Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Cannot Bear Fruit Itself

December 17-18, 2013 - Cannot Bear Fruit Itself – Manna by Dorothy Callies

John 15:4 (Jesus said) “Abide 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”(KJV).

NIV: Remain in me, and I will 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. NLT: Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed (separated) from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful apart from Me.

The fruit is the quality of Christian character that brings glory to God through life and witnesses. God expects all of us to bear fruit. As the Scripture teaches that we are to stay with Jesus, and He will stay with us. If we understood that a branch cannot produce fruit alone, but must stay in the vine. In the same way, we cannot produce fruit alone but must stay in Jesus.

The Greek word meno means to continue, remain, abide, or dwell. Just as the branch has life only as long as the life of the vine flows into it, so the believer has Christ’s life only as long as Christ’s life flows into him through his abiding in Christ. So Manna is produced as long as I dwell in Christ. Glory be to the Lord God of heaven! Thank you Holy Spirit for reminding me that I cannot bear fruit myself and that You have helped me from time to time. Hallelujah!

My friend, you need to continue with Jesus as your Vine. Jesus said, “I am the True Vine and you are the branches.” You need to stay in Jesus and Jesus will stay in you. That’s how you and Jesus together bring forth much fruit, for without Jesus there would be no fruit. Jesus said, “Without Me, you can do nothing.” (Ref: Jn.15:5).

Our heavenly Father is glorified when you bear much fruit. The fruit that we bring to Him is through worship, adoration, and praise. It is like our heavenly Father shines so much more and His heart is filled with ecstasy. The word, ecstasy means state of overwhelming emotion with very great joy. (Ref: Jn. 15:8) Awesome? So let’s worship Him!

Song: Glorify Thy Name                                                  
1. Father, we love Thee,                                                 
We worship and adore Thee;                                          
Glorify Thy name in all the earth.                                  
Glorify Thy name; Glorify Thy name;                           
Glorify Thy name in all the earth. 

2. Jesus, we love Thee,
We worship and adore Thee;
Glorify Thy name in all the earth.
Glorify Thy name; Glorify Thy name;
Glorify Thy name in all the earth.

3. Spirit, we love Thee,
We worship and adore Thee;
Glorify Thy name in all the earth.
Glorify Thy name; Glorify Thy name;
Glorify Thy name in all the earth.
(Donna Adkins, Sing His Praise)

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