We all choose to abide in something. All of us make decisions in our day to day lives to attach ourselves to something or someone. Whether we are conscious of it or not, all of us are affixed somewhere. And what we are yoked up to determines how our lives will look. In other words our lives are a replica of the thing with are abiding in. Consequently if its not the Lord Jesus, then peoples lives are dissatisfied and miserable because God has made us with a need for Him that only He can fill. Have you ever played with a wooden puzzle board before? (I’m sure we all have as kids). It’s kind of like trying to fit a triangle block into the spot made for a square, no matter how hard you try to make it work, it will never fit correctly. Same is true here, Jesus said I AM THE TRUE VINE. You can try to fill your life with everything in the world or just learn now that only God is a perfect fit. Abide in Him. Jesus taught us how to live a successful life. He identified that He is the Vine and the source of our lives. He instructed us to abide in Him in order to bear fruit for the Kingdom of God. We can enjoy life and have God’s best! We rise above all the circumstances of life and come through with victory every time! Even in our prayer life, we can have the guarantee that our prayers are made effective according to verse 7. It all comes back to abiding in the Vine. And thanks be to God, our Father in Heaven is glorified in it! He isn’t glorified in the defeat and struggle of His children. He is putting them through hardships in order to teach them a lesson of humility. No Father God is glorified when we bear much fruit and enjoy the victory. The Bible says in James 1:13, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man.” Verse 17 goes on to say, “Ever good and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights with whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning.” So God is the giver of good gifts! Hallelujah! And I partake of those good things He HAS provided for us when I abide in Him. Of course I’m going to struggle as long as I choose to stay apart from the vine. I make it hard on myself and no one is to blame but, me. The good news is, its so easy to repent and start living for Him again and start aiding in Him and His love. See as long as I choose to remain out in the cold spiritually away from God and His church, then I will feel unloved rejected (which I a lie from the enemy). However the moment I run back to the Father, His mercy and love is there to meet me!
By: Steven Overbaugh
