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May 2025

JOIN WITH THE LORD IN EVERYTHING YOU DO

By Christian Writing No Comments

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him [or her], he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:4-5)

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:17)

Most of us are familiar with the parable Jesus taught of the vine and the branches, but I suspect few if any of us understand the full implications of it. The vital importance of having a better understanding is highlighted by the parable’s punchline: “… apart from me you can do nothing.”

“Meno” is the Greek word in this parable we translate into English as “abide”. “Meno” means “abide”, “remain”, “dwell”, “stay” or “be continuously joined with and connected to”. Just as a branch must remain joined to the grapevine to receive essential nutrients, stay alive, and produce grapes, so we must stay joined with Christ to have everlasting life and “bear fruit” for His Kingdom on the earth. And just as a grapevine needs branches to produce grapes, so Jesus needs His disciples to bring forth His fruit on earth.

This fruit we are to produce is elsewhere called the good works God prepared for us to do after we became new creations in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17). As the Father sent Jesus, so Jesus sends us. (John 20:21) We prove ourselves to be His disciples by producing much fruit (John 15:5, 8). And this fruit is not limited to church work or those other times we feel we are overtly serving the Christian faith. As disciples, our call to good works includes everything we do and say – in our marriage, our parenting, our workplace and elsewhere (Colossians 3:17-24). Everything is to be in the name of the Lord.

Does this sound difficult? Of course it is! That is why we can only accomplish it by staying joined with Jesus. And who is the greatest example of this parable? That same Jesus, whose whole life on earth was a model for what our lives are to be. (1 John 2:6)

Jesus emptied Himself of divine power when He descended from heaven and became one of us. (Philippians 2:5-8) Then, at His baptism, the Holy Spirit descended from heaven upon Jesus, and “remained” (John 1:32). “Meno”, the Greek word from our vine and branches parable, is used here to describe what happened to Jesus.

As a result, Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit and power so He could begin His ministry on earth (Luke 4:1, 14). Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus became fully rejoined with the Father – “with Him” in power and purpose (Acts 10:38). Jesus was in the Father and the Father was in Him (John 14:10). They were “one”, and from that time on, Jesus spoke what the Father directed Him to speak and only did what He saw His Father doing (John 5:19-20; 10:30; 12:49-50).

Now the same Holy Spirit that filled Jesus lives in His disciples so that we can be in Jesus and He can be in us (John 14:15-20). His teachings and commandments can abide in us through faithful study of the Bible, and His more specific directions for our lives can come through prayer and the leading of His Spirit (Matthew 4:1; John 15:7-8; Romans 8:14; Galatians 5:18; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). Just like Jesus with the Father, we become empowered to join the Lord in what we see Him doing.

Do we want to have much fruit in our marriage, parenting, workplace, friendships, and other endeavors? Then we need to join with Jesus in all those efforts, remembering that the Lord who loves everyone is living inside us to direct and empower us.

Do we want to have much fruit in our Christian outreach and discipleship both as individuals and the Body of Christ? Then we need to stop focusing on our own agendas and join Jesus in what He is doing, always remembering the vine and all His branches are together one plant – one Lord, one Body, one Spirit, one faith, one hope of our calling, and one Father who is over all, through all, and in all (Ephesians 4:1-6). As we become more one with Jesus, we become more one with each other, and together we will finally be the witness the world needs to see (John 17:20-23).

God bless you and God bless our community.

KEEP THE MAIN THING THE MAIN THING

By Christian Writing No Comments

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man [or woman] who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man [or woman] who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7:24-27)

We have churches in our region where God is moving powerfully. Lives are being transformed. People are embracing Jesus as their Savior and Lord. God’s love is being expressed through humble acts of kindness, service, and generosity. People young and old are experiencing the manifest presence of God.

At the other end of the spectrum, we have churches who have died or are dying, perhaps because they never recovered from COVID isolation. And our remaining churches are all in-between, with some continuing to do good things without any measurable growth and others just “hanging on.”

One truth applicable to all these churches is, as Paul stated late in his ministry, they have not become all they can be. (Philippians 3:12-14) And so, like Paul, we all need to “press on” toward the goal: the great prize of God’s call in Christ Jesus.

I personally believe the way to “press on” is fundamentally the same for every church and every individual Christian, including me. It is more about the “pews” than the pulpit and more about “the rest of the week” than it is about Sunday morning. As I heard someone say at a Christian conference twenty years ago: “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”

What is this “main thing”? Jesus revealed it at the end of his Sermon on the Mount when he gave us the parable that contrasts the wise and the foolish. Both hear the Lord, be it by sermon, bible study, or the sharing of a godly grandmother, but only the wise live according to what they hear. Only the wise love God with their soul (will) and strength as well as their mind and heart. (Luke 10:27) Only the wise love Jesus by having and keeping His commandments. (John 14:21-23) Only the wise are both hearers and doers of God’s Word. (James 1:22)

The “main thing” revealed here is choosing to have God be the God of your life every day and in every situation. As that great old hymn declares: “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way.” Otherwise put, Jesus is not just the Truth and the Life. He is the Way. (John 14:6)

There are, of course, things that get in the way of living the Way. Ephesians 6 warns us that we wrestle against forces of darkness, and so we need to pray daily for protection from the evil one. (Matthew 6:13 – the Lord’s Prayer) We need to remember that when we are submitted to God, we can resist the devil and he must flee. (James 4:7)

We need to remember the tug-of-war that goes on inside all of us between the desires of the Spirit and the desires of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16-26) Our fleshly desires include not just lusts and greed, but some of the simple habits of life we developed before we became God’s people – things we do all the time without deliberately choosing what would be best to do. We must work to follow Jesus, not these habits. (Luke 9:23)

Finally, we must remember what Jesus taught in the parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:3-8, 18-23). God’s Word can be choked out of our lives not just by the deceitfulness of riches but by the “cares of this world.” We must all deal with the cares of this world. Instead of trying to deal with those cares on our own so we can be free to spend time with God, we need to address those cares with God (Matthew 6:25-34; Psalm 23). Walk with Him all the time. (Colossians 2:6-7; Proverbs 3:5-6)

Our God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is the Creator of the universe and of you and me. His goodness, wisdom, knowledge, and power are absolute. He never makes a mistake. And we are His beloved children, indwelled by His Holy Spirit and loved beyond measure.

The rain, floods, and winds of this world are upon us. It is time to make our relationship with God AS GOD the highest priority in our lives every day. The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.

God bless you and God bless our community.