"I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me."
John 15:5, HCSB
We talked at length about being grafted in, and then about remaining in Him, and now we come to the peak of this mountain of thought as we see that when we are grafted, and when we remain in Him, we are capable to do anything! Anything is possible with Christ, as we have watched and learned about people being healed of incredible illnesses, and we have seen people raised from the dead, and we have seen people fed from scraps, and we have watched Jesus walk across water and calm storms with only a word. Literally anything we can think of, and all of those things we can't think of, are all possible with Jesus in our lives. People who try to overcome the problems they have are able to do so, and people who try to get out of the debt they have walked into are able to do so, and people who have broken hearts that need to be mended are able to receive the mending they need. Anything is possible!
And now that we've exhausted a lot of good feelings thinking about all the things we want to happen, let's look even bigger-picture at this. If I were able to accomplish anything, through His strength and not mine, I think that the things above would not actually be of prime focus. Of course, I need to care for my family on earth, and provide for others on earth who have less than I am blessed with (blessed to be a blessing, folks... that's real talk right there), but I think that knowing that Jesus lives in me and I in Him brings about a different level of focus... it makes me Kingdom-minded. Being so focused on this, I would then seek to produce fruit wherever possible, and I would chase the opportunity to "handle it," as it were, with respect to the tougher parts of my walk. In this way, I could be a witness, a living and walking witness, of the power of the Gospel in my life. I would become... wait for it... a gardener! My garden would produce much fruit.
All to the glory of the Father!!!
There is another side to this, though, and it is from the words that are present that I draw the words that are not. It says clearly, "you can do nothing without Me," and I take that seriously. We, believers, are incapable of action without Christ. You see, there are those people who want to influence others to think a certain way, and perhaps they gain traction for a while... but how many bad ideas have come and gone in the last 2012 years? How many false thoughts and tried-and-proved-to-fail possibilities have there been? People have been, and sadly probably always will be, gullible to fall for a good sounding scheme, and the truth here is that there have been a massive number of those. However, they almost always get dragged into the light before too long, and they are exposed. These people (the originators) and their schemes, clearly and evidently, are without Christ.
On another note, though, what is one idea or belief that has been unchangeable since the beginning of time? Can you think of one? I can... and there is only one that I can think of. To borrow a statement from a dear friend of mine, a saint of the faith and example to us all, "God is God." Think for a second about all the bad ideas that faded away, whether in your immediate circle, your life personally, or even world historical events, and then think about the fact that God has always been there, ready to bring each of us that wandered astray right back into the flock. The truth, friends, is that He is the same, yesterday, today, and forever, and He has always been there. He does not fail; we do. He does not lie; we do. He does not grow weary; we do. He does not grow impatient; we do. He does not have envy; we do. He does not speak without purpose; we do.
He. Is. Jesus. Messiah. Emmanuel. The Word. The Son of God. The Heir of Jacob. The Beginning and the End. The Alpha and the Omega. The Wonderful Counselor. The Intercessor. The Light. The Bread. The Savior. THE ONE!!!
We. Are. Not.
And we will never, ever, ever, ever be able to successfully witness or represent the Gospel without Him, so if you have thoughts of going to speak to someone about their faith and you think you can do it without focusing yourself in prayer, you are WRONG. If you decide that you are going to sing a solo on Sunday and you don't need to pray first, you are WRONG. If you think that you can just give your money to the church without thanking God for it first in prayer, and be blessed to give, you are WRONG. With Him, you can accomplish anything to the glory of the Father... apart from Him, attempting to operate in your own strength, assuming that you are "good enough" in whatever instance, trying to prove yourself or show that you are able, you will fail. It really is that simple, folks.
Give thanks today that you are a part of the Vine, grafted in and remaining in Him to serve the will of God for your life, and remember always that you are, as a Christian, operating with the strength of the Son as you witness and serve.
God bless you all!!!
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