HOLD ON TIGHTLY!

In John 15:5 Jesus says to us “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” Over the past few months, I have realized more and more what this means. I know that we all think that we are in control and that we are the “masters of our own destinies” but we have a creator who created each of us uniquely and that creator is shaping and molding each of us into His perfect creation. So many times we wander off on our own, choosing this and chasing after that. We so easily lose focus. We work hard for everything that we have, but what we strive to work for is false hope. We place our worth in what mankind says about us, about what we have or what we have accomplished and (more often) about what we have not accomplished. But, what about God, what does He have to say about me? What does He have to say about you? He tells me that I am His Friend (John 15:14), He tells me that He loved me before I loved Him (1 John 4:19), He tells me that He died for me (John 3:16) He tells me that He is my rock and my redeemer (Psalm 19:14), He tells me that He is my refuge, my strength and my ever-present help in troubling times (Psalm 46:1) and He tells me that He will never leave me nor forsake me (Deuteronomy 31:8). He tells me that He will be with me always, even until the end of the ages (Matthew 28:20) and He tells me that I can do nothing without Him. The only way for us to grow, to live to our full potential and to be the creation that God intends for us to be......is that we must remain in Him.

OK fine, you say, but how do you do that? When we accepted Christ as our savior we were adopted into a unique family (John 1:12) and we became sons and daughters of the Most High God! Did you catch the key word here? FAMILY! God is molding you and shaping you into the unique individual that you are and He has personally planned a specific, unique job for you to do! But, in order for you to live to your full potential; you must be obedient to His shaping your will into His will. When His will becomes our will, we follow wherever He leads us, obediently. A very important way for us to find out His will for us is to join a church fellowship where we can grow and mature. We need each other, just as iron sharpens iron (Proverbs 27:17), two can defend themselves and a cord of three can not be easily broken (Ecclesiastes 4:12), we support each other in time of need and we hold each other accountable by building each other up (1 Thessalonians 5:11). Jesus said “This is my command: Love each other.” (John 15:17). Being part of a church family is a very important way of helping you to remain in Christ and to be obedient to His will for your life.

OK, so......I am remaining in Christ, I am obediently following His will for my life; I have my FAMILY....now what? Do what Lisa said last Thursday; it’s time to put on the full armor of God! Trust me, Satan has read the Bible, he knows how it ends, he knows where he will spend eternity and he knows that he already has the lost souls of the world spending eternity with him....he just wants to make your life miserable because he can’t separate you from God (Romans 8:38-39). He doesn’t want you to tell others about Christ! He doesn’t want you to be obedient. He will pick at you. He will poke at you and he will look for the tiniest opening in your armor to get you off track. That’s why we have to hold on and remain in Christ. That’s why we have to find and remain in a church family. That’s why we must dig deep into and read His Word. That’s why we need to pray without ceasing and that’s why we need to be obedient to God as He molds us and shapes us in His own design, to become like His Son, Jesus Christ.