Bible Verse of the Day Wednesday July 12th, 2023

John 15:4-5 Remain in me, as I also 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. “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.

Separated from Jesus, we can do nothing; while abiding in Him, nothing is impossible. Therefore, the one primary purpose of our lives here on this earth should be to continue living passionately and in a concentrated union with Him and guarding against all satanic forces that attempt to separate us from the love and power of Jesus. In proportionality of spending our lives surrendered to Christ Jesus, we will always experience His strength and energy flowing into us through the indwelling of His Holy Spirit. We may not always feel Him present; however, we will always find His presence when and wherever we begin to draw upon it. There will be no temptation to befall us, no tribulation that we cannot bear, no struggle we cannot hold up against, and no good deeds or works we cannot accomplish. There will also be no testimony we cannot bear or message of the gospel that we will not be able to spread to the lost of this world.

Our bearing fruit in this lost, dark, and dying world depends on our fellowship and closeness to Jesus. As a disciple of Jesus, we must have a complete connection to our power source, God and Him alone. A tree branch alone and isolated from the tree will not be able to bear fruit. It requires the vine. We must realize that in and of ourselves, we are not sufficient. Moreover, there is extreme danger in a self-sufficient attitude in God’s children. The Apostle John is teaching us here that no one can do any work for God in our strength.

Jesus accentuated a reciprocal relationship, it is not only that the disciples abide in the master, but the master also abides in the disciples, an example of this close communal relation is found in “Song of Solomon 6:3a “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine” Jesus was assuring His followers in that day and all who follow Him up to this day in age of a continued close relationship with Him, after He returned to His heavenly throne.

Charles Spurgeon once wrote:  Without me you can do nothing;’ if this be true of apostles, much more of opposers! If his friends can do nothing without him, I am sure his foes can do nothing against him.

I will give the Apostle Paul the last words:

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.