email : Webview : Duane Brooks - Every Day with Jesus

October 11, 2017

John 15:7

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

New International Version (NIV)

What a promise! I remember when I first read these words and took them to heart. In my spiritual immaturity I saw it as a Carte Blanche promise that God would give me anything I wanted. I could guarantee the Dallas Cowboys a victory if I just stayed close to God (back then I was more of a Cowboy fan).

Later I realized the prerequisite for this promise is serious business. May I confess? After nearly fifty years as a believer, I am still learning to abide in Christ. How do we abide in Christ? How do Christ’s words remain in us? How does a branch remain in a vine. God is still teaching me to live in communion with him. I have learned the truth of 15:5 “Apart from me you can do nothing.” All of our fruitfulness is found in intimacy with Christ.

If we really remained in Christ, what would we want? In communion with Christ we want what he wants. What kind of fruit does Christ want to bear in his people? Surely it is not limited to the world’s definition of achievement and success. Does it guarantee a megachurch to the person who stays closest to Jesus? Or does God measure fruit by more than how many people hear us preach. I can’t be certain, but I am increasingly convinced that God does not measure success the way the business world does. What if God gave us the privilege of making one disciple who made many more disciples? Wouldn’t God be glorified by that.

We know for sure that God wants us to be the kind of disciples who make disciples. How will that happen? Only by remaining in Christ. When Stuart Briscoe preached this verse to students in Poland, the lights went out as electricity failed. He continued to preach only to discover as the power returned that the listeners were on their knees. One student told him the next day, “We stayed on our knees all night because we wanted to be sure we were remaining in Christ. At a friend’s funeral I fell in love with the song, “Abide with me fast falls the eventide. The darkness deepens. Lord with me abide. When other helpers fail and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, Oh abide with me . . .”

Pray with me:

Our most gracious heavenly Father, we dare not presume. Show us today how we may remain in you. Let your words which we have read today remain in us. When we want more than anything else what you want, then give that to us today we pray. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

I want to invite you to join me in memorizing 52 passages this year from the 2017 set of Fighter Verses. You can find the Fighter Verses App at the App Store on your phones or via this link http://fighterverses.com/the-verses/fighter-verses/. As we study the Bible this year, let's look at each text and learn what it says about God.

Joyfully,

Duane

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