He Wants You To Bear Much Fruit

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. ~ John 15:5

How awesome and vital it is that we remain connected to the Vine! He is our source! He is our strength! He sustains us and gives us the provision we need to fulfill our purpose here on this earth! Staying connected to Him is the only way we will survive!

This verse tells us that if we abide in Him we will bear much fruit. I wonder sometimes if we have a misunderstanding of what fruit is. Often in our minds we have this beautiful picture painted. We are walking along with God and everything is wonderful. Everything is going our way. We're not being hindered in our work for the Lord and blessings are just overtaking us. We are being used mightily by Him to change our world and impact lives everywhere we go. We are full of strength and power and it just couldn't get any better.

Then we get out of bed and reality hits us. We're still dealing with sickness in our bodies. The bills are behind and we don't know where the money is going to come from to pay them. Our car keeps tearing up. We're in danger of losing our job because they are downsizing and closing our department. Our kids have run away and we don't know if they're ok. We're having problems in our family and we just don't know how much more we can take. We just received the news that someone very dear to us has gone on to be with the Lord. And on and on and on!

This looks a whole lot different than the beautiful picture we have painted in our mind. But we don't have to let these situations affect our final outcome! How we perceive things that come into our lives and the attitude we maintain in the midst of these storms have a tremendous ability for God's glory to be revealed through us! Some of the greatest fruit comes from the most difficult circumstances.

In our own minds we may think that we're a failure or that we just have no strength left but to others who are watching us, they see God's strength in us! They see Him carrying us and they know without a doubt that if it was not for Him, we couldn't survive! They see Him working in and through our situations and as we walk through the process, we are being changed in ways we can't even imagine! They are seeing what it looks like to truly walk with God, not just talk about Him on Sundays when we're at church. We're a living testimony of how real He is and how actively involved He is in our daily lives. We are impacting lives without even realizing it!

So as you start your day and you're still faced with that situation that just doesn't seem to go away, refuse to be distracted by it! Keep your eyes on Jesus and draw from His strength. Know that others are watching you and as you allow Him to work through you in the midst of this situation, their lives will be forever changed! You are showing them the true God that you serve! All glory will go to Him as you point others to Him!