Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.  I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. (John 15:4-5, NASB)

Jesus calls us to abide, to remain in Him. This is the way to LIFE, to fruitfulness, to seeing God’s goodness grow in our own lives, in our husband’s and kids’ and neighbors’ lives, to see His goodness, His Kingdom come in our neighborhoods and churches and cities…

Jesus calls us to abide. To remain. To stay. To live in His love.

And now we get to my BIG QUESTION, which I’ve been asking for years, and veeeerrrrryyyy slowly finding answers to…

HOW? Read more

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.  I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. (John 15:4-5, NASB)

I have loved John 15 for years, but just realized I tend to see this portion of John’s story like a collection of loosely related essays. It’s actually a narrative, one story. And I don’t think it’s an accident that we find this section on ABIDING sandwiched between the Bible’s two greatest teachings on the Holy Spirit.

John 14:16 I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.

Before Jesus calls His followers to abide or remain with Him… He’s promised His spirit to remain and be with Them.

As a young Christian, I learned to articulate my faith story as “I invited Christ into my life”. But I’m learning that God is the GREAT INITIATOR.

He ALWAYS goes first. He is inviting ME. Read more

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.  I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. (John 15:4-5, NASB)

I have loved John 15 for years, but I tend to see this portion of John’s story like one of Shauna Neiquiest’s books: a collection of loosely related essays.

But it’s actually a narrative, one story. And I don’t think it’s an accident that we find this section on ABIDING sandwiched between our two greatest teachings on the Holy Spirit.

John 14:16 I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.

Before Jesus calls His followers to abide or remain with Him… He’s promised His spirit to remain and be with Them.

As a young Christian, I learned to articulate my faith story as “I invited Christ into my life”. But I’m learning that God is the GREAT INITIATOR.

He ALWAYS goes first. He is inviting ME. Read more