Where Do You Live?

John 15:4

New King James Version (NKJV)

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.

Here Jesus exhorts the disciples to abide in Him so that they may bear fruit.  The message is the same for us today.  We can do nothing unless we abide in Christ. We can only bear fruit if we abide in Christ. Too many times we try and depend on our own efforts to bear fruit. We strive and get discouraged. We work hard and we fail. It is at times like these when we need to return to the Word of God and be reminded that we can do NOTHING apart from Christ.  You can not be a godly husband outside of Christ.  You can not be a godly mother outside of Christ.  You can not honor your father and mother outside of Christ.  You can not be a witness outside of Christ.  

A branch does not bear fruit by striving.  I've spent time in wine vineyards and I never heard one straining or grunting with effort, trying to grow grapes.  The branch rest attached to the vine.  The vine sends the nutrients to the branches and the fruit comes forth.  Let us rest in the Vine and allow the Vine to produce fruit in us.

HOW DO YOU ABIDE IN CHRIST ?

When we obey Jesus' commands then we are truly abiding in Him.  
Believe.   All of our works must come from faith and not the other way around. We do not work for salvation, but because salvation is ours. 

Love.  Love is an act of the will not a feeling as the world would have you believe. It is also a fruit of the Spirit Galatians 5.   When we abide in Christ we can bear the fruit of love!