Remain in Jesus
“Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself but must remain in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me.” John15:4 NLT
Sometimes preachers can make Jesus sound like His head over heels for you. Or that Jesus loses sleep thinking about you and me. Other preachers can make it sound like Jesus is an abusive husband, jealous and suspicious.
The Bible tells us something different. In John 15, Jesus is talking to His disciples on the night that He was going to be betrayed. He gave lots of commands that night, but John 15 records Jesus desire for Him to remain with us.
He used the imagery of a vine. The vine grew upward and its branches bore the fruit. The branches themselves received nourishment from the vine.
Jesus was connecting one simple truth. A relationship requires two people in partnership. Jesus was telling them that they needed to stay with Him, because He was the vine and they were the branches.
Jesus does love us. He wants us to love Him also. So much so that He’s given us the love, that we can love Him with, the Holy Spirit.
What does it mean to remain? It means, you have to be in relationship with Jesus.
Here are the primary ways to stay in relationship with Jesus:
Read His Word.
You cannot develop a healthy relationship with Jesus without the Bible. If you are on an island, then, God will make a way. But since you’re reading this, you are not so you can also read the Bible.
Communicate to Jesus.
The Bible is His communication to us and prayer (just talking) is our communication to Him. (Also, He’ll talk back to you if you give Him a chance).
Talk about Jesus to others.
Sharing what Jesus has talked with you about thru the Bible and prayer, will bring a new dimension to your relationship with Jesus.
Work hard to keep your relationship.
All relationships take work, including your relationship with Jesus. Work hard to grow it, protect it and share it (Jesus will do the same).
Jesus’s words in John 15 were not said to exclude people or give us a way to show people they are wrong, but to give us a clear expectation of what Jesus wants from us.
God is not trying to trick us into something that isn’t real. Jesus said, if you remain in Him, He will remain in you.
He will.
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