Hi, I’m James Lee, vice president of the Southern California Conference. In this video series, we are exploring our conference mission, vision and core values.
Today, we will look at the topic of Discipleship & Leading Others to Christ. What does this look like in Scripture?
We see in John chapter 15 beginning with verse 1 that Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. Nutrients from the vine don’t just show up once in a while. It is constant; it is continuous; it’s an ongoing flow of power from the vine to the branches. It’s why the word “remain” is mentioned so often in the chapter.
We must be constantly connected to the vine, or there will be no fruit. Or else, there will be no power—power to live right, power to do right, and power to bear the divine fruit of the Spirit of God.
We must be constantly connected to the vine, or there will be no fruit. Or else, there will be no power—power to live right, power to do right, and power to bear the divine fruit of the Spirit of God.
The Greek word for remain is “mino” which means
- “to abide” = allow His word to fill our mind and direct our will
- “to stay” = remain submitted to His will
- “do not depart” = cast all your cares upon Him
- “to stand” = when there’s nothing else to do
Many of us know the Christian song that says: What do you do when you've done all you can and it seems like it's never enough, you just stand. / When there's nothing left to do you just stand, watch the Lord see you through. / After you've done all you can, you just stand.
- “to be present” - stand, knowing the Lord will see you through
It’s a verb. So often we “remain” passively. The danger is to fall into a place of doing it half-heartedly, living off the past experience. True “remaining” is active.
2 Corinthians 4:8 says, “But we will not be distressed, in despair, feel forsaken or destroyed."
Be surrendered to the will and the way of the Lord. My prayer is to bear fruit, so help me Lord to “remain.”
That means staying connected with Jesus, no matter what trouble comes your way. No matter what perplexes you each moment. No matter what casts you down. Be surrendered to the will and the way of the Lord. My prayer is to bear fruit, so help me Lord to “remain.”
We all know the hymn that says, “Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord to thee.” That means take my feet, my voice, my lips, my silver and my gold, take my will, Jesus, and use it. To seek You each moment, giving You my heart, my love, and my self. And then finding forgiveness, strength, and leadership in my life though Jesus Christ.
I encourage you today to look for strength from the vine. You know, discipleship is growing in Jesus Christ. That talks about how we can come closer to Christ each and every moment of each and every day.
Now, there's a jingle on tv that says, "Got milk?" So I want to ask you a question: Got Jesus?
