To emphasize the importance of staying connected to Jesus, as it is only through Him that we can bear fruit and truly thrive in our spiritual lives.
Good morning, family. Today, we’re going to be diving deep into a passage that’s all about the importance of staying connected to Jesus. We'll be looking at John 15:1-10, and focusing on three key areas: The Necessity of Abiding in Christ, The Benefits of Abiding in Christ, and The Results of Abiding in Christ.
Before we get started, I'd like to share something with you from the writings of A. W. Tozer. He once said, "The man who has God for his treasure has all things in One." And isn't that just so true? When we make God our treasure, when we stay connected to Jesus, we truly have everything we need.
Abiding in Christ is not an option for believers; it is a necessity. The word "abide" in the original Greek means to stay, to dwell, to remain. It is a word that speaks of intimacy, closeness, and connection. When Jesus tells us to abide in Him, He is inviting us into a deep, personal, and ongoing relationship with Him. He is inviting us to make our home in Him, just as He has made His home in us.
Jesus uses the metaphor of the vine and the branches to illustrate this point. He is the vine, and we are the branches. Just as a branch cannot survive or bear fruit if it is disconnected from the vine, so we cannot thrive or bear spiritual fruit if we are disconnected from Jesus. We need His life-giving Spirit flowing in and through us, nourishing us, strengthening us, and enabling us to grow and produce fruit.
But abiding in Christ is not just about receiving from Him. It's also about remaining in Him, staying connected to Him, and maintaining our relationship with Him. It's about staying rooted and grounded in His love, His Word, and His Spirit. It's about continually drawing near to Him, seeking Him, and spending time in His presence. It's about living in constant communion with Him, walking in step with Him, and aligning our lives with His will and His ways.
Abiding in Christ is also about dependence. Just as a branch is completely dependent on the vine for its life and fruitfulness, so we are completely dependent on Jesus for our spiritual life and fruitfulness. Apart from Him, we can do nothing. We cannot produce spiritual fruit on our own. We cannot overcome sin and temptation on our own. We cannot fulfill God's purposes for our lives on our own. We need Jesus. We need His grace, His strength, His wisdom, His guidance, His power, His love. We need Him every moment of every day.
Abiding in Christ is also about identity. When we abide in Him, we find our true identity in Him. We are not defined by our past, our failures, our mistakes, our weaknesses, our circumstances, or the opinions of others. We are defined by our relationship with Jesus. We are His beloved children, His chosen ones, His precious ones, His holy ones. We are loved, accepted, forgiven, redeemed, transformed, and empowered by Him. We are new creations in Him, and we have a new life, a new purpose, a new destiny in Him.
Finally, abiding in Christ is about surrender. It's about surrendering our will to His will, our plans to His plans, our desires to His desires, our dreams to His dreams, our lives to His life. It's about letting go of our self-sufficiency, our self-reliance, our self-righteousness, our self-centeredness, and our self-seeking. It's about letting Jesus be the Lord, the Master, the King, the Center, the Source, the Sustainer, the Healer, the Redeemer, the Savior, the Life of our lives.
Abiding in Christ is not just a necessity, but it also comes with numerous benefits that can transform our lives ... View this full PRO sermon free with PRO
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