Stay Connected to the Vine

 “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

Jesus is the vine. As long as we stay connected to Him we will be richly blessed and bear fruit.

This conversation was being held last night in a very different way. My hubby and I met with our pastor who was visiting town for some meetings and had the opportunity to really discuss this bible verse. I don't think we were meaning to talk about the vine and the fruit bearing on purpose, but it really seemed to be the underlying theme of our entire conversation..

My hubby once spoke with a pastor who said a few words to him that have stuck with him ever since. I can't remember the exact way he put it but it was basically like this, "Stay connected to the vine and He will bear the fruit". In other words, as long as we do our part and really focus on our relationship with Jesus and growing our spiritual walk, God will make sure that we continue to grow spiritually and connect with Him. All we have to do is our part!

I'm not saying that trials and hardships won't come....because they will! But when they do think of them as blessings and reminders that we must cling tightly to God and He will provide. Maybe these difficulties come so that we must hold on tight to Jesus? Just a thought...

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 

Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:20