Remain in Me

Verse

John 15:4-5
“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.”

Thoughts

My baby girl is 10 months old and although she can crawl, she craves being held. Sadie constantly reaches up to me throughout the day. She clings to me for comfort, security, and nourishment. In my arms she can give and receive love and affection. Often times I can anticipate her needs and will scoop her up before she is aware that she needs something.

In this passage, Jesus tells His disciples to remain in Him. The Greek word meno means: to continue to be present, to be held and kept continually. To be honest, I find being present with Jesus difficult most days.

When I crave comfort and security, I often cope by distracting myself. We all have our own coping mechanisms. Our go-to ways to escape reality and feel better. Most of these ways aren’t inherently bad but when I use them to self medicate, I am disconnecting myself from my life line. I am trying to receive life from something other than Jesus The Vine.

Remaining in Jesus requires fixing my eyes upon Him. (Hebrews 12:2) Holding Him close in my heart, and reminding myself of His words in my mind. As I communicate with Him throughout my day I can listen for His voice and actively rest by surrendering my anxieties.

Our vision at CityLight is to “seek, love and care for people like Jesus does”. My desire is to do this whenever I can especially during these turbulent times. But I often wonder if I am doing enough. On introspect the question I ask myself is: “Am I enough?” According to Jesus, bearing fruit has everything to do with our connection with Him. He says, “apart from me, you can do nothing”! It’s not about our own strength, ability, intelligence or ingenuity. We can rest knowing that if we are remaining in Him fruit will happen naturally.

My prayer for you today is that you will experience the peace and joy of being held like a child in Jesus’ arms! And as you remain in Him you WILL bear fruit.