Be Green!

"Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." John 15:4-8

Have you ever tried to break a green branch off of a tree? It can be really frustrating because it doesn't break; it bends. You have to twist it several times and you pull it this way and that way and it never cooperates. If you do break it then there's that outer layer of bark/skin that is peeling off making it more difficult. The point is a green branch is tough and not easy to break because it is connected to the life of the tree or vine. If we stay connected with God and let His life continually flow through us we will be flexible, strong and hard to tear down. Is there something or someone trying to tear you down? Don't focus on the problem, focus on the solution: Jesus. Stay connected with Him and don't let any attack distract you.

Jesus uses the word "remain" several times here. The KJV uses the word "abide". In the Greek it means "to sink into, settle in, and live in". I pray those words describe my relationship with God: I want to live in Him, live with Him and sink into Him. The branch and the vine are always connected. The branch doesn't split up with the vine and say "I'll be back later to soak up some life". In the same way we were designed to be connected with God 24/7.

We have an enemy that is trying to break us. If we disconnect ourselves from God we become dry, brittle, inflexible and easy to break. It is vital (literally) to stay in God's Word. Jesus said, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you."

In a few days we will reach the climax of our 21 days of prayer. But really we are just getting warmed up. This is not the end but the beginning. Our prayer lives are not getting ready to slow down, they are getting ready to take off! These 21 days have simply shown us our potential. This has been a launching pad and I can't wait to see what God does throughout this year.

Kevin