Following God in His terms
Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:4-5 Once you surrender your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, you are to obey Him. Remaining in Him is the only way that you can experience the life He wants you to have. You will allow Him to direct your life and He doesn’t need your counsel as to what is the right direction. He knows what to do and how to lead you. Once you were dead in your sins and now that He saved you, He is going to fill you. Once you were in darkness and now He brought you into the light. “Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life” (John 8:12). He has set you free from the bondage of sin. As a response to His gracious acts towards you, it is but proper to be grateful to Him by honoring Him with the life He gave you. His goal for your life is to be fruitful. He will lead you to spiritual experiences you never dreamed of because you are obeying Him and you are allowing Him to lead you. You will see those whose life was broken because they are separated from God but because of your witness to your new life in Christ, they realize their need of God and they are made whole. The compassion that Jesus felt for people when He saw them as sheep without a Shepherd will also become your burden. As you draw closer to Christ the more you learn how to obey Him. But there will be times that you will be tempted to take the easy route and not to be too much concerned about following Jesus. When you are experiencing this urge to detach from God, be reminded that you are stopping to follow God and this will lead to loss of opportunity to be fruitful. When you decide to follow God you follow in His terms. This is the only way that you can live out the purpose of your life. As Jesus told His disciples, “For apart from me you can do nothing” (v. 5). He alone can give you the victory when you are facing challenges in life. “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).
Blessings,