"ABIDE IN HIM!"

John 15:4 (KJV) "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me." As the world becomes increasingly anti "CHRISTIAN", it is imperative that followers of JESUS CHRIST remain "IN HIM". JESUS spoke very few words in HIS life, compared to most, but the words HE spoke changes lives even today. We (branches) cannot bear fruit apart from the VINE. I am no expert in growing grape vines, but one website offers these comments: "And please, IF YOU LOVE your grape vine, YOU WON'T FORGET TO PRUNE. If you don’t learn about pruning grapes vines your vines will become overgrown and tangled. You’ll have lots of grape bunches, but VERY FEW will actually RIPEN PROPERLY. Eventually, the grape vine CAN DIE and there go all your efforts down the proverbial toilet." Since GOD IS LOVE, HE must prune our lives. HE wants our lives to be productive in HIS service, so out of love, HE has to prune away things that prevent the growth HE desires. The process may seem painful at the time, but as we are growing in HIM, our lives must continue to be "pruned" for HIS glory. The sad thing is, some vines are not pruned, and eventually they die, due to lack of attention, or "LOVE"! Most people, myself included, do not relish in having their lives "pruned" by the Master. But, the evidence of the "GOOD FRUIT" is a reward that makes the pruning worthwhile. The only way for us to produce good fruit is to "ABIDE" in HIM. It is difficult to "ABIDE" when we are living life at the world's pace. I wrote yesterday "So everyday, when I wake up, I am to spend time with The FATHER before I get assaulted by the world." When we "ABIDE" in HIM, it has to be at HIS tempo. If we get ahead of GOD, the results will be failure. We have a tendency to start admiring what we have accomplished FOR HIM, rather than letting CHRIST do things "IN HIM. We need to develop our "BE STILL" mentality as we allow HIM to produce better fruit in our lives. GOD, I pray that I will be more accepting of YOUR pruning in my life. I trust YOU to produce grapes that are worthy to be used for YOUR service!