Chapter 10: Abiding In Christ
John 15 “1I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 7If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. 9As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 10If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. 11These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”
How do I find a way to abide in Him so that I might be fruitful and by being fruitful bring Glory to God? How do I continue in His love that His joy might remain in me and my joy might be full? I have spent many days meditating on this very scripture because I see in it so many truths that must be told. There is locked within it so many treasures that are key to our Christian Walk. Christ has said that He is the true vine, the sap—the energy flows through Him into the branches. No branch has any life without the life-giving power of the vine. It is of no coincidence that Christ gave the illustration by talking about the grape vine. Each of the branches have smaller outshooting branches which must be guided, combed, and sometimes cut off so that the main branch is allowed to develop the fruit. The branch at times must be pinched so that it grows in the proper direction. Grapevines require intense labor to allow for fruit bearing branches. If left unattended, grapevines can become unruly, and fruiting will be poor. So it is necessary for God continually to be pruning the branch throughout its lifetime. He has to remove all those desires, actions, thoughts and fruitless side shoots which may develop.
The branch of its own has no energy, no fruit bearing, and no life. It must rely on the vine to provide life and to develop the fruit. A branch that is not connected to the vine cannot produce any fruit and will wither and die. Christ so amazingly chose the grapevine to demonstrate the Christians growth toward fruit bearing. Grapevines tend to be unruly and send forth shoots in many unwanted directions if not carefully managed by the husbandman. We, so often, are much like the branches of a grapevine. We take the energy provided us by the vine and willfully shoot off in many directions of our own. Sometimes we are hurried to become fruit bearing and want to do this for Him; yet, we take off in our own direction and our own strength. Like, the two year old child who defiantly stands and says; “I do it myself” while spilling the entire carton of milk onto the floor and counter. We then cry and throw a temper tantrum because we didn’t get it right. We are angry and pouting when we need to be trained, groomed, and pruned.
He reminds us that we are cleansed by the word. Our salvation did not come from our struggling to become more. We were not able to work our way into the vine of our own doing. We had to be grafted into the vine by God. It was not our labor that paid the price for our salvation. We are cleansed by the Word, that Word being Christ Himself. John 1: “1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ..12But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 14And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” My Salvation, my justification did not come of my own works; so, how is it that I now want to produce fruit from my own works. In order to rest in and abide in His Salvation, I must remember this. The only part in my Salvation that came from me was my faith to believe that He is God who is worthy of all my praise and to be Glorified for all eternity. Even that I could not have done had God not removed the veils from my eyes that I might glimpse at His Glory and desire it, seek it, cherish it as a treasure above all other treasures.
Then how do we ever learn to abide in the vine. Is it a hopeless dream that I will ever become a fruit laden branch for God? Can this regenerate, willful branch ever learn to be fully submitted to Him and quit trying to prove itself by trying to do the work for God? Will I ever reach that point that I do not weep over the pruning when God so wisely removes those desires I am clinging so tightly to; in order that I might wholeheartedly seek the only true treasure which is God, Alone. He must continually cut away those counterfeit joys in order that I might seek and savor the only true joy which I can find in Him. Ever so gently He has provided me with glimpses of His Joy and His Glory; knowing that the magnitude of His Wondrous Glory, Love and Joy are too great for this human heart to fully comprehend. Yet, I have felt His Joy just enough to know I want and desire it with all of my heart and soul. I have seen just enough of His Glory to know that I hunger and thirst after Him as the greatest treasure. Still there are moments when life with all its trials, sorrows and demands seem to blur my vision. The depth of sorrow that comes is even greater in those moments because I have tasted of His Joy and His Glory. I hunger and thirst after Him. Like David in Psalm 27: 4One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple. ..8When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.”
As we come to realize that His beauty, His Glory is greater to be desired than anything we have ever imagined; we seek Him and savor Him. We begin prizing Him, cherishing Him, loving Him above any other treasure; yet, this does not mean that our sorrow is completely gone while we are yet in this world. We are never beyond the battle on this earth against negativity even within our own hearts. We do however battle for joy in the midst of all this sorrow. We may be broken heartedly clinging tight to that joy which we now have seen glimpses of and hold very tightly to it; because nothing else on this earth can ever compare to it.
2 Corinthians 6: 4 in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, 5In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; 6By pureness, by knowledge, by long suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, 7By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, 8By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; 9As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; 10As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
When Moses asked in Exodus 33 to be able to see God in all His Glory; God responded that no man could see the full Glory of God and live. So He hid Moses in the cleft of the mountain and passed by so that Moses could only glimpse at God; but could not see His full Glory because it was more than man could stand. When Moses came down from the mountain, His face shone so brightly that the people awed. Oh, that I might see just enough of His Glory that His light might shine forth to a darkened world! 2 Corinthians 3: “18But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Dimly, through a glass, I see the Glory of the Lord; while the Holy Spirit transforms me into that image from glory to glory—step by step-little glories to add to more little glories until one day I will mirror Him and reflect His Glory back to Him.
So, abiding in Him is learning to rest in His Arms knowing that one day I will stand before Him and all Glory will be known. I can trust that every time He prunes me that He does so with Love so that I may bear more fruit which Glorifies Him more; magnifying His Beauty ever more within my heart. As I through contrition, praise, faith and obedience abide within His arms of Love; I bear more fruit. That fruit Glorifies Him more, magnifies His Beauty and thus brings more joy and hope in my heart as I gaze upon His ever increasing, breath taking Beauty. To Abide in Him, we lay down everything to trust Him—no matter what. Though my heart’s greatest desire is to be standing before His throne; I do not want to go without an abundance of fruit to lie before His feet. For that reason, I must abide in Him by trusting Him with all my Heart and Soul. When storm clouds crowd around me I must continue to battle for joy in Christ even while here upon this earth. I must revel in the moments that He does allow those glimpses of Overwhelming Joy and to see His great Glory before me. I must hold tight to Future Grace which will continue to sustain me into eternity. Trust, my soul in Him; rest my heart within His love, and forever let me seek His face with each step of this my life until my dying breath.
Abiding is trusting my heavenly Father is omnipotent and that He will not allow anything into my life that is not for my edification and for my ultimate joy. He only removes those things which get in the way of my seeing Him. Abiding is trusting my heavenly Father is omniscient and that He sees me as the Glorified, Justified, Perfect final product that He is molding. Like the artist envisions the final portrait as he steadily adds, erases, covers and transforms the canvas into his final completed work; God also sees the completion of His work in me. Abiding is trusting in the truth that my Heavenly Father loves me. Abiding is trusting that He is able to speak and stop whatever storm may have arisen; yet, in love has chosen not to—so that I might be blessed and He might be glorified. Abiding is casting aside all this pride which desires to show God that I can do it myself and realizing that I can only do it when He does it through me. Abiding is acknowledging the truth that He is on His throne and rules over the just and the unjust. Abiding is clinging to hope in Future Grace as He has provided. Abiding is letting go of Counterfeit treasures that I might obtain the Greatest Treasure which is God. Abiding is knowing that God gave His greatest treasure (His Son) that He might suffer, die and be risen so that a regenerate, guilty heart might be declared righteous and thus be able to share in the Beauty, Love, and Joy that is found in the Triune God. Abiding is knowing that 2 Corinthians 4:” 6For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7But we have this treasure (the gospel) in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” And abiding understands that in this world, we may have tribulations; but our joy flows only as we allow the life sustaining nutrients of the vine to flow forth through us. 2 Corinthians 4: “8We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; 10Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 11For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.”