Jesus Abides In His Followers

John 15:4-12 KJV; Jesus who is the Word abides in us and we in Him.

Apart From Jesus We Can Do Nothing!

John 15:4-8 KJV; Apart from Jesus we can do nothing to glorify God!

Without Jesus We Can Do Nothing

Ephesians 2:8-10 KJV; Our good works will not bring us salvation; however; our faith in the one who saved us will produce good works as we abide in him.

When Will He Drink Of Fruit Of The Vine Again?

Walk In His Way; Do His Will

Psalm 128:1-6 KJV

Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that walketh in his ways.

For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.

Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.

Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord.

The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.

Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children, and peace upon Israel.

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It is a good thing to walk in the ways of the Lord; to do His will.  God did not make rules just to punish us. The law reminds us what can and cannot do if we would live peaceably with God and with one another. After all the essence of the commandments can be summed up in one word: love. We are to love God and our neighbors.

When the Israelites listened to God things went pretty smoothly. But, the Israelites, like us, had a tendency to do their own will; make their own rules, rather than listen to God. They often fell away as we do.

Blessed is the one that walks in the ways of the Lord!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

I Live By Faith

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Gal 2:20 KJV)

There you have it. How great is that!? We don't have to fret about whether we are doing what we must do or not; what laws we must abide by. By faith, Christ lives in and through all who believe. The one who lived and died and lives again for you is with you. He abides in you. He abides in all who believe. It is not by the law; but, by faith that he brings forth much fruit through you.

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. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. (John 15:4-5)

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Not I, but Christ

"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." (Gal 2:20 KJV)

Before bed, I usually listen to some YouTube speakers or preachers on my phone. If they start off with long introductions and a litany of the preachers credentials, I usually find someone else to listen to. I do not care about their credentials. Credential are of no importance to me. What I want and need to hear is about who God is and what He has done and what He continues to do. All glory belongs to God!

Years ago my congregation hosted a Suomi Conference Word and Song Festival. As host, I was expected to greet everyone and according to the president introduce myself with some details of who I am, what I have done. Honestly, that makes me a whole lot uncomfortable. Because the only "I am" that is important is the one whose name is "I Am" and everything good that has been accomplished in my life has been done by Him. The glory goes to God!

So, instead of talking about the details of what I may or may not have done or where I come from or have been, I greeted everyone and introduced myself with: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." (Gal 2:20) All glory belongs to God!

What a relief it should be to hear these words: "I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."  He willingly took all of our sins to the cross. He lovingly bore our sins and the punishment for our sins on that cross. He suffered and died for us. He did this so that all who believe in him would be reconciled to our Father in heaven and live eternally in the presence of God. 

In baptism, we receive a new life in Christ. The old man and all of our sins are wiped out and we live, yet not we, but it is Christ who lives in us. 

Without the abiding presence of Christ, we can do no good thing. Jesus said, "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. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." (John 15:4-5)

All glory belongs to the one who loves us and died for us and yet lives. By the shedding of the blood of Jesus, you are forgiven your sins. May he live in you and you in him.

God's Peace - Pr. J                                                    

Remain In Christ To The Glory Of God

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. John 15:5,8 NIV

Apart from Jesus we can do nothing. One of the first questions we might want to ask ourselves is what it is that we want to do? Jesus did the will of our Father in heaven, opening his arms on the cross; opening the Kingdom to all who would believe in him. Is our purpose to further the Kingdom of God or our own little kingdoms that surround us. Is the purpose of what we would do to glorify ourselves or to glorify God? If it is to glorify God then we must remember that without Jesus we can do nothing. We must abide in him so that he through us might continue to bear fruit, serving our Father by reaching out to a world in desperate need of being reconciled to our Father and one another that we might live in his peace.

Jesus said that he is the vine and we are the branches. A branch that is cut off from the vine will lie on the ground, dry up, and die. It will be good for nothing except to be burned in the fire.

May God help us to remain in Christ and Christ in us that we might bear much fruit bringing glory to God for without him all of our good works are like the branch that has fallen from the vine, good for nothing.

God's Peace - Pr. J