“Remain in Me, but I also remain in You. No branch can bear fruit by itself’ it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me.” (John 15:4 NIV)
So often we read this chapter and the key word that comes back is ‘abide’ – our hearts are challenged to live out this abiding. But we may miss the other half of this truth: we stay in Christ and He stays in us. It’s a two-fold promise and a powerful one at that. We strive to stay connected and He commits to stay within us: supernaturally strengthening our staying power. Maximum spiritual synergy is the result of this coupling. We do our part by refocusing on our Savior over and over. Jesus does His part by breathing fresh power into dusty frames each day. We wind up growing fruit by this bi-partisan commitment: the disciplining of our flesh and the fire of the Spirit. Just as a living plant requires sun and soil to flourish, our souls require truth and Spirit. Remove one factor, and the plant withers. Remove the truth or the Spirit, and our soul starts to wither, too.
“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples.” (John 15:8 NIV)
Fruit-filled lives give God glory. Just as vineyard brings glory to it’s vinedresser – our lives rooted and established in Kingdom truth bring glory to the Creator. Any growth we achieve is because of the partnership with Holy Spirit and His purposes.
“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” (John 15:11 NIV)
God’s commands are not burdensome. They are loving directives that will ultimately lead to a life of joy. Not temporary happiness or fleeting fullness, but deep and lasting joy because when we learn to live out God’s instructions we learn to live in unbroken relationship with Him.
ABIDING + INFILLING = OBEDIENCE –> JOY
Joy is the end result of a life surrendered to the commandments and overflowing with the Spirit. I’ve seen it. I’ve witnessed people living like this and it’s exciting and contagious! My friend Shawn exudes joy. She lives so close to the Lord that she quickly identifies even the slightest thought away from Him. She’s figured out how to abide and be filled. She walks in ongoing Kingdom joy. It isn’t that her life is free from hard things as much as she handles the hard things with utter confidence in the King of Kings.
We cannot make joy the end goal, though that is the tendency of our flesh. If we do, joy can become an idol and obstruct our view of God. No. Instead we start at the beginning of the spiritual math sentence. We start with abiding; training our hearts to stay close to Christ. We agree with God’s Word and seek to maintain nearness. We surrender to the infilling of the Spirit and we see how His power transforms our ability to obey. We partner with the Spirit in living out God’s commands and then joy will not be far behind.
Lord, we struggle to stay near in our own strength. Thank You for sending Your Holy Spirit to strengthen our connection and resolve with You. Grow our obedience. Fill our lives with Kingdom fruit. Let joy burst forth from there. Amen.