21 Day Fast // Day 15: Abide in Jesus

DAY 15 // JOHN 15:1-2 // "ABIDE IN JESUS" // PASTOR SEAN

John 15:1-2
“‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”’

Read and meditate on verses 1-8 throughout today.

I love that this scripture reminds us that God is a Gardener and that he shapes us by pruning.

There’s a stark contrast between the pruning process. It’s that the branch that abides in Jesus bears fruit, while the branch that becomes disconnected is cut off. This is what we find out in the verses that you will read through today: that kind of branch withers and is thrown into the fire.

The reminder is to abide in Jesus and to not live a life “for Him” that’s cut off from spending time with Him.

We abide in Christ by abiding in worship, fasting, meditation, service, love, His Word and more. When Jesus meets Mary and Martha in their home, he calls it “THE BETTER THING” when Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus--abiding.

One of my favorite books is “Building a Discipleship Culture” by Mike Breen, and he shares this scripture in the context of a half circle shape. Something similar to a pendulum that swings back and forth from; “abiding and working” or “being and doing”.

We all know that we can’t just always be with Jesus and never with people or living our lives. However, the idea is that we “work out of our rest instead of “resting from our work”. The hope is that this momentum in our lives will produce fruit.

So what is the fruit that pruning produces in us? It’s the fruit of the spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-control. This means that one of the marks of whether we are abiding or not is if we “bear much fruit”.

The danger of the busy life or the “Martha Thing” is that It’s easy to talk about Jesus, do things in his name, and live our lives without bearing fruit.

This season is a pruning season, but pruning always produces growth. What fruit will God grow in you this season as you abide in him?

How will you spend time today, this week, and this year abiding in Christ? Abide so that you might produce the fruit that will feed the hungry people all around you, They really hunger for Christ, and the fruit you produce from him will bring them to Him.

Prayer Focus: Pray for our FINANCES - that God would supply every need through faithful tithers.