Day 29

“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” — John 15:8

Much of Christian living is in danger of becoming a matter of learning methods, techniques and programs which essentially leave God out. People are trained to serve God almost the way they are trained to sell a product. Give potential buyers well rehearsed procedures and rhetoric and make it difficult for them to say ‘no’, but it can be devoid of any true spiritual content. If our activity is going to be fruitful, then it will be God who does it, through our dependence on Him.

Jesus said, “No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 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 15:4-5). The branch draws its sustenance, life and health from the vine. Every fruit we produce that is lasting will have its origin in the work of Christ, expressed through us as we abide in Him. That is, we live everyday in love for Him, obedience to Him and dependence on Him so that He   is the origin and power of what we do.

Jesus also said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father and I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father” (John 14:12-13). If we misunderstand that, we will read it as a blank cheque for anything we ask Him for! But to live by ‘faith in me’ is to live in submission to Christ’s will and dependence on His presence so that we are oriented only to His plans, ideas and purpose – not our own. Then Christ’s will becomes our will and God becomes the initiator of what we do! Living in His will becomes a reflection of what God is doing. Then anything we ask in Jesus’ name will be given because they are His ideas in the first place, and what pleases us will be that which pleases God.

We must know the bankruptcy of our own hearts, that ‘apart from Me, you can do nothing’, and that our sufficiency is in Christ, alone, to experience His working in us and through us.

Prayer: Dear Lord, enable me to be steadfast in my obedience to you and dependence on you, so that your Spirit in me can operate freely and make me a branch that will bear lasting fruit for you. Thank you, lord.

To reflect upon: Is there something in my life that may be hampering the release of the Holy Spirit in me to work freely? Do I have a problem with obedience to God or dependence upon Him and in what ways? How can I resolve this?