"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." John 15:5. Some Bible verses I think I learned before my ABC's. This would be one of those verses. Thought I'd comprehended all there was to understand about this verse. But, as God continues to do, He has opened my pea-brain to more insights of the blessings here.
My new understanding comes by way of the word "abiding." Sure I understand that any power I possess flows to me from the vine. Got it. So all that I accomplish is through His power. But how do I accomplish His work? How do I make my ministry effective? What is the most important ingredient necessary to make me most useable? Abiding. Just abiding. To abide means simply to stay connected. I don't have to "hold on." I don't have to make myself grow larger. Producing fruit is not my responsibility. I must simply abide, stay connected to my Father. I can relax. And watch Him work.
His plan for salvation was simple, uncomplicated, without effort because He did all the work, accomplished all that was necessary. We simply believe. Stands to reason that His approach to how we should live the Christian life would be the same. Simple. Abide. But no, we run around stressing, pushing, working, making things happen and struggling to be who He wants us to be. Not part of His plan. Abide. I can imagine that as He laid out His plan for mankind, He maybe thought, "How can I make this as easy as possible for My children? I know. I will do all the work. They will just need to stay connected with me." Abide.
Does this means I sit on the couch and watch Fox News while God accomplishes His purposes here on earth? Right. So what does this abiding look like? What does it mean? How exactly does it work? Hmmmm.......
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