Remain in me...

What a week! I hope everyone who went on the retreat found it as refreshing as I did. I came back from Crooked Creek on Sunday excited to talk about the things I learned and the ways I experienced God and good community.

On Wednesday, Paul talked about gardening. Awesome. No, but really he talked about pruning. John 15 shows us words Jesus said when he talked about the fact that He and God are the ones who give us life.

¹"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ²He 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. ³You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴Remain 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 15:5

We learn here that God truly desires that our lives bear fruit (what does it look like to bear fruit?). In fact, if there is a part of our life that isn't bearing fruit, he'll get rid of it. Ouch. That doesn't always sit well with me. But that's because I don't see the end result. I don't see the growth that God is going to allow.

Even parts of our lives that are bearing fruit... God prunes it! Why? Because when something is pruned (in the right spot), even MORE growth will happen... Paul said on Wednesday that it'll explode. How cool is that??

Jesus goes on to say...

⁵"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. ⁸This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."

Remain in me? What's that supposed to mean? Dwell. Chew on. Think about. Live in. Remain.

So let's talk. Discuss. Comment. What does it mean to you that you REMAIN IN JESUS... I don't pretend to do it well, but I try, because I know that He knows what's best.

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