Incentive # 2 We will bring forth fruit.
"He that abides in Me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without Me you can do nothing" John 15:5.
The fruit we have been studying, the fruit of the Spirit, is the fruit of the character of Jesus that God reproduces in us, and keeps coming as the branch continually receives sap from the Vine. If we cease abiding, this sap will stop flowing, and the character will be marred.
Incentive #3 We will enjoy success in prayer.
"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, youshall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you." John 15:7.
If we abide, we can expect to produce the fruit of God's character in our lives. As Jesus bore the fruit of the Father, so we will produce the fruit of Jesus Christ--the branch will bear the same kind of fruit as the Vine! If the vine is a grapevine, there's going to be grapes; you won't find peaches! God has ordained the simple abiding process to bring about the right kind of fruit--the fruit of God's character. This is a truly simple process.
Incentive #4 We will not be ashamed at His coming.
"And now little children, abide in Him; that, when He shall appear, we may have onfidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming." 1 John 2:28
What a glorious privilege to know that as we abide in the Lord Jesus we don't need to fear His coming; rather, we can look forward with confidence--with joy and gladness, with great anticipation--to His Second Coming.
Now this does not mean that we will not stumble and fall but it does mean that we will not deliberately turn our backs on Jesus and sin. There may be mistakes; the devil may come along with some blight-causing attraction, but it will pass away for Jesus will take care of that. Your record will continue to read that the character of God is yours--that character will be credited to you even if you make an unintentional mistake. This speaks to the difference between sin and sins, the difference between intentional rebelliousness that comes out of the natural heart and life that has not been born again and needs to die, and unintentional mistakes that can come as we are seeking to abide in Christ. Abiding in Christ the natural man is taken care of.
Those incentives are enough to keep me going, How about you? I don't want to miss out on a stress free life while I'm here on this earth and I don't want to miss out on eternal life in the earth made new. When we are saved at last, no sin will ever mar our characters, nothing will mar the beauty of the new earth, there will be no sickness or sin that causes it. I will be able to run and walk as much as I want to and never get tired again forever. Can you think of anything better than that? I can't, not at all. I'm looking forward to seeing Jesus, the One who died for me to save me in this marvelous way.
Please reread if you have too. It is well worth your while. Tomorrow will be our last on this little book. we will do something else, I am waiting for God to show me what we need next. Grandma Joan
No comments:
Post a Comment