Day 3: Abiding, Not Striving
Reading: John 15:1-8
Jesus, the True Vine
15 “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3 You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. 4 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.
5 “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. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
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Devotional:
Jesus does not ask you to produce fruit. He asks you to remain. There is a profound difference between striving and abiding. Striving is exhausting, self-reliant, and ultimately fruitless. Abiding is restful, relational, and remarkably productive. A branch does not labor to grow grapes. It simply stays connected to the vine and receives what it needs to bear what it was created to bear. Jesus is the vine. You are the branch. Apart from Him, He says plainly, you can do nothing. The renovation God wants to do in your life begins not with effort but with proximity. Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you.
What does your daily rhythm reveal about how much time you are actually spending in the presence of Jesus?
Set aside fifteen intentional minutes today with no agenda other than to be in the presence of Jesus through prayer and Scripture. Simply remain.
Jesus, the True Vine
15 “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3 You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. 4 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.
5 “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. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Devotional:
Jesus does not ask you to produce fruit. He asks you to remain. There is a profound difference between striving and abiding. Striving is exhausting, self-reliant, and ultimately fruitless. Abiding is restful, relational, and remarkably productive. A branch does not labor to grow grapes. It simply stays connected to the vine and receives what it needs to bear what it was created to bear. Jesus is the vine. You are the branch. Apart from Him, He says plainly, you can do nothing. The renovation God wants to do in your life begins not with effort but with proximity. Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you.
What does your daily rhythm reveal about how much time you are actually spending in the presence of Jesus?
Set aside fifteen intentional minutes today with no agenda other than to be in the presence of Jesus through prayer and Scripture. Simply remain.
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April
From Hosanna to Crucify - The Fickleness of Human HeartsLove in Action - Serving The Least Of TheseReturning To The Good ShepherdThe Empty Tomb - Evidence of VictoryWhy Do You Look Among The Dead?Crucified With Christ - Your Personal ResurrectionFrom Fear To Faith - The Disciples' JourneyLiving Resurrection Life DailyDay 1: The Heart of DiscipleshipDay 2: The Power of Your StoryDay 3: Waiting with PurposeDay 4: Community Makes DisciplesDay 5: Healing and Purpose in JesusDay 1: The Consuming Fire of God's PresenceDay 2: Waiting in WorshipDay 3: When God's Timing Exceeds Our PlanningDay 4: Baptized and Filled with the Holy SpiritDay 5: Pierced Hearts and Transformed LivesDay 1: Waiting in WorshipDay 2: Unqualified but ObedientDay 3: The Holy Spirit's PowerDay 4: Church as Family
May
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June
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6 Comments
With all our effort and striving to be good humans and good Christians and to do God’s work—the only thing we really have to do is abide in Him. He does all the things through us. It’s so much simpler than we make it.
n
nI’m also thinking how much that proximity to God will silence the voice of the enemy that draws us away. The nearer we are to God’s heart and His voice, the louder His voice will be and the more futile the enemy’s lies.
n
I thinking abiding vs. striving comes down to control. If I am striving, I’m trying to do good in my own strength, and abiding surrenders that control to God. I need to trust that He will bear the fruit through me, the branch. God wants to be in relationship with us and that can only happen if we make time to abide in Him. The words of an old worship song come to mind “Not by might, not by power, but by my spirit says the Lord”
Zechariah 4- your quote is a vision of the Holy Spirit ever supplying our needs. It sounds like you might have discovered a powerful truth about yourself. I’m praying for you today.
I agree with Becca I think when we try to do things on our own we make them so much more complicated than they are or that God intended them to be. He simply wants us to draw near to him and that proximity and connection to the vine is what will produce the fruit not how hard I try to make fruit grow. I literally can’t on my own. It’s easy to carve out a few min in the morning to spend time with the Lord but my prayer is that I can be more aware of him throughout my whole day. More intentional about staying connected to him all day even when the distractions of the day threaten to steal my attention.
I did a little more looking up of the word “abide” this morning after reading this and came across 1 John 3:24.
n
n“Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us.”
n
nThe word remain here is the same word as abide in John 15. I feel like it gives a clear picture of what abiding in Christ means. It means to stay there. But this verse continues on to say that if we remain in Him, He remains in and with us. What an encouragement.
Thanks for digging into this. That’s exactly right. It comes down to being in His presence or being aware of his constant presence. This verse mentions obeying His commandments. Some might read that and conclude that we must follow Gods law in order to remain in Christ. However, the context here is relational and not legal. To remain in the presence of the Lord means we must continually live in obedience to Him. The Holy Spirit leads as we submit to Him. Any other interpretation of this is legalistic and counter to New Testament teaching.