Passage John 15 : 1 - 10
References : 1 John 3, Galatians 5 :22-26, Matthew 10 : 32, Hebrews 10 : 25, Matthew 7 : 22 - 23, Proverbs 11 v 30.
Importance of Abiding in Christ
2) It enables us to fulfill our purpose as Christians:
One purpose of our calling as Christians is to win souls, and that is bearing fruits. That does not mean that we should start planting trees everywhere, but plant the seed of the gospel in the hearts of the people in the world around you. Remember the bible says in Proverbs 11 v 30 that "the fruits of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise."
Now verse 4 tells us that without abiding in Christ we cannot bear fruits, this means if we do not abide in Christ we will not be able to win souls into the Kingdom of God.
Verse 5 now confirms it again by saying if we abide in Christ and He in us we will bear much fruits.
What other kind of fruits can we bear apart from souls? Galatians 5 v 22 - 26 talks about the fruits of the spirit. These are characters, behaviors that someone exhibits when the Holy Spirit dwells in them. Remember the analogy given in "Abide in me Part 1"; the Holy Spirit is the sap. If we abide in Christ that sap (the Holy Spirit) runs through us.
Next we'll look at another importance of abiding. As you start making efforts to abide in Christ, may you be blessed.
Stay blessed.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Abide in Me - Part 2
Passage John 15 : 1 - 10
References : 1 John 3, Galatians 5 :22-26, Matthew 10 : 32, Hebrews 10 : 25, Matthew 7 : 22 - 23.
Importance of Abiding in Christ
1) It is the Essence of the Christian Walk:
You cannot call yourself a christian without abiding in Christ; according to today's passage, it's that simple. For example a broken branch cannot claim that it is part of the apple tree; who will believe since it is not attached to the tree in question and it lies dead on the floor? Nobody will stop your mouth from saying you're a christian, but without abiding in Christ you'll only be deceiving yourself.
- Going to church ALONE does not count. Church is important because the bible says in Hebrews 10 v 25 that "we should not forsake the assembling of ourselves together." however doing church ALONE, does not count.
-Carrying the bible around does not make you a christian. This is not to condemn the act, but again we should not let that alone give us an identity. Again, it is good but doing it ALONE does not count.
-Saying that you know Jesus and you believe he existed does not count. Remember the bible says in Matthew 7 v 22 - 23 that "Many will say to Me in that day , 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from you you workers of iniquity'" Again that is not to say we should be quiet about Jesus, and our salvation because the same bible says in Matthew 10v32 that "therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My father who is in heaven." We need to spread the gospel, invite people out to church service and church events. If we've been doing that good job, if not we need to buckle up.
As we've seen, there are so many good things we can focus ourselves on doing as Christians but they need to be done with wisdom and not just in parts but in a whole. We need to abide more in Christ.
Next time, we'll look at the another importance of abiding in Christ.
Stay Blessed
References : 1 John 3, Galatians 5 :22-26, Matthew 10 : 32, Hebrews 10 : 25, Matthew 7 : 22 - 23.
Importance of Abiding in Christ
1) It is the Essence of the Christian Walk:
You cannot call yourself a christian without abiding in Christ; according to today's passage, it's that simple. For example a broken branch cannot claim that it is part of the apple tree; who will believe since it is not attached to the tree in question and it lies dead on the floor? Nobody will stop your mouth from saying you're a christian, but without abiding in Christ you'll only be deceiving yourself.
- Going to church ALONE does not count. Church is important because the bible says in Hebrews 10 v 25 that "we should not forsake the assembling of ourselves together." however doing church ALONE, does not count.
-Carrying the bible around does not make you a christian. This is not to condemn the act, but again we should not let that alone give us an identity. Again, it is good but doing it ALONE does not count.
-Saying that you know Jesus and you believe he existed does not count. Remember the bible says in Matthew 7 v 22 - 23 that "Many will say to Me in that day , 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from you you workers of iniquity'" Again that is not to say we should be quiet about Jesus, and our salvation because the same bible says in Matthew 10v32 that "therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My father who is in heaven." We need to spread the gospel, invite people out to church service and church events. If we've been doing that good job, if not we need to buckle up.
As we've seen, there are so many good things we can focus ourselves on doing as Christians but they need to be done with wisdom and not just in parts but in a whole. We need to abide more in Christ.
Next time, we'll look at the another importance of abiding in Christ.
Stay Blessed
Abide in Me - Part 1
Passage John 15 : 1 - 10
References : 1 John 3, Galatians 5 :22-26, Matthew 10 : 32, Hebrews 10 : 25, Matthew 7 : 22 - 23.
Let's take a brief class in agriculture. A tree springs from its roots. Eventually starts developing branches and these branches produce fruits (keep in mind that the fruits contain seeds). A tree has a sap which is analogous to the blood. The sap is to a tree as blood is to the human body. So when a tree branch is cut off it "bleeds" (sap comes out). Eventually the sap in the branch dries up, but there is still sap running through the actual tree.
While keeping in mind the above analogy, what exactly is Jesus telling us in the passage? He is the true vine, God the father is the vine dresser and we are the branches. For the sake of this discussion let's summarize the passage and the agricultural analogy given:
-God the father = Vine dresser
-Jesus = Tree (True Vine)
-Holy Spirit = Sap.
Why look at this in detail anyway? Why does Jesus like this word "ABIDE" so much that in the space of ten verses he mentions it ten times in my version of the bible (NKJV:John 15v1-10). We'll start now by looking at the importance of abiding in Christ, and may God reveal more of the importance as we take time to study our bibles. Amen
Stay Blessed
References : 1 John 3, Galatians 5 :22-26, Matthew 10 : 32, Hebrews 10 : 25, Matthew 7 : 22 - 23.
Let's take a brief class in agriculture. A tree springs from its roots. Eventually starts developing branches and these branches produce fruits (keep in mind that the fruits contain seeds). A tree has a sap which is analogous to the blood. The sap is to a tree as blood is to the human body. So when a tree branch is cut off it "bleeds" (sap comes out). Eventually the sap in the branch dries up, but there is still sap running through the actual tree.
While keeping in mind the above analogy, what exactly is Jesus telling us in the passage? He is the true vine, God the father is the vine dresser and we are the branches. For the sake of this discussion let's summarize the passage and the agricultural analogy given:
-God the father = Vine dresser
-Jesus = Tree (True Vine)
-Holy Spirit = Sap.
Why look at this in detail anyway? Why does Jesus like this word "ABIDE" so much that in the space of ten verses he mentions it ten times in my version of the bible (NKJV:John 15v1-10). We'll start now by looking at the importance of abiding in Christ, and may God reveal more of the importance as we take time to study our bibles. Amen
Stay Blessed
Friday, January 23, 2009
Do you want to be made well?
Read John 5 v1-9 & v14
This passage is very interesting, in summary there's a man who's been sick for 38 years, and Jesus heals him. Let's however go deeper into the story. Verse 6 tells us that Jesus saw the man lying there and knew that he had been in the condition a long time; that means Jesus did his own research and discovered that man had been sick for a while. Then Jesus asked, "do you want to be made well?" Why did Jesus ask such a question? Maybe He's trying to draw our attention to something, because that statement suggest two things...
1) Problems are not supposed to last that long;
2) If they do, then maybe we allow it.
This man's response made Jesus have mercy on him. May you find mercy before God today. It wasn't because he didn't want to be made well, according to him there was nobody to help him into the pool. In short there was no way out. Another reason why Jesus asked him, was because if he was willing his problem could have been solved.
Now how did he get into that situation in the first place? Verse 14 reveals to us that it was due to sin. That's what sin can do to someone, and if a fellow continues to live in sin something worse could follow just as Jesus told the man.
Are you in a situation that seems to be persistent and difficult to solve? Let's do a spiritual check. Answer honestly the question "Do you want to be made well?" If the solution is clear, ask for grace to implement. If not ask Jesus into the situation and to make you well.
Stay blessed.
This passage is very interesting, in summary there's a man who's been sick for 38 years, and Jesus heals him. Let's however go deeper into the story. Verse 6 tells us that Jesus saw the man lying there and knew that he had been in the condition a long time; that means Jesus did his own research and discovered that man had been sick for a while. Then Jesus asked, "do you want to be made well?" Why did Jesus ask such a question? Maybe He's trying to draw our attention to something, because that statement suggest two things...
1) Problems are not supposed to last that long;
2) If they do, then maybe we allow it.
This man's response made Jesus have mercy on him. May you find mercy before God today. It wasn't because he didn't want to be made well, according to him there was nobody to help him into the pool. In short there was no way out. Another reason why Jesus asked him, was because if he was willing his problem could have been solved.
Now how did he get into that situation in the first place? Verse 14 reveals to us that it was due to sin. That's what sin can do to someone, and if a fellow continues to live in sin something worse could follow just as Jesus told the man.
Are you in a situation that seems to be persistent and difficult to solve? Let's do a spiritual check. Answer honestly the question "Do you want to be made well?" If the solution is clear, ask for grace to implement. If not ask Jesus into the situation and to make you well.
Stay blessed.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
The next move...
Read John 2 v 1-10
So what happens next after you invite Jesus into the situation? The obvious thing is wait and see results. However, we can learn one important thing from the passage and that's obedience (v7-8). As we read, Jesus gave some unexpected instructions to the servants. I bet the servants were thinking and saying to themselves, "can this guy be serious? We need wine and he's asking us to fill waterpots with water." (verse 7) Despite this, they obeyed. Maybe they obeyed out of desperation, who knows but they still obeyed.
What's next when we ask Jesus into our situation? We simply obey and leave logic and common sense out of the picture. Sometimes the solutions to our problems will sound funny when God starts to lead us in His ways, and some other times it might start making sense what God is asking us to do. No matter how the instructions come to you, the next move is to obey.
Stay blessed.
So what happens next after you invite Jesus into the situation? The obvious thing is wait and see results. However, we can learn one important thing from the passage and that's obedience (v7-8). As we read, Jesus gave some unexpected instructions to the servants. I bet the servants were thinking and saying to themselves, "can this guy be serious? We need wine and he's asking us to fill waterpots with water." (verse 7) Despite this, they obeyed. Maybe they obeyed out of desperation, who knows but they still obeyed.
What's next when we ask Jesus into our situation? We simply obey and leave logic and common sense out of the picture. Sometimes the solutions to our problems will sound funny when God starts to lead us in His ways, and some other times it might start making sense what God is asking us to do. No matter how the instructions come to you, the next move is to obey.
Stay blessed.
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