John 15:4-5 "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. (5) I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing."
Jesus is still sharing with His disciples concerning that which the future
holds for them. Just for a recap, let us think what He has already said.
He is going away. He will come again. He's going to the Father's house. He is
going to prepare a place for them (for you and for me). If you love me, keep my
commandments. I will send another Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to stand with you
and guide you. I'm going to keep my Father's commandment to me. I will show my
love for Him and He will show His love for me. Now He tells the
disciples, and us, "Don't try to do this alone." Stay in my
word. Abide in those things that I already have and will now share with you. If
you continue with me, you will bear fruit unto the glory of God. If not, then
no fruit will come from you. For without me, you can do nothing.
Have you ever started the day by saying, "Today, I'm going to do better
than yesterday." If you are typical, you surely have said something
very similar to that statement. There have been so many times in my life that I
have made the decision and made the commitment that I would be a better person
than I have in the past. I will be more kind, more gentle, more patient, more
loving, more helpful to others, and the list goes on and on. In fact, we
are given a list of the fruit of the Spirit and it seems I have tried to be
better in every area. Only to find that I have failed once again. "But the
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, (23) Meekness, temperance: against such there is no
law." (Galatians 5:22-23) I make the commitment and at the end of the day,
I realize just how much I have failed.
As I read Paul's writings, I find that he had the same struggles.
"For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not;
but what I hate, that do I." (Romans 7:15) What was he saying in
this verse? I make decisions that I'm going to do the right thing and
before you know it, I have done just the opposite. If you read to the end
of that chapter, you see the conclusion to which Paul arrived: "O wretched
man that I am." I have had that same feeling so many times in my
life. Quite honestly, that is the place Satan wants each of us to arrive and to
remain. But we do not have to remain in that place. How do we overcome
this? Paul asked the same question in Romans 7: "Who shall deliver
me?" His answer is also the same answer for us: "I thank God
through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Paul had to come to this conclusion by the summation of the errors he had
committed. The sad thing, I have had to come to the same conclusion in the same
manner. Can you identify? Do you know what it is like to say, "The
thing that I hate is what I find myself doing." Jesus gave the answer
and the route by which we can avoid those things which are "fruit
stealers" from our lives. What is His answer? "Abide in
me." Realize the presence of the Lord Jesus in your life. Before
doing something in our lives, we should stop to say, "Is this pleasing to
my Lord and does it give glory to my Heavenly Father?" I confess that I
have not perfected this, but I do know it works. When our actions please
our Lord, we will never have anything afterward to regret.