“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from
me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers;
such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in
you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” —John 15:5–7
Jesus describes himself as the vine and we, united to him in the Church, are the branches. In what
ways can you “remain” in Jesus? What comes to mind when you read Jesus’ promise that if we remain
in him, we will bear much fruit? What kind of fruit would you like to bear in this life?
I would like to teach people how to be truly happy. Along with that I also learn deeper about the true Christian joy. For a long time I used to think that "unless I memorize the Bible, I cannot convince anybody about faith matters". The best way is to make others look at me and think, "I want what you have have". Easier said than done because the evil one constantly undermines our efforts.
When I remain in Jesus He carries me. First, I think, I have to learn about Him and try my best to obey His commands. If I can continue to learn how to remain in Jesus, I can attract people towards Jesus.
To me the vine and the branches is a form of assimilation; to take on Christ as the branches can only be the fruit, or flower of the vine as the vine determines. We remain in him by allowing ourselves to be consumed by him. The more we seek sanctification, the more we release ourselves from the world (which seeks to consume us through our consumption of stuff), the more we free ourselves to not only be available to be consumed by the love of Christ, but to also grow in the desire to remain in that state. The more we remain in that state, the more we are then able to radiate that love to others as they begin to see “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20).
As far as what type of fruit I would like to bear, it is simply to preach the Gospel by my actions - maybe words too - I don’t know though, I’m not much of a speaker, or writer - but to joyfully show others the “hope that is in me” (1 Pt. 3:15) so that they might desire the same and live joyfully.
I don’t understand why my post appeared twice, but only once completely 🤷♂️
Let's keep an eye on it Steve. You should see on the bottom right a delete icon to delete your posts.
