Day 14, Lent 2024: Dependent and effective

Jesus talks about those who find their life in him. "I am the vine; you are the branches," he says in John 15. A branch isn't straining or struggling. It grows, resists wind and rain, and produces fruit because it is anchored and fed by the tree trunk or vine.

Paul notes that everything good in us comes because of Jesus and our life in him: "I pray that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense to the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God." (Philippians 1:9-11)

Challenge: What parts of life are not yet rooted in your relationship with Jesus? What adjustment do you have to make (or what request do you have of God) ... and what will it cost you? Are you willing to prune off everything that doesn't make you grow in righteousness?

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