Beth again, woo!
“I
am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you,
you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John
15:5
It is amazing what we seem to to accomplish without God. We can run through school, burn through relationships, file through different identities and build empires without considering Him.
God works through everything, invited or not. If you’re not sure about it, check out God’s idea of the king of Assyria during Isaiah’s time [round abouts Isaiah 10:5].We can still try work against him though. When we try to run His kingdom, we see ugly times. Times when people use Jesus as an excuse to massacre those of a different nationality or skin color, when the poor are exploited in the name of religion, when we try to keep people out because of our judgment. This is because when we try to do God’s Kingdom without Him, we get in the way. We can’t do anything. The parts of us God wants to mend start to rule, and selfishness, grudges and unforgiveness block out that complete mercy, compassion and selflessness of our amazing God.
Jesus wants us to remain in Him. We can’t earn a place with Him, so he gives us one. Likewise, we can’t make His kingdom come without Him, so He brings it through us when we step aside and let Him work. That’s why he tells us to remain in Him, like a branch on a vine. We have our own shape & direction, all from Him. Apart from it, we can do nothing. And He is always willing to forgive us for the times when we get going without Him, and lets us start again.
Challenge: Pray about what kind of branch God is growing you into.
Overall a great message! I would like to say that the way I have seen God move is never in a way that asks us to "step aside". He always asks us to partner with Him in all He is doing, because all that He's doing intimately involves each of us. Keep going! There is more revelation here. :)
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