Sunday, March 19, 2017

Bearing in God's Love

In John 15:1-17 Jesus is giving instructions to His disciples because He knew His time with them would soon come to an end. He let them know that He was the true vine. The believers are the branches that are abiding in Him and those who does not bear fruit was not His. At the end of this chapter Jesus let His disciples know that the Holy Spirit would come to help them but they must abide in Him.

Jesus compared Himself as a vine in which they were the branches. This is why they needed to stay connected to Him. In the Old Testament God spoke to Israel as the vineyard. Jesus remind His disciple  that He was the vine and they were the branches and without Him they were nothing.
John 15:7,  "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." 

Today many have walked away from their first love. Jesus wants His disciples to stay connected by abiding in Him. The Church was stronger in the old days because they were together. We find the Church so divided that we are not stronge enough to create an atmosphere that will compel the sinners to come in to be saved.

Those who are truly saved must let the world know it. If we are not connected to the vine, we are lost. People in the Church must have the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Too many in the  Church have lost their love to stay connected. You can not abide in Christ and hating people due to their skin color when God made us all.  Then when we bleed there is only one color for blood, red. God did not make a mistake when He made us.

We need to bring the sinners in and show God's love to all. Remember, we can catch a fish  and the first tis to clean him up. This is the same way with the unchurched. If we  would show love then we would have an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. In closing do you remember the day you got saved? Then share your testimony with others. Just remember love comes from the heart.

 If the old method isn't working, then it's time to change that method, but never change God's Word. Then, love all people and you will be blessed. Remember the Word of God tells us that we have been commanded that we would love one another. God Bless......Dr. Annie Eskridge