1 John 2:28 “And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.”
The apostle John is teaching here in 1 John what Jesus had taught in John 15. Notice what He said in John 15:1-8 about abiding.
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
4 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
6 “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”
The absolute essential for living the Christian life and doing any ministry for Him is to abide in Him. The image Jesus gives is that He is the vine, and we are the branches. Visualize this! For a branch to produce fruit it must be connected to the vine! Visualize this! Just as the branch is connected, we are to abibe, we are to be connected to Christ. He is the life giver!
For us, as believers, to abound in fruitfulness, we must abide!
A phrase I like to use is abide to abound! Abide to abound!
Having taught how to abound by abiding in Him, Jesus makes a very blunt statement as He taught that apart from Him, we could do nothing. Nothing!!! John 15:5 says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” Nothing! Let that settle into your heart and mind. Visualize the branch unattached to the vine. There is never going to be fruit! I trust that you don’t want to be found empty-handed when He comes!!
In 1 John 2:28 John calls on his readers to apply what Jesus taught him. When we abide in Him, we will be fruitful and we will not be ashamed when He returns. When we are fruitful, we bring glory to God!
Are you abiding in Christ? Do you have the mindset of just how essential this is? Do you start each day with the understanding that you need Jesus for everything you are going to be doing? Do you see yourself as a branch to bear fruit for Him and that as a branch you must be firmly connected to the vine – to Him?
I ask the Lord to help me to be found faithful and fruitful! As I abide in Him I pray I may abound in fruitfulness for Him.
Continue Strong abiding to abound
And remember to DATE The Word