God the perfect benevolent Creator! That is why it is impossible to please God without faith. True faith always results in actions in line with it. “So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead being by itself” (James 2:17).

Praise and Thank Him

Turn your heart from yourself or your problems to God. In many situations, your problems may be bigger than you, but in the presence of God, nothing is big.  Focus on who God is. Praise Him for who He is and thank Him for what he does. He is your hope. He is your joy. He is your healer. He is your comforter. He is your strength. He is your wisdom. His promises are certain. His will is good. He is powerful. He is faithful. When you look to God in praise and thanksgiving, He will open your eyes (2 Kings 6:17) to show you the truth.

Humble Yourself Before God

“But he gives greater grace. Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.'” – James 4:6

“And God will exalt you in due time, if you humble yourselves under his mighty hand.” – 1 Peter 5:6

“Each of you should be concerned not only about your own interests, but about the interests of others as well. You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had.” – Philippians 2:4-5

Seek Unity within the Body of Christ

Discord, bitterness, an unforgiving heart, and an independent spirit among His children grieve the heart of the Father. If you are a parent, you know how it feels to see your children not getting along well with each other. The lack of unity in the body of Christ quickly quenches the Holy Spirit because true unity comes from the Spirit (Ephesians 4:3). We often seek superficial unity. This usually results in compromising truths and avoiding confrontation. The power of the Spirit is absent among such a body of Christ. We also sometimes confuse unity with uniformity. True unity is based on mature faith and the knowledge of Jesus. In other words, unity is possible only when people are growing in their relationship with Jesus. 

Depend upon Him

Apart from Christ, you can do nothing. Self-reliance or depending on other people or relying on possessions, positions and power do not produce His supernatural results. When you depend on God, the result of your obedience will go far beyond here and now. In fact, you normally don’t know how your action really will have impacted the world because God is looking at the situation from His eternal and comprehensive perspective. It is like playing a game of chess. If you are a novice, all you can see is your next step. A pro will be able to see next several steps. Or it is like a traffic reporter in a helicopter looking down a congested road. She can see a long stretch of the road and know exactly what’s happening. You, being a driver stuck in the traffic, can see only what’s in front of you.