“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.”
Today's Confession: I Am In Love with Christ! On this celebrated societal day of love that's what I wanted to proclaim. But, I will celebrate and proclaim the name of the greatest love of all...EVERYDAY!
So, what does it mean to be a Jesus Follower? It really boils down to allowing the Life and Love of Jesus to continue to live through you. But this life is accessed through a relationship with God. This is foundational to every other relationship you have as a Jesus follower.
Your relationship with God was intended to be personal, but it was never meant to be private. In the same way, that there are parts of a marriage that remain private, but you don’t keep your relationship or your love for one another a secret.
God doesn’t want a religion with you. He wants a relationship with you. Religion makes everything about what you DO or what you KNOW. Too often, people define their relationship with God like this:
- Reading the Bible
- Praying
- Giving
- Going to Church
- Going to Bible college
- Knowing all the “right answers”
This doesn’t define a relationship with God. A Relationship with God is simply about BEING or REMAINING in Christ, in relationship. With God, your relationship is about REMAINING and LOVE. The fruit of that relationship is spending time reading the Bible, prayer, giving, going to church, etc…
The goal of a Jesus Follower life is not for you to live FOR him. The goal is for you to allow him to live his life in and THROUGH you that was you do live FOR him.
The first step in creating meaningful connections with family, friends and neighbors is to start by focusing on your relationship with God. You must have a firm foundation in order to start building upon your relationships. Having a good foundation with God means you know which target you are aiming for. What's the target you are aiming for today? The second step in building your relationship with God is remembering that it doesn’t stop at your relationship with God. You must spend time with God daily to learn more about him and to draw closer to him. This daily relationship building will allow you to be or remain in Christ.
PRAYER
“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.”
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Our prayer for you in this season is to eagerly await what the Lord will do for us, in us and through us during these very special few days. Our heart is to spread the hope of Jesus to the world around us. Invite your family and friends to this daily devotional, save the image below, and share via social media!
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