Tag: abide in christ

Waiting On Christ, Part One

The chapter begins this way: “In God’s great school of tribulation there are many classes. In the section where God trains parents, there is one room, which everyone greatly fears to enter. Many, as they are led into it, are seen struggling and murmuring. As it’s darkness closes in over them, they almost refuse to believe that God is love. Many pass through it and come out of it without receiving any divine comfort. They did not know why they were there. They did not wait silently to receive the teaching and the blessing of Jesus. Others, who entered trembling, can testify that it was the death of a little one that first led them truly to know Jesus.” 

These are the words of Andrew Murray, a man who spent his entire life in South Africa ministering to the needs of God’s people. Of Murray’s sixteen children, five sons became pastors, four daughters married clergy, two daughters remained unmarried, and five of his children died young. Murray had 108 grandchildren.

He wrote these words in his book, “Raising Your Children for Christ.” He wrote it to help his congregation face the harsh realities of living in a fallen world. His closing prayer for the grieving mother and father to pray reads as follows: “Speak, Lord, and comfort your child. Reveal yourself to me as the resurrection and the life, the shepherd who has taken his lamb into his bosom. Reveal yourself as my shepherd, by coming nearer to me with your abiding presence. Reveal yourself as the family friend, making your self at home with us. Amen.” 

Due to the tragic effects of COVID and the stress and strain many are feeling over sickness and loss, it would be good for us to consider how one learns to know Jesus, to believe on him fully and to live by faith in Him when it seems as if the darkness is all around. We know that Jesus desires to take possession of us, but how does one wait silently in the darkness to receive the teaching and blessing of Jesus? 

I believe Jesus’s words in John 15 point the way. First, I’d like for us to focus on the nature of our union with Christ and then next month address what it means to wait on him in the darkness. 

What is the nature of our union? The imagery Jesus presents is intensely personal. Using the agrarian image of a vineyard, he describes three people. First, there is the Vine and verse one tells us it is Jesus. He is the exclusive source of fruitfulness. We also see that God the Father is the Vinedresser. He is the one who ensures that there is much fruit on the Vine by pruning the branches. If no fruit is found he removes the branch. He is looking for superficial relationships with Christ. Judas is a good example. Judas was connected to Jesus in a spurious way. And then, throughout the remaining verses, we are told that believers are the branches. We are told that when the same life-sap that is in the Vine is found flowing in and through us, fruit is produced. This is the nature of our union. 

Seeing the beauty of this union is often all that is needed to receive comfort in the darkness. For example, many of us enter the darkness with a wrong perception of Jesus. We see him as an outward or detached person. But the great story being told here is that believers are united with Jesus in a living union, a union whereby he occupies our hearts. He lives there by his Spirit. In other words, he comes into our hearts and wants to be present in our willing and thinking and doing and feeling and living. When we understand this, our souls become weighed down like a ripening vine. 

This idea of a living and intimate union with Christ is found everywhere in the New Testament. Consider Galatians 2:20. Paul writes: “Christ lives in me. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me.” Or consider John 17:21: “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

These are profound truths coming from our Lord. Reflecting upon the implications of this living union in his own life, Martin Luther, the great Reformer had this to say: “My holiness, righteousness and purity do not stem from me, nor do they depend on me. They come solely from Christ and are based only in him, in whom I am rooted by faith, just as sap flows from the stalk into the branches. Now I am like him and of his kind. Both he and I are of one nature and essence, and I bear fruit in him and through him. The fruit is not mine; it is the Vine’s.”

Perhaps this alone is what is needed to lift the cloud of despair. Rest in your union with Jesus. He is in you. You are in him. You are one. Receive him as your friend and shepherd. 

Are You A Fruitful Christian?

Last week we looked at Ezekiel’s image of a useless vine. We found the questions posed by God in chapter 15 to be breathtaking. They cut to the quick and lay bare the heart. God is asking His people to remember the purpose of a vine.

What is the purpose of a vine? It is to bear fruit. Is there any other purpose for a vine? The answer given is, “no.” Unlike an oak tree, we are told a vine’s worth is dependent upon the quality of its fruit. It has no other redemptive purpose. No one cultivates vines to harvest the wood. In fact, as the parable reminds us, the only good one can obtain from a fruitless vine is fuel for a fire.

We concluded last time that all of this is significant and quite shocking because how does Israel see herself? Routinely, she is likened to a vine that God planted with the aim of gathering fruit. In other words, God’s people see themselves as God’s choice vineyard! But what is the Gardner’s assessment? We are told Jacob’s descendants have become fruitless. And consequently, like a barren plant, they are good for nothing but fuel for the fire.

This raises two pivotal questions. What is the reason for the bareness of God’s people? And what is the consequence for the nation? Verse 8 gives the answer to both. It reads: “And I will make the land desolate, because they have acted faithlessly, declares the Lord God.” Notice there is a cause and effect relationship. Desolation in the land and faithlessness on the part of God’s people are linked in the providence of God.

Interestingly enough, this same connection is made in the New Testament. In John 15, Jesus picks up the theme of a choice vineyard and equates the believer’s faith as abiding in Him and faithlessness as a fruitless branch. We are told Christians are the branches and Jesus is the Vine. To be found fruitless, is to be considered barren, making a person good for nothing but fuel for the fire (15:6).

“Bearing fruit is the call of God upon every believer’s life!”

I personally do not know a sincere Christian that wants to be useless. But given the fact that the church is a mixed community, and we are prone to lose our first love, it may be good in these desolate times to ponder what it means to be fruitful – what it means in other words to have a living union with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Let’s consider five common characteristics.

First, a fruitful Christian winsomely proclaims and leads others to Christ (See Romans 1:13; Proverbs 11:30; Mark 1:17; John 4:35; 2 Corinthians 5:20). The ministry of proclaiming and leading others to Christ has many facets to it, but all (not some) who are in Christ have the responsibility of sowing seeds and being ambassadors of His gospel of grace, even if we don’t have the privilege of participating in the reaping.

Second, the Bible tells us that a fruitful Christian lovingly helps others grow in Christ (See Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 4:11-16; Colossians 1:28; Titus 2:1-15; Hebrews 10:24; James 3:1). Leading others to Christ is the first step in making disciples. Once a Christian is grafted into the Vine by faith, he or she must be discipled and taught all the teachings of Jesus. Helping others in this transformation process is essential, not an option.

Third, a fruitful Christian who abides in Christ and shares his or her life with others will produce the fruit of personal holiness (See Romans 6:22; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Galatians 5:22-23). Like a ripening ear of corn, the Spirit through faith fills and adds girth to the soul. Specifically, through daily repentance and dependence upon the Lord, the Spirit produces peace, joy, patience, kindness, humility, love, steadfastness, and joy.

Fourth, the Bible tells us that a fruitful Christian shares what he or she possesses (See Acts 2:44-45; Romans 15:28; 1 John 3:17). We have all been made stewards of God’s resources (See Matthew 25:14-30; Luke 17:7-10; 19:12-27), and have been given the responsibility of investing it in his eternal work by caring for the needs of others.

Fifth, a fruitful Christian abides in Christ for the sake of reconciling all people to God and each other (See Leviticus 19:15; Deuteronomy 15:11; Ezekiel 16:49; Luke 14:13; Romans 12:20; 2 Corinthians 5:18-21; John 15:12, 17:20; James 1:27). A Christian bearing fruit will enter into the suffering of the oppressed and poor, not dismiss it or excuse it. He or she will follow Christ’s example and pray the church becomes one. Christ’s desire is not Asian-Americans here and Latinos there, Afro-Americans here and Anglo-Americans somewhere else. A fruit bearing Christian longs for nothing less than complete unity in the body of Christ, for there is only one vineyard and one Vinedresser. 

There are many more characteristics of a fruitful Christian. But the point the Bible is making is that for a vineyard to flourish, (and by extension the world to flourish) each individual branch has to respond to the attention of the Vinedresser, which means not all branches will respond alike. There will be some that seek to yield to Christ more than others. Thus when the great harvest day arrives, it will be revealed that each of us has produced a different-sized crop. And yes, that day will also reveal why fire is the only reward of a useless branch. 

No fruit. Some fruit. More fruit. Much fruit. Which are you producing? If the land is desolate, and I think we all would agree that it is, shouldn’t this be the big question that weighs heavy on our hearts as Christians? Isn’t this the big lesson of the parable of the Ten Virgins (See Matthew 25)? They never took care of the lamp (basket) they were given. The Bridegroom arrives, finds it empty, and even says that he does not know them because they never cared about the Bridegroom and that is why they are unprepared now.

Bruce Wilkerson, founder and president of “Walk Thru the Bible,” says in his book Secrets of the Vine, that he has asked audiences all over the world how they would describe the “fruitfulness” of Christians today. They consistently conclude that about half of all people who identify as “Christians” bear very little or no fruit, a third bear some fruit, (ten percent bear more fruit), and only five percent bear a lot of fruit. 

Friends, bearing fruit is the call of God upon every believer’s life. It is our destiny (Romans 7:4). So let me encourage you to do the hard thing. Not the conformist thing. Turn your gaze inward. Not outward (Matthew 7:5). Take time to ponder the characteristics of a fruitful Christian and then ask the Holy Spirit, “How full is my basket?” And then be prepared to let go of all the things that stand in the way of His life-giving sap, like: our pride of heritage, our security in our cultural identity, our comfort in our color, and our unwillingness to surrender and obey all the teachings of Christ (John 15:9). Abiding in Christ is all about intimacy with God. You won’t be disappointed with the results!

A Useless Vine

In less than two months, our nation will remember the nearly 3,000 people killed in the terror attacks at the World Trade Center. Pat Robertson, by his own admission, says foolish things in public. But when he suggested that the two airplanes that brought down the towers were divine judgment on our land, many Christians couldn’t distance themselves fast enough from these remarks, especially as certain people in the media howled at the very idea. 

No one completely knows the mind of God on matters like this. But I can’t help but wonder in light of all that is currently happening in our nation why so many Christians distance themselves from these types of remarks? Why are such conclusions considered foolish? 

Were Robertson’s remarks offensive because God doesn’t punish sin? Is it because God never uses evil people with their own agenda to exercise His judgment? Is it because He would never ruin a city in some devastating way? Is it because some of the righteous perished with the wicked? Is it because the Lord never sends foretastes of his judgment to warn a wayward people of worse things to come? What was there about 9-11, biblically speaking, that made people so sure that this was not an act of severe mercy on the part of God?

“And I will make the land desolate, because they have acted faithlessly, declares the Lord God.”

Ezekiel 15:8

In the book of Ezekiel, we are given a very helpful window into the mind of God. The book is filled with prophecies of the impending judgment of Jerusalem and Israel. And I believe there is much for us to learn today about the ways of God as they are communicated through these warnings. 

The book is divided into three sections. The first section is filled with warnings to God’s people. The second is filled with warnings to the nations. And the last is the promise of mercy and salvation for those who repent and surrender their lives to the Lord. Today we like to focus on the second and third section, but what about the first?

In chapter 15 we are given the image of a fruitless vine. The questions posed are breathtaking. They cut to the quick and lay bare the heart. God is asking His people to remember their purpose. What is the purpose of a vine? It is to bear fruit. Is there any other purpose for a vine? The answer given is, no. Unlike an oak tree, a vine’s worth is dependent upon the quality of its fruit. It has no other redemptive purpose. No one uses a vine to make furniture. No one cultivates vines to harvest the wood. In fact, as the parable reminds us, the only good one can obtain from a fruitless vine is fuel for a fire. 

All of this is significant and quite shocking because how does Israel see herself? Routinely, Israel is likened to a vine that God planted with the aim of gathering fruit. In other words, God’s people see themselves a God’s choice vineyard. But what is the Gardner’s assessment of the vineyard? We are told that Jacob’s descendants have become fruitless. And consequently, like a barren plant, they are good for nothing but the fire. 

This leads to the pivotal question. What is the reason for the bareness God’s people? Verse 8 gives the answer: “And I will make the land desolate, because they have acted faithlessly, declares the Lord God.”

Given all the cries for justice and the moral chaos raining down on our nation today, I can’t help but wonder. Could it be that the church is experiencing the same crisis as the people of God in Ezekiel’s day? Could it be that many within the church have become faithless? Could it be that for too long we have been so focused on preserving our nation, rights, comforts, and freedom to indulge the flesh (Gal. 5:13) that we have we forgotten what our sole purpose is in this fallen world? Could it be that the people of God then, and the people of God today, do not seriously ponder the possibility that God is awakening us to the possibility of far worse things to come because we are spiritually inclined to ignore the possibility that we are barren?

This, of course, is the tone deafness of our first parents Adam and Eve. One of the causes of their fall into sin was disbelief in the threat of divine judgment. God had said to Adam, “On the day you eat of it you will surely die,” and the devil flatly contradicted that in his conversation with Eve: “You surely will not die!” We see this same pattern today. The enemy’s first and primary argument for sin is you can sin and not suffer consequences. You will not be disciplined. Sadly, no other lie is more commonly believed than this one, even within the church.

Thankfully, as we continue onward in the book of Ezekiel, there is an alternative to wiping out Israel. And that was God’s plan to plant a good healthy vine from Jacob’s stock, a vine that would be the true Israel because it would bear the fruit that God intended when He established the vineyard of Israel. This vine—this true Israel—is the Lord Jesus Christ, and we are told in the New Testament that only as we abide in Him can we be fruitful (John 15:1–17).

In closing, I think it’s wise for us to take stock of our own faith in these last days. Without a doubt we are seeing the hand of God at work all around us. It is a firm hand. It has the feel of discipline and pruning for all our sins of oppression, favoritism, and pluralism. And yes, we need to wake up and realize that He is quite adept at using wicked people with their own agendas to bring about the kind of repentance that is needed in His people. We would be wise to stop critiquing the world’s unbelief (since this is all it knows) and be diligent in getting back to the basics of abiding in Christ. And that of course would be the work of bearing fruit, by faith, for the glory of His name, which is ultimately what will make this world a brighter and more beautiful place. 

Unfinished Business Part 2

I knew I had left home, but home had not left me. This is a statement made in Unfinished Business Part 1 in reference to the many men and women who are tormented by the trauma of a dysfunctional childhood. Until fifty or sixty years ago, very little attention was given to the family member that grew up within a home struggling with drugs, alcohol, and now the opioid epidemic. Today, the research shows that despite being physically grown, the uncomforted inner child of our past continues to exist in us as adults. There is, in the words of Hugh Missildine, an “emotional residue in our memory or subconscious that was created in response to past events. We still feel the reactions even though the events produced them are gone.” 

Perhaps you or someone you love is struggling with this kind of unfinished business. Past addictive patterns in the home, and the “learned helplessness” they create, are obstructing the kind of growth and maturity the Scriptures promise through the inner working of the Holy Spirit. This month I’d like to introduce you to the biblical path for healing and transformation. I’m not going to use a lot of theological terminology. I’ll save that for another forum. I simply want to point you in the right direction and get your feet on the path. 

“At a very young age we are forming core beliefs about ourselves. We learn from our home-life which emotions, wants, desires, and longings are acceptable and which ones are off-limits.”

Rev. Duane Otto

To begin with, it’s important to understand that you are made in the image of God. This is why you have such a deep longing for intimacy. God made you to know and to be known. That’s His nature, too. So it’s important to know that when you came into this world as a child, you were born with two relational needs etched deep within your soul. And here’s the thing, they are expressed in question form. The answers are not “hardwired” in, so to speak. The conclusions are drawn from our childhood experiences. The two crucial questions are: Am I worthy of love? And are others capable of loving me? 

Let me give a quick example. Let’s say you are seven years old and you come home from school and ask your mom for a new pair of sneakers. For most of us, asking for something requires vulnerability. You are giving your mother power. She can ignore you, hurt you, make light of you, refuse you, or help you. Asking is at the heart of being known and knowing. Apply this to your own childhood. When you asked for something did you feel love or neglected? Did you live in the context of scarcity or fear? Did it have to be on sale? Were you made to feel selfish or ungrateful or irresponsible or unwanted? At a very young age we are forming core beliefs about ourselves. We learn from our home-life which emotions, wants, desires, and longings are acceptable and which ones are off-limits. And these assumptions form powerful patterns that determine in adulthood how we respond to our own emotions and others, and how we ultimately relate to God. 

This is why we all struggle as adults with intimacy. The sin patterns are complex, but research breaks them down into four categories. First, some of us are overly preoccupied with relationships. We want intimacy with others but we are impulsive and overly emotional and needy. This is why some of us keep putting ourselves in damaging relationships. Second, some of us are fearful and afraid of getting hurt so we struggle with trust. We avoid closeness and vulnerability in relationships. This is why intimacy seems so illusive. Third, some of us are dismissive and detached in relationships. We act like we don’t need people. We act defensive, self-sufficient, and work to hide our feelings. This is why we are quick to point out the wrong in others. And fourth, some of us are able to create deep and meaningful relationships with appropriate boundaries because we have come to the realization through the grace of God that we are deeply loved in spite of our brokenness, and God is not only capable, but more than able to give us the love our soul needs through His Son Jesus Christ. This is why some of us are able to give ourselves away to others in a non-defensive way. 

If your soul has yet to experience this kind of response from the Lord, I invite you to accept His invitation today. The path to healing and grace is found when we accept the invitation to come and abide in Him (John 17). This path of course will require you to find a gospel-grace centered church. And of course it will require you to surrender and turn away from your old patterns of relating to others and Him. This is easier said than done. The irony of having unfinished business in our lives is that we get use to it. We get comfortable with it. We learn how to manage it, though painful and hurtful. In fact, during certain moments of our day, we even embrace and cherish the lies about our identity. They motivate us. We are bent on proving them false. But again the invitation of Christ still stands. Will you come? Will you renounce your sinful and addictive patterns? Will you come to Him and let Him whisper to your soul, “It is finished”? This is the path of gospel transformation. And it does not disappoint. It is quite the journey!