Where Is Your Fruit?

"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."

John 15:4-5

As Jesus puts it, the rule is very simple: Abide in Him and bear fruit, or take the other way around. Don't push yourself to bear fruit on your own, it just wont happen. Jesus said, "...apart from me you can do nothing." That statement should stop all our vain efforts and our useless attempts to do things in on our lives, ministry, relationship, plans, dreams, decisions and everything else around us on our own and start admitting in ourselves that we are hopeless apart from Christ. Because even if we think we are bearing fruit somehow on our own and apart from Christ, it is guaranteed that it will not last. God has chosen us and appointed us to bear fruit, and our fruit should abide (John 15:16), and this will only be achieved if we remain in the Vine.

There is no effort for a tree or a vine to bear fruit as long as it it is exposed to its needed substances. If we abide in Christ, then bearing fruit should be natural for us. Everything else will follow. Our problem sometimes, whether we admit it or not, is that we want to do things on our own.

What does it mean to abide?
The word "abide" means to stay or remain. The fruit or evidence of salvation is continuance in service to Christ and His teaching (John 8:31; Colossians 1:23).

What does it mean to bear fruit?
Now let us take a look what it means to bear fruit. Sometimes this is where a lot of Christians have misconceptions. I do not have my own opinion or conception about it, but I believe what the Bible shows us about it. The New Testament describes fruit as:

• Godly Attitudes (Galatians 5:22-23)
• Righteous Behavior (Philippians 1:11)
• Praise (Heb 13:15)
• Leading others to faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 1:13-16)

Now, let us examine ourselves in the light of this truth and see if this matter is a reality in our lives.

Abiding in Christ along with you,
Pastor Jho