Tag Archives: John 15:1-4

Remain In Me And I Will Remain In You

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The Sacramental Life - Day 323 - John 15:1-4 - Remain In Me And I Will Remain In You - Growing As Disciples

The Sacramental Life – Day 323 – John 15:1-4 – Remain In Me And I Will Remain In You – Growing As Disciples

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.  You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.  Remain in me, and I will 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. John 15:1-4 (NIV)

Fruitful

Do you want to live a life that is fruitful? Do you want to bear fruit for my kingdom? Do you want to bring glory to my name? Do you want to shine brightly for me in the darkness of this world? Would you like to live a life that I can use? Do you want to others to be drawn to me through the witness and testimony of your life? Would you one day like to hear me say, “Well done, good and faithful servant?” Yes, I want all of this. How can I live this kind of life? What will be required of me for this to be true of me? You must do one thing if you want to live this kind of life. You must do one thing if you want these things to be true of you. You have my full attention. I am listening very carefully to you. What one thing must I do? You must live in an intimate relationship with me. You must make living in an intimate relationship with me the priority of your life. Does that sound simple? Does that easy? Before you answer, I will answer for you. No, it will not be simple. No, it will not be easy. Living in an intimate relationship with me will require everything from you. Does my answer surprise you? No, not really. Why is that? I know that the world, my flesh, and the devil will make every effort to prevent me from living in an intimate relationship with you. I know that the hurry and noise and busyness of life will make every attempt to distract me from living in an intimate relationship with you. I know that the thoughts and opinions and values of the world will try to conform to its pattern and mood me into its shape. But I will have none of this. I have had enough of this fruitless and barren life. I will have no more of living at a distance from you. Now, there is no place I would rather be than in your presence. Now, there is nothing I would rather do than bear fruit for your kingdom and bring glory to your name. Living in an intimate relationship with you may not be easy or simple but neither is it hard. Why is that? I love you with all my heart and mind and soul and strength. I want to live a life of pleasing you. Nothing will bring me greater joy or pleasure than living in an intimate relationship with you. Giving myself to you completely is the desire of my heart. Here I am, I am all yours. I will live in an intimate relationship with you. That is very good. Yes, it is.

Lord, I know I have gotten caught up in the hurry, noise, and busyness of life. This is not a life of abiding. This is no way to remain in you. This is the opposite of living in an intimate relationship with you. Help me to live an abundant, fruitful life of abiding in you. Amen

Key Question…  What commitment will be required of you if you want to live in an intimate relationship with the Lord?

Living It Out…  Make it your daily priority to meet in prayer with the Lord so you can remain in Him and bear fruit for His kingdom.

Seeing It Happen…  Have faith that you will bear an abundance of fruit for the kingdom of God as you abide in Him.

Get Ready To Share…  Share with another person or your small group what spiritual disciplines have most helped you to abide in Christ.

Prayer To Bless Others…  May you remain in Christ so you can bear an abundance of fruit for Him.

For today’s complete 4 page Discipleship Devotional Devotional Study Guide click here:

The Sacramental Life – Day 323 – John 15-1-4 – Remain In Me And I Will Remain In You – 4 Page Discipleship Devotional Study Guide

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By Jon Ulrich © All rights reserved                                                        Copying not permitted                                                                                    www.GrowingAsDisciples.com

Remain In Me

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Discipleship Devotional Study Guide - Discipleship - John 15:1-4 - Remain In Me - Growing As Disciples

Discipleship Devotional Study Guide – Discipleship – John 15:1-4 – Remain In Me – Growing As Disciples

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will 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. John 15:1-4 (NIV)

Connected

How are you remaining in me? Are you vitally and vibrantly connected to me? If I took a close look at your schedule would anything indicate that you have made remaining in me a priority in your daily life? Yes, I am remaining in you. Yes, I am vitally and vibrantly connected to you. Yes, you can look at my schedule and see that I have made remaining in you a priority in my daily life. Tell me more about that. I have set aside a time and place to meet with you in your word. I have withdrawn from the busyness and noise of life. I have blocked out large amounts of time so that I could hear from you. I want to listen to your instruction. I want to follow your guidance. In every second, minute, hour and day I want to keep in step with you. I want to follow you to where you lead me to do whatever you ask of me. That is very good.

What else has helped you to remain vitally and vibrantly connected to me? I have allowed myself to be rooted in a local body of your believers. How so? I have made gathering together with others to worship you a consistent pattern in my life. I have found a regular place to serve you by ministering to others. I have found ongoing support and encouragement from others in a small group. I am meeting with you in prayer. I am reading and studying your word. I am meditating on and memorizing your word. I am praying your word. I am putting your word into practice. In every way, I am trying to know and do your will. It is my passionate desire to live my life with and for you. That is very good.

How have I helped you to remain in me? You have let me know that you are working in and through my life. You have allowed me to shine brightly for you in the world. You are allowing me to bear fruit for your kingdom and bring glory to your name. Am I perfect? Am I following you without any mistakes or missteps? Certainly not. But, you are leading me. You are guiding me. You are changing me. You are pruning my life. You are making me able to be more vitally connected to you. You are making me able to live more vibrantly for you. Yes, I am. Help me to remain connected to you today, tomorrow and forever. Yes, I will.

Lord, I will remain in you. I will make abiding in you a daily priority in my life. I will withdraw from the noise and busyness of life so that I can draw near to you. I will meet with you in your word, prayer and worship so that I can remain vitally connected to you. Amen

For today’s complete 4 page Discipleship Devotional Study Guide click here:

Discipleship – John 15-1-4 – Remain In Me – 4 Page Discipleship Devotional Study Guide

Please consider sharing these devotionals with others through the social media you use.

Individual users may save the Discipleship Devotional Study Guide to their desktop for private use. All the blanks in the study guides are fields that allow typed responses. To use the fields on the study guide you may need to open the guide with a free version of adobe reader.

By Jon Ulrich © All rights reserved                   Copying not permitted                      www.GrowingAsDisciples.com

Pruned And Purified

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Discipleship Devotional Study Guide - God's Word - John 15:1-4 - Pruned And Purified - Growing As Disciples

Discipleship Devotional Study Guide – God’s Word – John 15:1-4 – Pruned And Purified – Growing As Disciples

“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 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. John 15:1-4 (NLT)

Pruning

You have not been a fan of pruning. You haven’t liked it when I have pruned the dead wood out of your life. You would have preferred to remain comfortable and untouched, is that right? You are right, I have not been a fan of pruning. Pruning is no fun. Pruning has caused me some real pain and great discomfort. It would never be my choice to go through pruning. I doubt that. Why do you say? I know you don’t like the pain of pruning. I know that you would like the alternative far less. What’s the alternative? That’s a good question.

Let me review what I have heard you say to me. I’m listening. You have said that you want to know me intimately. You have said that you want to know my will and walk in my ways. You have said that you will leave your old life behind so that you can live a completely new life with and for me. You have said that you want to be on fire to passionately serve me with all your heart and mind and soul and strength. You have said that you want me to use you to accomplish my purposes and fulfill my plans. You have said that you want to shine brightly as a witness for me in the darkness of this world. Have I heard you correctly? Have you said these and many similar things? Yes, I have said all these things. I want to fully live the life that you have called me to live. Well, none of these things would be possible without some pruning in your life. Does that surprise you? No, I know that I am far from perfect. There is a lot of dead wood and barrenness in my life. I do need pruning.

So, if you want to move forward with me, your life will experience some pruning. Not a day will go by that I won’t be molding and shaping your life. Day-by-day I will be pruning you. Day-by-day I will be purifying your life. You know that you have been forgiven of all your sins and cleansed of all your righteousness. Yes, I do. You have been made righteous because of all that my Son has done for you. You have been made new and fresh and clean in Him. You now have a new life to live. Day-by-day, I will help you to live fully for me as I prune and purify your life. Every day I will be working in and through you to make you to be more and more like my Son. Will you welcome my work in your life? Will you allow me to prune and purify your life as you love, follow and serve me? Yes, Heavenly Father, I will. That will be very good.

Heavenly Father, thank you for pruning and purifying my life. I know you will continue to prune and purify my life so I can produce fruit I will remain in Christ and rely on Him so I can bear abundance of fruit for your kingdom and bring glory to your name. Amen

For today’s complete 4 page Discipleship Devotional Study Guide click here:

God’s Word – John 15-1-4 – Pruned And Purified – 4 Page Discipleship Devotional Study Guide

Please consider sharing these devotionals with others through the social media you use.

Individual users may save the Discipleship Devotional Study Guide to their desktop for private use. All the blanks in the study guides are fields that allow typed responses. To use the fields on the study guide you may need to open the guide with a free version of adobe reader.

By Jon Ulrich © All rights reserved                   Copying not permitted                      www.GrowingAsDisciples.com