20 Sep (John 15)

The Gospels: Joy in Christ

John 15

(v.2) Jesus uses an illustration to make His point...He is the root and the trunk, and we are His branches. If we are connected to Him, we will bear fruit by loving and serving others. The more we do this, the more God will empower us and bless us so we can do more.

(v.7) Like before, when we pray, we should pray for what we know to be in His will, and He will answer our prayers.

(v.8) Jesus came to glorify the Father, so if we are loving and serving others, we are giving glory to the Father!

(v.11) Have you been around people, who even in dark moments, seem to have an inner joy that won't let them get depressed or discouraged? That is the joy that Jesus is speaking of here. After all, the Apostle Paul said it best in Rom 8:31

If God is for us, who can be against us?

(v.13) Jesus loved us so much, that while we were filthy sinners, He died for us! This is also illustrated by our soldiers in wars...where they give up their lives for their friends to live. That is love, when we don't care about our own lives, but instead, deeply care about others.

(v.16) If the President of the United States called you and asked you to do a task for him, don't you think you would do it, and with gusto? Then we should do the same and more for God...He chose us to represent Him on earth, and He has plans for us!

(v.18) When we witness to the lost, sometimes they say hurtful and mean things to us...but we must try to remember that if we're only saying what is in God's Word, then they are mad at God, not us. We need to share God's Word, and let the Holy Spirit convict their souls to repentance.

(v.26) The Holy Spirit's job is to point us to Christ. Jesus pointed the Jews to the Father, and He does today, but the Spirit is in us, and reminds us of Christ. The Holy Trinity works as One.