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   1 August 2023   2 Corinthians 3:5.

01 Aug 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.

Now, whether you believe it or not, it is indeed the first day of August, a beautiful Tuesday; cool, sunshiny and without a trace of a cloud in the bright blue sky. Ah Lord eh, the good days just fly by so quickly while the cold and ugly-looking ones take their own sweet time to move along. But that’s life, and like all the other aspects of our earthly days, we just have to learn to accept and handle them, obviously with the help of the Holy Spirit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, our guide and comfort. 

And I know that talk is cheap, while actions cost a lot more, but worrying and agonizing over the things of life we cannot control won’t make them improve or go away. However, with Jesus in your life, you have the assurance that He will help you handle whatever comes against you. Not that He won’t give you more than you can handle, as so many people mistakeably dispense. For all throughout the Bible you can find passages where the Lord gave His servants more than they could humanly handle. 

Take for instance when Elijah fought and slew all the 450 prophets of Baal, then faced the wrath of Queen Jezebel, who threatened to kill him, he ran for his life a day’s journey into the wilderness and sat down under a juniper tree, and requested of the Lord that he would die. But as it says in 1 Kings 19:1-8, the Lord fed him through ravens and allowed him to rest. 

‘And the angel of the Lord came again a second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for thee. And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat (food) forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.’ (1 Kin. 19:7-8) It’s obvious then that Elijah reached a stage where he just couldn’t handle it anymore, but the Lord looked after him. And that’s what He’s promised to do, for all who sincerely worship Him. 

And I like the examples this commentary by Ron Edmonson gives. ‘David, the great war hero and man after God’s own heart, told the Lord that “troubles without number surround me” and “I cannot see”. He couldn’t see clearly, because he was overwhelmed with the storms of life! Another time David said, “Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck.” (Oh how I identify with David there!) Jehoshaphat prayed, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” (2 Chr. 20:12) It sounds like he was facing more than he could handle on his own.’ 

So it’s not that God won’t give us more than we can handle but what the scripture says is: ‘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 with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear (endure) it.’ (1 Cor. 10:13) 

What that verse says is that God won’t allow Satan to bring  more temptation or enticement to sin than we can handle, and when we are tempted or enticed to sin, He will make a way for us to resist it, because He doesn’t want us to fall into Satan’s clutches, but to live the holy life that Christ desires of us. But He will allow stuff to come on us greater than we handle in our own right, because He wants us to come to the end of our rope and realize that He’s our ONLY HOPE! 

And in Bruh Paul’s second letter to the church at Corinth, he tells them of his deliverance from suffering and death in Asia. ‘For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble (tribulation) which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure (burdened), above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life. But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us.’ (2 Cor. 1:8-10) 

Wow! That time of trouble certainly caused Bruh Paul to keep His focus on Almighty God and not himself. And anytime we get into problems we cannot handle, it should also cause us to do the same! Yes friends, our hope lies only in Christ Jesus! For as Bruh Paul later writes: ‘And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God.’ (2 Cor. 3:4-5) 

And until we truly believe and action those sentiments my brethren, we’ll always have problems that cause us unnecessary worry and overwhelming anxiety, instead of the quieting peace of Christ. It’s like Christ 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 there’s never been a truer word ever spoken my fellow saints! 

So please let’s take it to heart and place all of our trust in the sinless ONE, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, so that we can handle all the vicissitudes of this interesting but eccentric life. (smile) Now let’s go home declaring (chuh!!!) our Tuesday Mantra, letting all and sundry know to whom we belong lock, stock and barrel. In sincere harmony: ‘In God’s eyes, I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with my immediate neighbours, as well as with the whole wide world! Glory be!’ 

Now, it behooves us to go out and share that amazing friendship and LOVE of Christ with those we meet, so that they too can come to know and LOVE Him like we do! Much LOVE!

…trust not in fragile and deceitful man… but in the awesome faithfulness and power of Jehovah God…

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