John 15:1-5
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
Oftentimes, when I go for a walk, the Lord drops verses into my mind for me to chew on. The other day, I felt like he said to me, “I am the vine and you are the branches. Think about that.” As I began to ponder what that meant, I had this heightened sense of awe and wonder at the seamless and total connection we have to Jesus. When we choose Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are so connected to him that we are quite literally one with him in the way your arm is attached to your torso or your finger is attached to your hand. We are anchored to Jesus as our very source of life.
Because we are united with Him, we have everything we need and apart from him we can do nothing. He nourishes us, helps us to grow, and bear fruit. He gladly and willingly pours into us out of his deep love for us. All we have to do is abide. Abide means to dwell, to remain, or be present. Verse 4 says , “Abide in me and I in you.” So not only are we choosing to be present and dwell in Christ, he reciprocates with his presence in us. We carry the presence and power of God in us wherever we go, in every situation, in every circumstance.
As you abide in him, relationship forms and trust grows. He reveals himself to you. Where you are present, is where you focus your thoughts and attention. There is nothing God wants more than to be in an intimately connected relationship with you. He expresses his love through filling you, providing for you, guiding you, encouraging you, teaching you, and correcting you. His correction is loving because it removes what hinders you from Jesus and causes you to grow and bear more fruit. He removes what is dead in you for your benefit and for His. Just as you are connected to the vine, so is the full family of God. If we are connected to him, we are connected to one another. We are in the Father and we are in the family of God. He is truly a loving, wonderful Father.
Listening Prayer:
Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any area in your life that is preventing you from abiding in Jesus. Take time to listen and respond as the Holy Spirit directs.
Prayer:
Holy Spirit, thank you that you love us so much. Thank you that you have made a way for me to be one with you. And Thank you for revealing to me areas in my life that are holding me back from you. As your word directs, I want to abide in you. I repent for the areas you revealed to me that have been hindering me from abiding in you. I break agreement with those things and ask that you would remove them from me as far as the east is from the west. Help me to abide. I submit myself to your love and desire to dwell in you. In Jesus name, Amen.
Resource: Bible Verses on Being One With Christ
Galatians 2:20
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
1 John 3:24
“Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.”
Galatians 5:22-23
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
Ephesians 3:16-19
“According to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
2 Peter 1:3-4
“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”