Sunday Scripture

 

 I'm continuing to share from the Made for Community reading plan from Love God Greatly that I worked on back in 2015.  With this study, as I have often done, I used the SOAP method of Bible study.  Just a quick reminder that the S is for Scripture, O is for observation, A is for Application and P is for Prayer.  As you will see, I went a bit more in-depth with this study. 

The first section was Made for Community with God.  Here goes with the Scripture for the fourth day of that section.

S= "I am the vine, ye are the branches.  He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without Me ye can do nothing."  (John 15:5)

O=  Jesus said that He was the vine and that His disciples were the branches.  We know from nature that the branches draw life and nourishment from the vine.  If their connection to the vine is broken in some way, they wither and die. 

If we abide in Jesus, and He abides in us, we will bring forth much fruit.  Bible scholar C.I. Scofield explains: "To abide in Christ is, on the one hand, to have no known sin unjudged and unconfessed, no interest into which He is not brought, no life which He cannot share.  On the other hand, the abiding one takes all burdens to Him, and draws all wisdom, life, and strength from Him."  He adds that this also means "that nothing is allowed in the life which separates from Him."

Jesus said that when we abide in Him and He in us, we will bring forth "much fruit".  Two cross-references are given for the word "fruit":

GALATIANS 5:22-23 -- "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control; against such there is no law."

COLOSSIANS 3:12-17 -- "Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, tender mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering,
"Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
"And above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness. 
"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also ye are called in one body, and be ye thankful. 
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
"And whatever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him."

What wonderful fruit comes from abiding in Christ!

Then in John 15:5 Jesus adds, "For without Me ye can do nothing."  Several cross-references are given for "nothing":

2 CORINTHIANS 3:5 -- "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God."

PHILIPPIANS 4:13 -- "I can do all things through Christ, who strengtheneth me."

A=  Lots to apply here.  I like what Scofield said about abiding in Christ meaning we have no known sin unjudged and unconfessed -- keeping short accounts with Him, in other words -- and that we should have no interest into which Jesus cannot be brought and no life which He cannot share.  And then there is the blessing whereby the abiding one can take all their burdens to Him and can draw all wisdom, life, and strength from Him.

And so, when this abiding is a reality in our lives, we bring forth much fruit.  Wonderful, amazing, supernatural fruit like love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, temperance, meekness, wisdom, forgiveness, and much, much more!

With Jesus, our lives can produce all of this and more.  Without Jesus, we can do nothing.  Our sufficiency is of Him, not ourselves, and we can do all things through Him as He strengthens us.

P= "Lord, again I am so thankful for Your Word and for all that it teaches us.  This verse in John 15 is surely one of the most precious statements in the Bible -- yet there are many more that fit that description.  I am thankful that when I abide in You and You in me, I will bring forth amazing, wonderful fruit -- fruit that will bless my own life, encourage others, and bring glory to You.  I pray that You will help me to abide in you daily, knowing that without You, I can do nothing.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

There's our Sunday Scripture for this week.  I hope it was a blessing to you!