I am the vine, you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. –John 15:5 (NIV)

I was driving across town after the recent storms, and I noticed a large branch laying alongside the road.  It was large enough to stick out a bit into the roadway, and I had to change lanes to pass by it.  A couple of weeks later, I passed by that same branch.  It was no longer sticking out into the roadway.  Someone had pushed it aside.  The leaves were now brown and shriveled.  As I drove past this dying branch, I glanced up at the tree it was ripped from and saw how vibrant the tree looked, with all of the other branches still attached.  Apart from the tree, that dying branch was doing nothing.  In John 15:5, we learn from Jesus that, like the brown and shriveled branch, we, too, will shrivel up if we are apart from him.  We must be connected to God through Jesus to bear fruit. 

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” –Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)

Our behaviors and actions are a direct result of our inward condition and the depth of our relationship with God.  The battle between our flesh and our spirit goes on every day, and if we aren’t working to deepen our relationship with God, our flesh will have its way.  As Galatians 5:16-24 warns, we will demonstrate either the fruit that is in keeping with our sinful flesh or the fruit of the Holy Spirit.  The only way we can overcome our selfish evil desires is to abide in Jesus Christ.  Abide means to “remain”.  In John 15:4-5, Jesus urges us to abide in him…to remain in him and he in us so that we can bear fruit.  It goes further than our initial confession of faith and demands that we continuously seek a relationship with God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Like the branches of a tree, our connection to God through Jesus Christ is vital to the fruit we bear.  And when the Holy Spirit is at work in us, the fruit of the Spirit, rather, the outward demonstration of the inward condition of our hearts will be “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control”.

I was reading an obituary the other day, and towards the end where it lists the names of family members, it also indicated “and devoted friend…”.  This suggests a pretty close relationship there.  The friend likely spent time with the person, probably talking, listening, and sharing together.  This was obviously a connection that made an impact.  Developing a deep connection to God is similar in that it requires spending time with God, talking and sharing with God, and listening to God.  In practical terms, we deepen our connection through reading the Bible, praying with God, and being obedient to His Word.  How well we bear fruit depends on the depth of our connection to God through Jesus Christ.

This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. –John 15:8 (NIV)

Bearing fruit means producing positive results.  Disciples are followers of Jesus Christ who win others to become followers and so on and so on!  As John 15:8 confirms, the fruit we bear as disciples of Jesus Christ should be producing positive results for God’s glory.  We should be making disciples (Matthew 28:18-20)!  That is the fruit we should be bearing! 

For those of us who have been quarantined at home, we have had more time than ever before to catch up on our work, our housework, and those DIY projects we used to dream about.  We’ve had more time to cook all sorts of dishes, and more time for spring cleaning and even deep cleaning.  We’ve had more time to develop relationships, including our relationship with God.  But, if you’re like many people I know, even with all of the extra time, you still have important things left undone at the end of every day.  You still have to decide every day where you’re going to focus your time, energy and attention.  For those of us interested in bearing fruit, we must understand how important it is that we have a deep relationship with God, and how important that is in governing what we do with all of our time every day.  The pandemic did not remove our calling to make disciples.  It simply forced us to work around new constraints.  

As the nation begins to reopen, and we look towards returning to our physical church fellowship very soon, be encouraged regarding the ministry work we still have to do.  I welcome you to get connected to God through Jesus Christ, and join with us in this work.  If you already have this connection, the challenge I give you today is to assess whether or not you’ve been bearing fruit.  Brothers and sisters in Christ, seek a deeper connection to God, keep reaching out to others, and keep bearing fruit!

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair.

–2 Corinthians 4:8 (NIV)

Paul challenged the Corinthian believers to consider the greatness of their calling as disciples of Jesus Christ.  In these early days of Christianity, the disciples faced many difficulties.  Paul encouraged them to not lose heart.  We are surely hard-pressed and perplexed these days!  Not many people would argue against this ancient description of our present circumstances.  Every day, news of the numbers affected by the coronavirus highlights our primary concerns around a highly contagious disease.  Out of the more than 7.7 billion people in the world, there are over 4.5 million confirmed cases with a 36% recovery rate.  Out of the more than 4.5 million cases, over 93% are still residing on this side of heaven.  Praise God!  Yet, virtually every single one of us is dealing in varying ways with the prolonged threat to our mental/emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being.  When we factor in all of the other headline news plus the other issues and concerns affecting our daily lives, Paul’s declaration still makes sense to us today as we strive to heed the call in Matthew 4:19 to follow Jesus.  We must not lose heart!

A young man who is a member of our church asked me just the other day, “When do

you think we’ll get to go back to church?  I miss church.”  With weekly church services and activities providing many people of all ages one of their key opportunities for regular connection and community, it is easy to see how desperate we might begin to feel by this time.  “Hold on,” I told him, “just a little longer.  Eventually, we will get back together, but not yet.”  As this young man went on to explain his anxiety over the interruption to his plans, his boredom, and an entire myriad of personal concerns, it was apparent that he couldn’t easily see past these current circumstances to muster up much hope for the future.  Worrying wasn’t doing him any good.  As Matthew 6:30-34 will confirm, “tomorrow will take care of itself.”  Still, like most of us today, he needed a bit of encouragement—a reminder to hold on just a little while longer.

“Hold On Just A Little While Longer” is an old negro spiritual where people entrenched in slavery were encouraging themselves and one another to look forward to a time when their unbearable situation would change.  As history confirms, “a little while longer” took hundreds of years.  It’s a present-day reminder that your perspective…your mindset…how you look at the whole matter makes a tremendous difference on how you come out on the other side of it.  It is an encouragement to take this thing one day at a time. 

 “Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. –Luke 21:34-35 (NIV)

There is a trap Satan would like us to fall into during this time.  As the weeks go by, Satan would like us to lose all sight of our calling as disciples of Jesus Christ and become consumed by the worries of this world.  Be on guard, friends, and rely on our faithful God to help you cope with our present situation.  There are so many questions and so many uncertainties, and we just don’t have the answers.  But, glory to God, we as believers can rest in the knowledge that we know the one who does!  The Word of God is here to remind us that not only should we hold on through these uncertain and unsettling times, but, also, that we have a certain and a settling God to hold onto.  So, you see, we can, and we must hold on!  Hold on to our hope!  Hold on to our faith!  Hold on to God’s unchanging hand!  Jesus is coming back soon!  Be encouraged today!  Hold on just a little while longer!

I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. –Revelations 3:11 (NIV)

Read part 1 first, Trust In The Lord.

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Don’t Lean on Your Understanding

The verse involves a positive–something you must do. But it also involves a negative–something you must not do. Don’t lean on your own understanding. Basically, the verse is telling us that we ought not to be self-reliant. We cannot pursue a course of action, a financial decision, a business move, a relationship, or an educational choice, simply based on our own understanding. It must be founded in our trust in God.

Self-reliance is such a deceptive trap. We begin to pride ourselves in something–our savvy, our looks, our intellect, our spirituality, our family, whatever. And when we do, it takes away our trust in the Lord. It has become trust in self. The result is a dangerous compromise that will lead to destruction.

Read more

It’s simple. It’s short. Yet it’s incredibly powerful. Proverbs 3:5-6 is one of the most familiar passages in the Bible–with good reason. It sets forth a life-changing truth that is worthy of our attention. Spend three minutes reading this article, and see if you agree.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Trust in the Lord.

It starts with trust. Any real relationship has to start with some level of trust. It’s the only way a friendship will endure. It’s the only way a marriage will work out. It’s the simple reason why an employer hires workers, or why the workers stay employed. It’s all about trust. Trust in the Lord, however, takes on an entirely new dimension. This is our trust in an eternal, all-powerful, all-wise, all-loving God. He is worthy of our trust. The trust is important, not just because of who God is, but because of the way in which we must trust him: with all your heart. It involves every fiber of your being. That’s the kind of trust we can have in God–a complete, unshakable, deep, abiding trust.

Read part 2, Don’t Lean On Your Understanding