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John 15 - Devotion · The Five Minute Bible Podcast

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  Welcome to five minute Bible in our journey through the New
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  Testament in each episode we take just a few minutes to focus
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  on one chapter of the New Testament, exploring the truths
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  God is teaching us through his word and expanding our view of
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  who. He is.
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  Before you listen, make sure you've gone straight to the
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  source, either by reading today's chapter of the Bible
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  yourself or listening to today's read along episode.
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  In this podcast. Feed if you haven't done that
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  yet, feel free to pause and do that now.
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  When you're ready, Let's dive into God's Word together.
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  In John chapter 15, Jesus gives us a beautiful portrayal of the
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  Christian life is that of a branch connected to a vine.
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  He says I am the true vine and my father is the vine dresser.
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  He then commands each of us to abide in Him.
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  We are like branches that when closely connected to the vine,
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  the source of their energy and nourishment, grow much fruit.
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  When that branch is removed from the vine, though it is
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  fruitless, it's dead. So it only makes sense that
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  Jesus would say in verse 4, Abide in me and I in you.
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  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in
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  the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me.
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  He goes on in verse 5 to say I am the vine, you are the
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  branches. He who abides in me and I in Him
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  bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
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  Think about that. That is how dependent we are on
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  Christ. Apart from him, apart from his
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  power and life and love flowing through us, we can do nothing.
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  We cannot bear fruit. We cannot please God, we cannot
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  do anything good apart from the power of Christ working in and
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  through us. So what does that mean for us?
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  It means that our success, our fruit as Christians, has little
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  to do with our white knuckled effort in our own strength and
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  much to do with our dependence on Jesus.
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  We are of great value to the Kingdom when we are deeply
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  connected to Christ, and we are of absolutely no value to the
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  Kingdom when we are independent of Him.
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  When we try to do His works outside of his strength.
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  We are desperately dependent on Jesus.
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  We are massively in need. Listen to how 19th century South
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  African pastor Andrew Murray put it in his book, Abide in Christ.
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  He said the Christian often tries to forget his weakness.
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  God wants us to remember it, to feel it deeply.
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  The Christian wants to conquer his weakness and be freed from
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  it. God wants us to rest and even
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  rejoice in it. The Christian mourns over his
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  weakness. Christ teaches his servant to
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  say, I take pleasure in infirmities.
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  Most gladly will I glory in my infirmities.
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  The Christian thinks his weaknesses are his greatest
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  hindrance in the life and service of God.
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  God tells us that it is the secret of strength and success.
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  It is our weakness, heartily accepted and continually
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  realized, that gives our claim and access to the strength of
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  him who has said, My strength is made perfect in weakness.
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  Do you believe that? Do you really at your core
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  believe what the apostle Paul tells us in Second Corinthians
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  chapter 12, when he says, and he has said to me, My grace is
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  sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.
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  Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my
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  weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
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  Therefore, I am well content with weaknesses, with insults,
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  with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties
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  for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am
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  strong. It is our weakness, our
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  dependence, our need that God uses when He works in and
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  through our lives. Our own dire need is the very
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  opening that Jesus uses to bear lasting fruit in our lives.
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  Whose strength are you living in today?
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  Are you abiding in Christ the vine, or are you trying to bear
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  fruit on your own as a dead branch disconnected from its
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  source of life? Abide in Him, depend on Him, and
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  watch as He does in your life what you could never do apart
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  from Him.