What Being Connected to Jesus Can Do

I have been meditating on a couple verses for quite awhile, and this morning in my devotional reading one of them came up. If you are a Christ follower you really need to pay close attention.

In John 15:2 Jesus says that "God the gardener cuts off every branch that does not bear fruit. While every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes it so that it will be even more fruitful."

Do you see this? Cut off or pruned, it all comes down to continually making eternal differences in the lives of others. But where does this come from since we are not saved by our works? It is stated in verses 4 and 5. Read below.

"Remain in me, as I also 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. I am the vine and you are the branches, if you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

Being in an intimate relationship with Jesus will cause us to want to bear fruit, and then actually bear fruit. I think too many try to bear fruit but not put the time in when it comes to connectedness to the vine. Many people do good works in Jesus name but because they are not in intimate relationship with Him, their works will not last or make eternal difference.

Lastly, turn to Ephesians 2:9-10 "we are not saved by works so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has prepared in advance for us to do." The pressure is off, we just need to ask "what do you want me to do today Lord." He has already prepared it!

Let's review -
1. You and I must be connected to God in every way in order to remain spiritually alive.
2. If we are not, we are cut off.
3. We will be pruned in order to bear more fruit. (that may seem painful but it's all about more of Christ in us, and less of us).
4. We cannot do anything of true spiritual significance unless we are connected to God.
5. Belief in God plus the power of the Holy Spirit working through us will produce great things.
6. He has already prepared works for us to do, we just need to be obedient and sensitive in the Spirit to do them.

Want to Keep Your Relationship with God fresh?

I am one of the fortunate ones, I am so glad that my relationship with God has been amazingly fresh and alive since 1976 when it started. I know this is NOT true for most followers of God, and unfortunately far too many followers fall away because no one showed them how. Our human relationships need nurturing and intentionality in order be alive, and so it is with our relationship with God.

If this helps here are some things I practice to keep my relationship with God alive.

1. Shake things up. By that I mean don't always read the same version of the Bible, I schedule reading plans that are not the same, eg. character of the Bible study, word study, Book study,or I read and meditate on a verse a day etc.

2. Remember who you are and whose you are! Every once in awhile it's so good to do an inventory of your Identity in Christ.

3. Consistently have times of remembering all that God has done for you. Keep a separate journal just for this, and when you are feeling distant from God or your faith is faltering this will be a great tool to use to look back and remember how God has showed His Faithfulness to you.

4. Listen to a lot of praise/worship music. Change the words and make them personal. For instance "we exalt you, we exalt you" to "I exalt you, I exalt you..."

5. Write God love letters, and let Him write you love letters. Now the first one makes sense and is pretty easy to do. The second one is a little more difficult. When I do this, I really take time to listen, be still and quiet. Then I grab a pen and paper and from God's perspective, I write down what I think He would be saying to me right at that moment. It's hardly ever condemnation, especially in light of Romans 8:1, but it's almost always very tender and grace filled. Sometimes He will communicate an area or weakness to pay attention to but mostly it's just tender.

6. A Daily Gratitude List - I bought a book years ago called "10,000 Things to Thank God For". It has served me well to remind me of all the reasons I can thank Him. Create your own, seriously, we have so much to be grateful for.

Well this is a start but I hope it helps keep your relationship with God alive and fresh. You and I must be strategic and intentional in all of our human relationships or they become predictable and stale, the same is true with God.