The Necessity for Christians to Stay Close to Christ in Order to Bear Good Fruit!

29 Apr 2026 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

John 15:4.       ‘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.’

So we’ve come to Wednesday…already? Yes, already, for the days are not waiting on us, and we’d better catch our second wind today before the week runs away with us. (smile) On a serious note though, that can easily happen if we’re not paying attention to what’s going on around us, and when it does happen, we have no one to blame but ourselves. So please, let’s sit up and take notice of what’s happening around us, if we don’t want to get left behind in the jet stream of these quickly moving days.

And talking about that, do you realize that tomorrow is the last day of April, a month which just recently began with the Easter celebrations. That means we’ve completed four months of the year already and it’s time to look at how our New Years resolution is going. Do you even remember that? Yes, we made a New Year’s resolution to follow Jesus more closely and become better Christians than we were last year. So how has that worked out so far? Have we indeed been getting closer to Christ, being like the branch that abides in Him, with Him abiding in us?

Remember what He said, ‘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.’ (John 15:4)  And remember one of our duties as His follower is to bear good fruit, which we cannot do unless we abide in Jesus, stick close to him like white on rice. As he says: ‘I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.’  (John 15:5)

And isn’t that the living truth! Without Jesus we cannot do a whole lot; certainly not bring forth good fruit like He and the Father desire. That’s why, if we want to be good disciples of Christ, we have to always stay close, stay attached to Him, so the sap from His vine can flow into our branches and cause us to bear much good fruit.  And Bruh Paul also reminds us that without the Lord we are not able to do much, when he writes: ‘Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;’ (2 C0r. 3:5)

So again, the question is, have we improved our Chrisitan witness in the last four months? I think I have made some improvement, but I’ve also slacked off some. The problem stems from my constantly being sick for so much of the year. The sickness wasn’t an easy road to travel, still isn’t, but I believe it has grown my faith and patience some. (smile) For at times I just had to rely on the Lord’s goodness and mercy to pull me through. And in all occasions, He eventually did, but on His timetable, not mine. (smile)

However, it’s also prevented me from doing some of the good things I wanted to do. For when you are in a state of poor health, you lose some of your enthusiasm as well as the physical ability to get around and make things happen. But the important things is that we haven’t given up, and we’re not going to either. We have to keep believing that whatever the Lord allows into our lives, is for a purpose that He considers necessary, even if we don’t, and He won’t give us more than we can bear, or if He does, He will make a way for us.

It’s like the scripture says: ‘Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.’ (Is. 43:19) That’s one of God’s many promises to see us through our difficult times. Of God creating paths where there seems to be no way for Him to do so. But we need to be paying attention, we cannot just go along lackadaisically, but with a sense of purpose backed up by strong faith.

Meanwhile in Proverbs, Cousin Sol tells us: ‘Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.’ (Prov. 16:3) That means first talking to God about our plans before trying to institute them in our own strength. And if He agrees, then we know they will be successful. Then we have this verse from Bruh Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, that so many of us use to quell our worries in difficult situations. ‘There hath no temptation taken (overtaken) you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear (endure) it.’ (1 Cor. 10:13)

Yes friends, there are many times when we believe the Lord gives us more than we can bear, and sometimes He might, (smile) but He’s also promised that if that happens, He will always make a way for us to endure the problem. And that’s where our faith needs to rise up and be strong, for we always want to escape the problem, but sometimes it’s more beneficial for us to go through it with God’s help, because that’s where our faith and trust in Almighty God are truly increased. And today is a good day to sit and ponder how we’ve done so far in regards to our New Year’s resolution, and as always, with God’s help try to come up higher, for we all have room for improvement. (smile)

Now, let’s go home declaring our Wednesday Wail letting the whole world know of our wonderful position in Christ Jesus. As one strong and sincere voice: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’ 

And for those who stick with Jesus right to the very end, it’s been promised that they will enjoy a future so glorious that their finite minds cannot even imagine it. So let’s use that as ammunition to stick with Christ to the very end nuh, so that we can enjoy that more than glorious future together! Much LOVE!

…to truly live for Christ…Christ must be in you…and you in Him…

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien

Today’s Scrip-Bit   23 February 2023   2 Corinthians 3:5.

23 Feb 2023 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

2 Corinthians 3:5.        Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God.

And then it was Thursday, the penultimate day of our work week…Wow! Already! This week seems to have passed rather quickly, I guess that’s because of the Family Day holiday on Monday. Today however, although we’re alive and kicking and thankful for the breath of life flowing through our bodies, we need to concentrate on cleaning up the snow from yesterday’s storm. 

Thankfully too, it wasn’t of the killer variety, (smile) but it left enough deposits to make life difficult and dangerous. That reminds me of the ice pellets that kept knocking against the windows all during the storm. And no doubt the morning’s commute was not easy. Let’s hope by the time the evening session happens, most of the roads will be cleaned and salted. 

I don’t know if we would call it a rather auspicious beginning or not to our Lenten Season, but as true believers we have to keep plodding on through all kinds of weather and situations, obviously with the help of the Holy Spirit of Jesus that indwells us. For without Him we can do nothing. And it’s not me saying so, but Jesus, in His famous comment on the vine and the branches. ‘I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.’ (John 15:5) 

And that’s the gospel truth my people! Without Jesus we can’t do much of anything, much less do it successfully. And Bruh Paul wisely reminds us of that with these few words from his second letter to the church at Corinth. ‘Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God.’ (2 Cor. 3:5) And it would do us a great amount of good to remember that and stop thinking that we are so much more than we are, because overwhelming pride and self-reliance are a couple of the many serious problems in our world. 

Now, that’s why this Lenten season, in this year of 2023, one of unknown trials and tribulations, but already with a lot of worldwide disaster in only the first two months, Christians desperately need to get closer, to get right with God, so that we can do the big things it will take to reverse the fortunes of our world. Of course, there must be much sincere praying, and self-searching, of repentance, of meditating on the Word, of fasting, if that will help you get closer, of congregating with other believers and studying the Word, of encouraging each other in these awful times of negativity and desperation. 

Yes, my faithful believing friends, it’s our duty to both spread and then regenerate the Word of the Lord on the earth; be the salt and light that guides it to Christ, salvation and eternal life. And Lent is a time when we renew our souls, bodies and minds so that we can blossom forth at Easter with the amazing resurrection of Christ our Lord and Saviour and take the world by storm! Oh, for certain, Easter is when the monumental glory of God shines forth, when His greatest work on earth was done, when He raised His dead Son from the depths of Hades and caused Him to walk victorious once more on planet earth, as the conqueror of hell, death and the grave! 

But before the good times, before the harvest comes, there must be a dry spell, a season of watching and waiting and hoping and praying that the Lord will energize the harvest and increase it at least a hundredfold. And this is that time of watching and waiting and praying and hoping and giving thanks for God’s enormous and undying grace and mercy. But yuh know friends, nothing much will ever change until we do what God desires of us. And what’s that you ask? 

Moses said it long ago: ‘And now Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear (have a reverential awe of) the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to LOVE him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul. To keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?’ (Deut. 10:12-13) Yes friends, that’s what the Lord demands of us. Now please note the last three words of that demand: ‘for thy good.’ It’s ever so important for us to realize and totally understand that whatever God asks, or expects of us, it’s ALWAYS FOR OUR GOOD! Not for His benefit, but for ours! 

And after Moses, the prophet Micah also spelled out the Lord’s desire for His people, in somewhat simpler but ever so clear terms when he said. ‘He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to LOVE mercy (LOVING-KINDNESS), and to walk humbly with thy God.’ (Mic. 6:8) That’s it in a nutshell my brethren! All our God desires of us is to walk in humble adoration of Him, and live good and just with our fellow man. 

But unfortunately that’s not the way our world turns today. Instead, it is filled with injustice, hate, strife, jealousy, envy, and above all godlessness. No wonder the Lords’ not listening to our selfish prayers, for as James says: ‘Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.’ (James 4:3) Yes my fellow believers, too many selfish, lustful, unwarranted prayers are being floated up to heaven, that’s why so many are left unanswered. 

And unfortunately, those unanswered prayers upset us, but we’ve got to realize that if our prayers are not in God’s will, they won’t be answered, and the truth is that too many of them are not in His will. That’s why we’ve got to buckle down this Lenten season and study, meditate, pray and simply talk to the Father about what’s happening with us, both personally and with the world around us. 

There’s one good and excellent thing though amidst all the confusion; our wonderful God has generously bestowed several blessings on us that we refer to as our Thursday Blessings, which He expects us to use in our work for Him here on earth. So, let’s declare them in loud and sincere voice so that they can be activated. ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! 

I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to, will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and every day! Amen!’ 

And having activated those blessings in our lives, it’s now our bounden duty to go out and share them with others just as generously as the Lord shared them with us! Much LOVE!

…without true LOVE for Christ…we are nothing but empty, broken vessels… 

 Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ