October 15th

October 15th

Read: Isaiah 30:18 and John 15:1-8

In the fifteenth chapter of John, Christ gives us a picture of the sort of relationship He expects from us believers. Verse 4 says, “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.”

That word `abide’ in the Greek is a verb which means to stay (in a given place, state, relation, or expectancy). So we see that there is an attitude of waiting in the vine-branch relationship.
Jesus said in verse 8, “In this is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.”

His twelve disciples, the ones who were with Him constantly, were the ones which were rightly called disciples, not so much that they bore fruit at that time, but because they stuck close to Him through all of the trials and troubles until His time to leave them. There were others who lived then who were sticking like glue to Him in love, such as Mary, who in lavish devotion, broke over His head an irreplaceable and very costly container of spikenard. Can any of us say that our love and devotion for the Lord drives us closer to Him each day, helping us to stick to Him like glue so that we might be called blessed?

Since our main purpose here is to glorify the Father, we should do this … stay in that vine-branch relationship so that we might bear much fruit for Him.

FRUIT
Oh Lord, keep my branch strong and fine,
Dependent on the sap
Which flows along up through Your vine
From roots that deeply tap
The living waters where they flow.

Oh Lord, make my fruit rich and sweet,
And spread it in its fall
That all who pass, then stop to eat,
Might stay and hear Your call,
Then change their path and with You go.

Oh Lord, cast my seed on the earth,
That seed so richly fed,
That other plants might then have birth
In cultivated bed
Where they will flourish and grow.

Prayer: Dear Lord, I want to be fruitful for You so that I might be blessed and be a blessing to others and to You.