October 4: PERMANENCE

Believe it:

“Remain in Me, as 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. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:4-5

Live it:

We can learn three lessons from today’s text.
1. Growth comes from being connected. Spiritual growth doesn’t come through one’s own efforts. There was once a boy who wanted so badly to grow that he would hang by his arms from a metal bar, trying to stretch his body (it was me!). The only result of that experiment was that he got sore arms. Your job is to stay connected. The Lord’s job is to help you grow. He won’t do your job, and you certainly cannot do His.
2. We produce fruit by being connected. Another result of remaining connected to Jesus is that not only do we grow, we also produce fruit. Not only is staying connected a blessing to us, others also see the fruit that God produces in us and can be inspired to get connected as well. In plant life, the fruit is usually the part that carries the seed to produce other plants. What a marvelous privilege to expand the Kingdom of Christ in this world as we plant His seed in our communities.
3. It is dangerous to disconnect. Jesus said, “apart from Me you can do nothing.” Think on these words of Jesus. Sobering, no? Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Not even a little bit. So, if we can do nothing while disconnected, how does that compare with what happens if we remain connected to Jesus? Staying connected to Him is the secret to growth, expansion, freedom!

Share it:

Pause three times during the day and check your connection with the Lord. Ask Him to help you become a blessing to others.

My prayer today: for the sound equipment.

-Pray that everything functions properly.

-Pray for the sound engineer to be enabled to make it work with no problems or distractions.

from God’s City, My City