GOD’S WORD FOR JANUARY 18
GOD’S WORD FOR JANUARY 18 ~ ~ John 15:1-7 ~ ~
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine dresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 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.
5 “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. 6 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. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
Much of the meaning of the Wondrous Word of God is not reaped by His people because of not understanding the deeper meaning of key words. Modern translations have changed the word “abide” to “remain” or other words. The original Greek has deeper meaning than our modern English words.
In the above verses, the word translated “abide” means to stay in the relationship or place; to remain attached, whether physically, emotionally, or spiritually. It involves a very deep, close relationship of mutual thoughts and desires.
We are to abide IN HIM. That means we receive all our spiritual and material nourishment from Him.
We are nothing without Him, because as we see in Acts 17:28 “…. in Him we live and move and have our being….”
In Verse 7, Abiding in Jesus and His words abiding in us, is the key to the entire spiritual walk in this world.
The word means that the Words of Jesus are part of us, we have a relationship with His Words, as with Him. (He is the Word of God…..John 1:1-4).
Then we will be one with Him and His Words, and the Father will be listening to the Words of Jesus, coming through us. When we ask, it will be His Words, put there by the Holy Spirit, because of the place we hold in the Vine, which is Jesus:
If we keep that position with Him, we cannot pray from our minds, we can only pray His Will, because it will be His Words, which we are drawing from our relationship to Him. Then Psalm 37:4 comes true:
“Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.” because our delights line up with His perfect will for us.
We can only draw those Words after we have settled, and resettled, in our minds and hearts that we want, beyond a shadow of doubt, nothing other than the Will of God.
This is the power of Christianity, and a necessary decision to true salvation. It is NOT to be taken lightly!!!!!!
It means that we will be willing to accept death, pain, sickness, even the death of a loved one, financial ruin,….whatever the Lord wants to use to sanctify us or someone else in our path, and for His glory.
We want safety, comfort, and peace. But Jesus said that in this world, it will not always be that way.
He said not to worry because He has overcome the world….He did not say He will always take that pain away, but that He has something far beyond the pain of this world, —that clinging to, and abiding with Him that defies worldly understanding.
Eventually, we will begin to understand whatever wisdom He chooses to give us, when we truly want His will instead of what our ignorant minds think is best.
Jesus relates the same idea in John 14:13, when He speaks of praying in His Name. That doesn’t mean robotically saying “in Jesus’ name” at the end of every prayer! It means that same abiding, staying, overcoming, rightly relating to Him, so that we are in a position for His Words to come through us for His Will to come forth in the situation, and His Name be glorified! It means acknowledging that He is the only mediator between us and the Father. It means ABIDING IN HIM…..living in Him.
Live in the Light of Our Lord 