Lent Day 33: Staying connected to God through Jesus

Jesus loved to use stories and familiar pictures to illustrate deep truths. In this often-quoted passage, Jesus explains that he is the life-giving source. His Father is not afar off. He carefully tends his family, pruning away everything that is unnecessary or harmful.

Do you let God do his work in you? Or are you hanging onto habits, sins, and baggage that God wants to remove?
[Jesus said to his disciples] ‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

> Jesus promises fruitfulness.He's not offering a skimpy and scraped-out harvest but abundance. Sometimes people who claim to be followers of Jesus look pinched and unhappy. Yet Jesus doesn't describe life with him that way. 

> On the eve of his arrest, Jesus tells his disciples that he is the natural wellspring of nutrients and growth that results in human flourishing. Those who refuse his life-giving flow will dry up and be destroyed.
‘I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 

'If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

> The core of our relationship with God is the shared love between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We were created for and included in the fullness of this love relationship - anything less cheats us of fulfilled humanity.

‘As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 

'My command is this: love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. 

> What does it mean to be a friend of God? Have you grasped the intimacy of coming into God's presence with Jesus as your Savior and Redeemer? Who could have imagined such a treasure? 

> Are you living in that unlimited power and lovingkindness? Why or why not?
I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit – fruit that will last – and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.

This is my command: love each other. (John 15:1-17)

> Who are you being called to love today?

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