“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.” (John 15:6-7)
Over the past few weeks, I have been on the go! Work travels, vacation, weddings, graduations and anything else that you can think of. I feel like I have truly been the energizer bunny. It was great to be able to spend time with family and friends but I have a confession. I was not as connected as I should have been in those few weeks. I missed God! I missed entering into His presence daily at length when needed. I missed reading MY Bible (I mistakenly left mine at home) and being able to really study The Word. There was so much going on that I was consumed in those things and felt like My Heavenly Father was put to the background while I was on the road. I felt spiritually disconnected. It was not a good feeling at all! When I took some time to think about this, I was led to John 15:5 where Jesus tells us “I am the vine and you are the branches…apart from me you can do nothing.”
What does Jesus really mean when He says that? Well, let’s talk about it. The vine of a tree gives life to the branches. When they are connected to a perfect living vine (Jesus Christ), they produce much fruit. Without being connected they will not grow. As Jesus’ children, we depend on our connection to Him to further our spiritual growth and ability to effectively live for Him! Anything that is not growing is slowly dying. Staying connected is something that we must consciously do. Going to church every Sunday does not mean that we are connected to the vine. It takes more than that! We must enter into His presence through prayer, we must study His Word (2 Timothy 2:15), be obedient to His Word and truly let God work on the inside of us! When we allow any of these things to take a backseat (even for a few days or weeks), our spiritual lives begin to slowly get cut off from the vine and our branches are not bearing the fruit that we need to live the abundant life that God has promised us.
When you truly LOVE God, the disconnection will cause you to feel like a major part of your life is missing. We must remain in Him daily and die to ourselves daily. Those three weeks on the road were lots of fun let me tell you! But, I felt like a bad daughter for not waking up daily to enter into His presence and not spending time in His Word Daily. I missed my Father so much and I had to repent for allowing a spiritual disconnection to take place. When I got home my first priority was to get into His presence and spend time worshiping Him!
I encourage you to ALWAYS stay connected. It doesn’t matter what you have going on whether it is vacations, kids, husband or family commitments. NEVER allow those things to take precedence over your time with God. Apart from Him you can do nothing! The only way to live an abundant life is to stay connected to the vine. Apart from Him all efforts will be unfruitful. You have to eat your daily bread to receive the nourishment and life that Christ offers. Don’t miss out!
Sending Hope Your Way!
Tanika
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