Daily Devotional: Friday, April 17, 2020
SCRIPTURE READING
Scripture: John 15:4a (KJV)
Abide in me, and I in you.
God saves us so we will bear Him the fruit of good works. The Bible says: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).
God commands us to bear fruit for Him by walking in good works. How do we do this?
That is the question being answered here in John 15: How do we bear fruit for God?
Jesus answers the question here in verse 4 where He gives a command and a promise.
The command is: “Abide in Me!”
The promise is: “And I in you.”
Jesus here commands us to abide in Him, then promises that if we abide in Him, He will abide in us.
But is that right? Is it really up to us to abide in Him if we want Him to abide in us? Must we abide in Him first before He will abide in us?
No, that is not right. Even though Jesus promises to abide in us after He commands us to abide in Him, He is not saying He will abide in us because we first abide in Him.
Just the opposite: Jesus chose us and that is why we chose Him. Jesus gives us new birth from Heaven and that’s why we become Christians. We did not first love God but God first loved us. We did not graft ourselves into the True Vine of Jesus but the Spirit of God grafted us. We do not abide in Jesus so that He will abide in us but we abide in Jesus because He first abided in us.
Still, it is only by abiding in Jesus that we can ever bear fruit for God, so Jesus commands us to abide in Him.
We must abide in Him because, as Jesus tells us in the next verse (5), “Without Me, ye can do nothing.”
So, little children, abide in Jesus. Pray to Him. Listen to Him. Obey Him. Glorify Him. Sing to Him. Live your life in Him. Abide in Him.
Scripture: John 15:4a Abide in me, and I in you.
QUESTIONS
- Can we abide in Jesus if He doesn’t abide in us?
- Can we do good works if we don’t abide in Jesus?
- What can we do to obey Jesus’ command to abide in Him?
SONG OF THE WEEK
Abide With Me
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, O abide with me.
Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away.
Change and decay in all around I see.
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.
I need Thy presence every passing hour.
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who like Thyself my guide and strength can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me.
I fear no foe with Thee at hand to bless,
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.
Hold thou Thy cross before my closing eyes.
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven’s morning breaks and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Gracious heavenly Father, since it is by grace I am saved through faith, and that not of myself it is a gift from You, may You further grant to me the gift and power to abide in Christ and to persevere in faith, so that by Your Spirit’s power working within me I may be able to carry out, with thanksgiving, all the good works which You have prepared beforehand for me to walk in. Amen.
SCRIPTURE MEMORY THIS WEEK
John 15:1-2 (KJV)
1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
