Abide in Jesus (John 15:5)

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
– John 15:5

Oh, there’s so much here. Jesus saying, “I am the vine”. He’s basically saying, I am the channel through which the blessings of God flow, like a branch connected to a vine that feeds off of that vine, that’s nourished by that vine. Jesus is saying, “I am the source of life for you”. And then he gets specific. Just jump to the end. “Apart from me, you can do nothing”. Everything good we have, everything good we can do, all comes from the vine and his life in us. Which then leads to a misunderstanding I think many people have when they hear this verse.

John 15:5 shows the source of fruitfulness.

I think many people read this verse about bearing fruit and think, “Okay, Jesus is calling me to bear fruit in my life”. When the reality is in this vers, he is not commanding us to bear any fruit. There’s one command in this verse, “Abide in me”. And Jesus says, “When you abide in me, then I am going to bear fruit through you”. The key, everything revolves around “abide in me”, which makes sense. A branch by itself can’t bear any fruit. A branch by itself dies. It withers away.

So you and I have one main priority today. Abide in Jesus, abide in his Word. That’s what John 15 goes on to talk about. Abide in his love for you. Just focus on his love for you. Walk in intimacy with Jesus, walk closely with you. Just keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.

And Jesus says, “If you do that, I’m going to bear so much fruit through you, but if you try to do good things, try to live a good life, try to do well. Anything, fill in the blank, that would be good, you can’t do it. You can do nothing apart from me”. This may sound overly basic, but just to be clear, you can’t live the Christian life apart from Christ in you and you being in Christ.

John 15:5 pictures dependence on Jesus.

And so let’s pray. Jesus, help us to abide in you today, even right now. We fix our eyes on you, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the Bread of Life, all these I am statements. Including, Jesus, you are the Vine, we are branches. God, we just want to remain in you, to walk with you, to keep our eyes fixed on you, our hearts in tune with you, following the leadership of your Spirit. And as we do, we pray that you would bear fruit through us.

We pray for the fruit of your life in us today. For all the fruit of your Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Jesus, please produce this fruit in us and through us today. Help us to love others as the overflow of your love and our lives. Help us to serve others. God, help us to work hard today by your power at work in us as we’re working for you by the power of your work in us.

Oh God, we pray that John 15:5 would be true of our lives today, that we’re abiding in you, you in us, and you bearing fruit through us in ways that are good for others, in ways that bring glory to you, and in ways that bring joy to us. This is where John 15 goes on to talk about. That your joy may be in us and our joy may be complete.

We pray all this for your glory, Jesus, for others’ good and for our joy.

Prayer for the Tamboli People

Oh God, even as we pray for unreached people today, for the Tamboli people of Bangladesh, for 150,000 of them, no known followers of Jesus among them, we pray, oh God, that the gospel, the good news of Jesus, the Vine, the Channel through which all your blessings flow would spread to the Tamboli people of Bangladesh. And we pray that the fruit of our lives today, even our prayers right now, would be the gospel going forward among them, and strength for your church in working to get the gospel to them.

I pray for all the brothers and sisters I’ve met in Bangladesh who are working for the spread of the gospel there. Please God, we pray, please hear our cries right now for the Tamboli people, and may part of the fruit of our lives today, right now, in this moment, be opening hearts of Tamboli men, women, and children, to your love for them that they might abide in you. Oh, we pray all this according to your Word, Jesus, in John 15:5. In your name, amen.