REMAIN IN HIM

John 15:3-4

You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you.

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.

Staying focused on the Lord is very important for the believer. For when you allow yourself to be cut off, you hear the noise of the world and could be easily distracted by the world's belief system thus losing touch with the divine reality.

Romans 12:2

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

2 Peter 1:4

And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

For the distractions are the enemy's available tools to fulfill his aim which is to take our minds away from the Lord.

John 10:10

The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

The defence is to keep your mind on the Lord, abide in Him. Christ showed us this example when the enemy came with his temptations. They are yet the same with the one at the beginning and the same as the one John described in his letter:

1 John 2:16

For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.

But what are we to do?

1 John 2:17

And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

We must chose to do what pleases the Lord.

There is only one way we can do that:

John 15:4-5

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.

The church ought to be the stimulator to stir every believer to abide in Christ Jesus:

Colossians 3:16

Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.

So help us Good Lord.

He calls us blessed.

Love

@the watcher