In the past you may have heard pastors, and others teaching about abiding in Christ. I have many times, but for me most of these messages seem to be so theoretical that I was unable to get my teeth into them, and actually apply the principles to my own life. In His message to the disciples in the Upper Room, Jesus instructed them (and us) to abide in Him. What does abiding in Christ mean? Is there something here that God wants us to experience that goes beyond some doctrinal position? In his book, Abide In Christ, Andrew Murray tells us simply to abide, to "remain," in Jesus Himself. Yet, what does this really mean for us? Is it some experience only attainable by a few giants in the faith? When Jesus spoke to the disciples about spiritual things, He often used nature as a picture to help his disciples understand His point. For Instance, when He spoke of His return, He used the fig tree. When He spoke of the Kingdom, He used the illustration of the sower who went out to sow his seeds in the field. When He spoke of the new birth He used the illustration of the wind. And in John 15, when Jesus spoke of abiding in Him, He used the illustration of the vine and the branches. Jesus said, "I am the vine and ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit." (KJV) Think about this picture of abiding. What image is called up? The vine is the very source of life for the branches. As the vine begins the growing season, the branches grow out of the vine itself. They share the same life. In a sense, the full, luxuriant branches are a picture of how much life is in the vine itself. The fruit borne by the branches are the fruit of the vine itself. And if cut apart from the vine, the branches will die.

Clearly, the principle of abiding in the vine is crucial to our Christian life. And it impressed the Apostle John so much that not only did he devote a whole part of his gospel to it, he also comes back to the principle of abiding in his epistles (I John 2:27) where he talks of the "anointing." In the Old Testament the anointing oil was a picture of the Holy Spirit. John teaches that the anointing [the Holy Spirit Himself] abides in us and teaches us to abide in Him. John then concludes the passage with, "and now, little children, abide in Him." (I John 2:28) If Jesus Himself, the Holy Spirit as the anointing, and the Apostle John all emphasize the principle of abiding, then we, too, should pay close attention, for surely this is the key to living the Christian life.

The question is, what must the branch do to abide in the vine? If I'm a branch how do I abide? First we have to understand that if we are true Christians, doctrinally our position is already one of abiding in the Vine, Christ. That's why Jesus said I am the vine and you, speaking of true believers, are the branches. The branch automatically abides in the vine. The branch shouldn't have to struggle to abide, it's already been placed into the vine. We, too, have been put into Christ according to Acts 17:28: "For in him we live, and move, and have our being."

We have even been chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph.1.4). So, if we have been placed into Christ, that is, into the Vine, then all the life of the vine flows through us the branches. If this is our position in Christ--and it is--why are we admonished as believers to abide; and why are we instructed that unless we abide we will not bear fruit. Does this make sense? On one hand we are told that we are in the vine and the next thing we are told to make sure we abide. The reason for this is that instead of just abiding and letting God's life flow through us to bear fruit, we have a tendency to struggle to be a good testimony and bear the fruit ourselves. We try to manufacture a life of our own, we struggle to maintain a certain identity. We, as branches, go through spasms and contortions struggling in ourselves to be "the perfect branch" as we think we should be. We try to impress others with our spirituality when God just wants us to be what we are so that His life can flow through us. Now just being what we are doesn't mean that we should be fleshly, fulfilling all the desires of our flesh. What it does mean is that God has accepted us just the way we are. God has created us all to be different. We have been raised in different families and have gone through various experiences making us what we are today. We are all different. It's wonderful to know that God's life can and will flow through our personality. We don't have to try to impress people with our spirituality. Aren't we really the only people that don't have to try and impress others? We don't want people to be impressed with us anyway, do we? Wouldn't we rather have others impressed with Jesus who is living in us as our life? Do you want to be a brother or sister who, when people are around they go away saying, "What a wonderful brother or sister," focusing all their attention upon you, or do you want them going away saying, "I don't know what it is about that person, but when I'm around him/her I feel like I've been with Jesus."

We then need to ask ourselves why we don't just abide and bear much fruit? If we are honest we will have to confess that we have certain fears that keep us from abiding. One of these fears is that if we don't keep struggling, we will backslide; in reality, God is just sitting back waiting for us to come to the end of our rope so that He can take over. I will never forget a comment by Billy Graham during one of his sermons: "It's not hard to live the Christian life-it's impossible; in fact, there's only one man who can live the Christian life and that's Jesus." Jesus said, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest" (Matt 11:28 KJV). Does this sound like struggling? Jesus wants us to just rest and let Him flow through us. When we struggle, the struggling actually gets in the way of what Jesus wants to do through us. We seem to feel that doing something for Him is more important than what He wants to do through us. The swimmer who is drowning in the water must stop his struggling before he can be saved, but of course he's afraid. He feels that if he stops struggling he will drown. Isn't it natural to want to survive? In this situation the lifeguard must wait until the struggling swimmer quits his struggling before he can save him. In the same way, because we are so hard-headed and strong in ourselves, Jesus many times has to wait until we give up before He can step in.

Finally we need to get real and ask ourselves, do we really-even as Christians, want to abide in the vine? Do we really want to pay the price? You may say, "Sure, doesn't everyone?" Jesus told the disciples "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost?" (Luke 14:28) I believe the Lord wants us to sit down first and really count the cost to see if we are truly willing just to abide in the Vine as a branch. You might say here, "What are you talking about? What do you mean, count the cost? What cost is there?" The cost of abiding can be seen more clearly as we look closer at the relationship between the vine and the branches.

The first thing we need to realize is that the branches don't compete with one another. You see, all the branch does is allow the life of the vine to flow through it. This negates one branch competing with another branch to see which one can produce the most beautiful fruit. The branches just abide in the vine, and it's up to the life flowing from the Vine to determine what kind of fruit will be produced by the branch. Are we willing to give up the competition one with another and let God's life flow through us to bear the fruit He wants us to bear? Will we stop competing with the fellowship down the block that seems to be growing faster than ours? Can we graciously step back to let another brother receive recognition which we feel should be ours?

Another thing about the branch is that the branches don't have their own agenda. The Lord's agenda for you right now may be different from your agenda. He may be speaking to you about going to the foreign missions field, while you may have a secular profession that you have been planning to enter. You may have prepared many years for that career in college. You may say, "Lord, this doesn't make sense!" On the other hand, He may NOT want you to go to the foreign missions field, and you may have to give up those plans in order to just abide and do what He wants you to do. Are you willing to place your agenda as a sacrifice on the altar? You may have to drop something, no matter how good it sounds. Remember Paul's experience? He wanted to preach the gospel in Asia. They went East to enter Bithynia, but the Holy Spirit would not allow them. Instead, they turned West, and eventually took the gospel to the European continent (Acts 16: 7). Are you sure you still want to be just a branch? Be honest. Doesn't it sound more exciting to have your own plans and set time lines for each endeavor? You have more control that way. Who likes to be out of control anyway?

An interesting relationship between the vine and the branches is that the branch can't take any glory for the fruit it bears. The life of God flowing through us glorifies Jesus, not us. Are you sure this is what you want? If you were honest, many times wouldn't you rather get the glory than see Jesus get the glory? Be honest! Don't you feel it's about time that you get the glory for a job well done? Wouldn't it feel good to be looked up to by others? You may feel, "I've worked for this so hard it's about time." But what about Jesus, who "made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Phil 2:7 KJV). Even Jesus Himself did not take the glory. Jesus said, "The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work." (John 14:10.KJV) John the Baptist sure didn't get any glory. John the Baptist was preaching and gathering followers. But when his disciples saw Jesus, they left John and went with Jesus. Is God asking you to let Him have the glory by letting go? Are we willing as ministers to let go even of our most prized possessions so that God can get the glory? What if God has done a wonderful work in a brother or sister who is under your care, and all of a sudden it seems God is calling him/her to another ministry somewhere else? Is it hard for you to realize that these saints belong to God and not to you? Be honest, wouldn't you rather hold onto them for the sake of your own ministry? Wouldn't it be hard to let them go? Now let me ask you again, are you still willing to be a branch in the vine?

All right, you still may be determined to be just a branch that abides in the vine, but what about the pruning? Jesus warns his disciples that, "every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful" (John 15:2). Are you willing to be pruned so that you can bear more fruit for His Glory? I grew up in northern California's "Wine Country." Each year the vineyards were pruned back after the harvest. The field workers cut them down nearly to the central stump. They were gnarled and looked like they were dead, good only for firewood. Isn't that scary? Nevertheless, without pruning, the grapevine will not bear much fruit, nor will the fruit be sweet. Remember, the pruning may hurt, and it is definitely not easy, but it is for Him.

Finally, let's focus on the benefits of abiding, which are indeed glorious. You will see fruit born from your life, from your ministry. Jesus says, "I am the vine and ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit." (John 15:5 KJV) You will not be frustrated trying to go one way when the Lord is trying to go another way. You will experience a wonderful peace. As you are willing to let go for His glory, you will see that the Lord will add to your ministry and to your life as He pleases, for He "is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us" (Eph 3:20 KJV). Another benefit of abiding is that you will be free from that sense of competition with that other pastor, or brother or sister in the Lord. You will be released just to be obedient to what the Lord is doing in your life. Remember, God is working in us and He is able to make quite clear to us the difference between our struggling, and His life flowing through us. As we become aware of our struggling, all we need to do is confess to the Lord and yield ourselves to Him for His life to flow through us. As we do this, we will experience our old self decreasing while inwardly we are "being renewed day by day." (I Cor. 4:16) Paul reminds us to be "confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:" (Phil. 1:6 KJV) He is working in us, and he is not in a hurry. We don't have to be anxious. He is faithful, and He is in the process of showing us what it means to abide in Him. If we have the desire to abide more in Him each day, He will be faithful to work it out in our lives. Thank you Jesus, You indeed are the Great Physician.