9-17-2017

Good Morning All,

            John 15:4; “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.”

    We live in a very impersonal world.  It seems like we are simply a number.  We are just one of a thousand, or million or billion; it really doesn’t matter, we are just a blob in the crowd.  We often times are not even a face in the crowd; we are simply a blob. Think of when you are walking in a mall; do you really see each person well enough that you could identify them later on?  There might be the one exception; there might be someone who is exceptionally tall or is dressed in a fashion that is unforgettable but for the most part we can look at a crowd and not see a single person.  When we look at a crowd and see nothing, we assume that this is how we are seen as well. 

     We often see our faith in the same manner.  We tend to think that God looks at the world and simply sees a blob of humanity.  We assume that all of our prayers are simply a buzz that God hears similar to what we hear in a crowded room.  We tend to think that we are just a faceless and shapeless blob in the midst of a bunch of other faceless and shapeless blobs.  This allows us to tend to view our devotional time, our prayer life and our willingness to trust God to simply be one of a thousand, or million or billion.

     Yet in our verse, Jesus speaks to his disciples, and thus to us, and told them that the branch, singular, must abide in the vine.  We need to see our relationship with Jesus as singular.  Our relationship can be experienced in a stronger fashion if we see that we are in a personal relationship with Jesus and not just as a blob relationship.

    I remember talking to a guy who spent his devotional/prayer time at a kitchen table.  He would always pour 2 cups of coffee or a 2 glasses of iced tea and set one in front of himself and one in front of a chair across from him.  His goal was to visualize Jesus as sitting at the table with him.  Now he didn’t do this to lessen God but to personalize God.  He saw this as part of the personal invitation that Jesus extends to each of us.  He saw it as God being willing to enter his house and his life.  He saw this as a way to bring about a more personal understanding of his relationship with God.  He can see himself as a branch connected to the vine.  He sees himself as a person, loved and claimed by God, abiding in God’s loving arms.

    This idea, or something similar, may help you to see your relationship with Jesus in a more real and concrete and not as “one of the masses.”  By seeing it as personal, it might help you to cling to your faith in a stronger fashion and with greater certainty.  You are the branch connected directly to Jesus.

Loving Father, open my eyes to the certainty of your love.  Open my eyes to see you as wanting to talk to me and to listen to me.  Open my heart to loving you in truth and in purpose.  Open my heart to your amazing love and peace.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret