“I am the vine; 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.”
John 15:5
Out of Gas
On my way back to the office from lunch recently I was accelerating through an intersection after being stopped at a red light. My truck started shaking and lost power. I coasted to the side of the road but was unable to get it started again. The mechanic spent the afternoon looking for the problem. At the end of the day I could hear the frustration in his voice when he said he couldn’t find anything wrong. It was the following afternoon before he finally discovered the problem; the gas gauge was broken, and I was out of gas. The only reason I wasn’t completely embarrassed was that it took the mechanic over 24 hours to figure it out himself.
Running on Empty
When it comes to our faith many Christians are running on empty. Everything looks great on the outside. We may even be doing good things. But listen to what Jesus told us in John 15:5 “I am the vine; 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.”
APART FROM ME YOU CAN DO NOTHING.
Wow. He doesn’t leave much wiggle room, does he?
Have You Missed the Mark?
MD5 men, let me ask you – How is your relationship with Christ?
Our aim is not to become better people but to become more mature, faithful followers of Christ. If our Life Plan is not leading us to grow in our faith, we will have missed the mark. It is reward through performance: I will BE BETTER by DOING BETTER and that will make be FEEL BETTER. But when we abide in Christ, he will do things through us that we never thought possible. He will produce lasting fruit that we could never produce on our own, and this will be evidenced by those around us.
Is Your Faith Maturing?
Are you growing in your faith so that you are a different person today than you were last month or last year? How do you measure against these signs of a growing faith?
What begins as tithing, volunteering at church, reading the bible, being a disciple, and obeying God's commands.
Matures in to overflowing generosity, a servant's heart that sees and meets needs, teaching others, being a disciple maker, and a surrendered life.
Here's the Goal
Desire more than to “be better” or “do better” or “feel better”. Abide in Christ. Recognize your dependence on Him. When you do, He will do more through you than you could ever do on your own.
Apart from Him you can do nothing!
Written by John Meriweather
MD5 Facilitator
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