John 15:5 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...when
you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s
commandments and remain in his love.
Many Western evangelical Christians know
their Bible well, particularly the older generations and on the whole they have
heard and have had opportunity to read good sound teaching and yet most churches
have stagnated or only grown at the expense of other churches. What is the
problem? I suggest it is a failure to obey. I knew basically how to live a good
‘Christian’ life when I was 21 my fundamental need was not more Bible teaching
but strong encouragement to put what I knew to be right into practice. God has been speaking
to me recently about pride, about fasting and about living more simply amongst
other things. My biggest need is to focus on how to apply what God is saying to
my life without neglecting to feed on the word. In this way we can produce much
fruit –Jesus here is primarily referring to fruit in terms of unbelievers being
impacted through us.
Father
help me to live according to your word.
This is true Giles living in obedient faith with God a the head of everything. I remember being like that when I first found Jesus, but very quickly normal life tries to take over family, church politics and work. We live in a fast throw away world. Even the self service checkout rushes you. We end up filling life with pointless tasks instead of God. Are we just riding through the next bit without looking at the way we act, our attitude salt and light etc? The problem is we don't come across as any different to anyone else. Me included. So why would anyone want to know Jesus? And have what we have??
ReplyDeleteI think we worry too much. Do I pray enough? When did I last read the bible? Am I listening to the right music, or watching the right TV? The message of the Bible is fairly simple, " love each other" . If we get that bit right, the rest is put in its place.
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