God has wonderful plans to accomplish through each of us. In John 15, Jesus says, \u201cI am the vine; you are the branches\u201d (verse 5). A vine should bear fruit, and Jesus lists several variations on this theme: no fruit; some fruit; more fruit; and much fruit (verses 2, 8). Of these four possibilities, how would you rate yourself spiritually?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s important to remember that spiritual growth is not something you can do on your own. \u201cWithout me,\u201d Jesus cautions, \u201cyou can do nothing\u201d (John 15:5). In that same verse, He urges His followers to, \u201cAbide in me.\u201d Jesus wants you to live in His presence, to think of Him often, to pray to Him, to sing His praises, to talk and work with other Christians, who are really His body (Ephesians 5:30). You abide in Christ when you read His words in the Bible (often!), meditate on them and do what He says.<\/p>\n
In John 15:7, Jesus gives us an amazing promise: \u201cIf you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.\u201d When you truly<\/em> abide in Christ, you can ask for whatever you desire\u2014for your longings will have become those of Christ Himself.<\/p>\n Why not take time this week to read the entire 15th<\/sup> chapter of John? Underline (or memorize) verses that challenge or inspire you. Abide\u2026and bear fruit!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" God has wonderful plans to accomplish through each of us. In John 15, Jesus says, \u201cI am the vine; you are the branches\u201d (verse 5). A vine should bear fruit, and Jesus lists several variations on this theme: no fruit; some fruit; more fruit; and much fruit (verses 2, 8). Of these four possibilities, how […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":30557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[363],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[639],"class_list":["post-23834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-verses-about-faith"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n