John 15:4 "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.
I have been in Christ since October of 1983. In that time I have heard this passage preached many times and each time I have felt the pressure to do something on my part about this.
I have always viewed this from the angle of what I must do to stay connected. That word abide always got me.
Inevitably there would always be someone there to tell me to pray more, read more, worship more, etc.
I don’t recall ever being told to learn to enjoy the relationship I’ve been given in Christ. That I should bask in the glory of His work and receive the grace He had freely offered and allow that to warm my affections for Him and draw my heart ever closer to Him.
Fact is many believers today have embraced gospels that are good enough to get them in but powerless to establish them in the faith. They actually teach more along the line of what we must do to establish ourselves in the faith.
Many a believer has been exhausted by this kind of thinking and reached the point of feeling like giving up and truth is they would give up if they weren’t so afraid of losing their salvation and risking going to hell.
I have encountered so many who walk under the influence of condemnation rather than life. I myself have spent time in my journey making decisions based on condemnation rather than abiding in Christ.
The truth is there are many good works dreamed up by people and thus imposed on God rather than birthed by Him.
In fact I would dare to say that the idea of God breathed burden in the heart through fellowship with Him is almost a forgotten practice in the church.
About The Author
- Tim Atchley
- Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
- I currently serve as Senior Pastor of Harvest Church in Knoxville, Tn. I was sent out from Trinity Chapel of Knoxville in 1993 accompanied by my wife Sheila our four children Sarah, Hannah, Josiah & Isaac and a handful of bold, brave and committed believers determined to plant our first church. Pioneering is hard work but well worth the journey. That is why we desire to make disciples of Christ who will, like us, also embrace the call to plant churches.
