“I am the vine,you are the branches: He that abideth in me and I in him,the same bringeth forth much fruit:for without me you can do nothing “. John 15:5
The parable teaches us the completeness of the union. So close is the union between the vine and the branches,that each is nothing without the other.And so the Lord says”without me you can do nothing “. The daily inflow of the life-sap of the Holy Spirit is His power to bring forth fruit.A vine without branches cannot bear much good fruits.What all the vine possess belong to the branches. The sap flow from the vine to branches produce the fruits.Similarly,Jesus,to Whom we owe our life, completely give Himself for us,all His fullness and richness,from God the Father.
When we abide in Him , according to Zechariah 2:5 “…He is a wall of fire round about us and a glory in our midst”.Just as the wall of our homes surround us on all sides, so also Jesus surrounds us on all sides at all times. The Lord will bless and protect us always.
When we abide in Him, we abide in His Word. We give priority to feed His Word daily, constantly and frequently. When we abide in Him ,we obey His commandments and believe His promises.So there is no room in our life for fear, doubts,negative thoughts and words.We abide in Holy Spirit and produce abundantly the fruit of the Spirit.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, Joy, peace, long suffering,gentleness,goodness,faith, meekness,temperance”.
Galatians 5:22,23 and use the gift of the Holy Spirit like healing, prophecy, word if wisdom and knowledge to encourage,exhort and build others in the Kingdom of God. We feel safe.,joyful, worshipful and thankful. We will listen to his wise counsel and live in fellowship with other believers. He will enable us to flourish and yield fruit of the Holy Spirit .
As we the believers are branches connected or grafted to the vine of Jesus, we are useful and fruitful.Without Him we can do nothing. He empowers us, anoint us, enables us, delivers us, strengthen us , perfect us and purifies us . We need to live in Him, with Him and for Him.
In Philippians 1:21 Paul says “ For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain”. Paul achieved a complete identification with Jesus. He is the way, the truth , the life “. John14:6.He is also the resurrection. When we abide in Him the resurrection power works in us. We can excel in our work place as a testimony for Christ Colossians 1:10 ,11 “……walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work……..strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and long suffering with joy fullness”.
We can endure much suffering and go to extraordinary lengths to help others. He will make us go places for Him. He will infuse courage in us to withstand great trials and face the odds. That is why Paul says in Philippians 4:13 “ I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me”.
Dear Heavenly Father help us to abide in you always and produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit and to use the gifts you gave us. In the name of Jesus Christ I ask . Amen
Sol.Gigi Jacob