The reason Lazarus was located at the rich man’s gate was because those that dropped him there knew the rich man had the required resources to help him. You can help someone in genuine need today, and that someone is located at your gate (around you).
We can be more. We can put lust, greed, strife, hatred, and everything evil which doesn’t identify with our identity in Christ under control. We can choose to by wisdom observe more and speak less, to choose to ignore and disregard inflammatory and annoying remarks, we can choose peace and calmness of spirit over claiming to be right or smart. We can be more.
Everyone has a ‘baseline’ level of faith that when rightfully applied yields results. However in scripture, we also hear Jesus grade faith on different levels- little faith, faith, great faith (Matthew 14: 22-33, Mark 4:35-41, Matthew 16:8, Matthew 8:10, 26, Luke 7:9). In some other portions of scripture we also find faith ‘classified’ differently- Growing faith (2 Thessalonians 1:3), Strong faith (Romans 4:20), Weak faith (Romans 14:1-3), etc. James chapter 2: 14-26 also talks about dead and living faith. So faith has grades/levels. Point is; you can grow your measure of faith and the question is; how?
So assuming we were to interchange mind with brain, science teaches that an intensively damaged brain becomes incapacitated. One way brain damage is expressed is as irrational behavior.
When I heard the story it sounded both dumb and ridiculous. What a dumb thief he must be! I mean people already saw him and being a closely-knit and cliquish neighbourhood, words would soon go round. Wouldn’t be long before someone identified him and pointed him out to the security parading the streets. Dumb thief.
“God gave Solomon very great wisdom and understanding, and knowledge as vast as the sands of the seashore.
Without the spirit, the Body dies (James 2:26). However, where the spirit remains, the body stays alive. Just as the body lives on food, the spirit lives on the Word (Matthew 4:4). The Word of God is Spirit and Life. As long as you feed your spirit with the relevant Word of God, you shall live..
“Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.
John chapter 15 verses 1-5 places a high priority on fruit-bearing which is possible when we abide in the Vine…
1“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
John 15:1-5 NKJV
The importance of ‘Branches‘ being fruitful and productive is made clear by the involvement of both the Vine and the Vinedresser.
Jesus identifies Himself as the True Vine, the Father as the Vinedresser and His followers as the Branches. The Vine supplies nourishment to the Branches while the Branches have the responsibility of bearing fruit.
The Vinedresser is just like a gardener or farmer, His job is to dress the branches. He cuts off none-fruit bearing branches and trims/prunes the fruit-bearing ones so that they can bear more fruit. According to Jesus, this pruning process cleans and prepares the Branches to bear more fruit, the same effect the Teaching of the Word has on the Branches (verse 3). A branch that undergoes continuous pruning, inevitably bears fruit.
What kind of a Branch are you? A fruit-bearing or non fruit-bearing one?
Considering the context of John 15, “Fruit’ as used here can mean;
(a) the fruit of the spirit {Galatians 5:9, 22} or (b) souls of men {James 5:7}.
While the primary force that gets people saved is the Gospel of Christ (Romans 10:9), a good Christian character does contribute to soul winning.
So are you winning souls and/or exemplifying good Christian character?
It is interesting and worthy of note that Jesus clearly identified Himself as the True Vine. So obviously, there can be a False Vine which is what we see Him talk about in Matthew 7:15-20. False Vines can be likened to False Prophets whose source and Supply is the Devil. They only yield bad/corrupt fruits.
One way to identify false prophets is by their expressed character (how they live and relate with others), not necessarily by what they say, preach or teach……”by their fruit you shall know them“. A human spirit that has not been recreated by the new birth cannot yield the fruit of the spirit. An unbeliever cannot express true love (agape), joy, peace, goodness, temperance, faith, etc (Matthew 7:15-20). Hence the Bible describes the purposeful marriage between a believer and an unbeliever as “an unequal yoke- inconsistent with the Christian faith” (2 Corinthians 6:14).
“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers [do not make mismated alliances with them or come under a different yoke with them, inconsistent with your faith]. For what partnership have right living and right standing with God with iniquity and lawlessness? Or how can light have fellowship with darkness?“
2 Corinthians 6:14 AMPC
‘To abide’ as used in John 15:4 means to remain, to stay, to live in union with, to dwell.
In John 15:4 Jesus speaks of a 2-way relationship;…… Abide in me and I in you.
4 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me”….. John 15:4.
How does Jesus abide in us? By His Spirit. The Holy Spirit indwells us. He stays and remains in us forever (except we denounce Christ).
“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever” John 14:16 NKJV
So we can say that Jesus is Always with us. Halleluyah! He never leaves. His part of ‘Abiding’ is assured. The Holy Spirit is in us, we just have to submit to His leading.
Now, how do we ‘Abide in Him?‘ In John 15:7, Jesus seems to elaborate further on John 15:4 by saying; if you let my Words Abide in You, whatever you desire will be granted.
” if you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.“
John 15:7 NKJV
So, we abide in Him when we spend time in His Word. And the way to spend time in the Word is by reading, studying, meditating, or listening to the Word of God.
Jesus Christ is the Word, staying in the Word is staying/remaining in Jesus.
Just as bread nourishes the human body, so does the Word nourish the spirit man (Matthew 4:4).
A fruit-bearing branch is the Believer who is yielded to the Spirit and habitually dwells on the Word. Implying that a combination of both the Word and the Spirit is necessary for fruit bearing.
Do you want to be productive and fruitful? The one thing you need to do- Abide in the Vine.
Make no mistake about it, someone can be in Christ (born again), filled with the Holy Ghost and yet is not ‘abiding‘ in the Vine. Since we know that Jesus is always with us, then fruitlessness is only possible if a Branch is not doing its part.
Are you just In Christ or are you also Abiding In Christ? It is more beneficial for the one in Christ to also abide in Him.
Do not identify with the Believer Jesus talked about in verse 2a of John 15…
…”Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away” …
The ‘fruitless’ branch referred to in verse 2a is ‘In‘ Christ, yet not bearing fruit. Why? Because the branch did not choose to abide in the vine. This suggests that every branch has a choice to make; to abide in the vine or not.
A useless Branch is one who does not bear any fruit; and its end is undesirable….
” if anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”
John 15:6 NKJV
Choose to Abide In The Vine. Stay deeply rooted/planted in the Vine.
“Those who are planted in the house of the Lord Shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing, To declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”
Psalms 92:13-15 NKJV
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Blessings & Love Always!
You know, as I thought about the uneventful ‘disappearance’ of the poisonous serpents, I realized that actually that is how life problems ‘pass away‘ as we move our focus away from them and fix them on Jesus and His Word. You wake up one day and realise the narrative has changed- you have a testimony! The serpents (troubles and challenges) disappear as we fix our gaze on Jesus and His Word.
