“ He who Abides in Me, I in HIm bears much fruit”.

“ He who Abides in Me, I in HIm bears much fruit”.

The definitions given of the word ‘abide’ from the Oxford Dictionary is ‘
(a) To stay, to continue in a place; to dwell, sojourn; 
(b) to remain stable or fixed in some state;
(c) to wait for; to await expectantly; 
(d) to submit to face without shrinking.’

Therefore, when we submit our life to Jesus and allow Him to dwell and stay with us, we will bear much fruit. We will only bear much fruit if Jesus is living us, and we are co-operating and in right relationship with Christ.  For Jesus also says in the same passage from John 15:5 ‘Without Me you can do nothing’.

Bearing much fruit means that we need not only to be keeping the great commandment of love towards God and our neighbour, but also has submitted and committed our life to Christ.  In that context we can then face ourselves without shrinking.  In doing this, we are opened up to our strengths and weaknesses and in ‘Christ can overcome all that still belongs to darkness’.  If we stay close to Jesus, and of course naturally He is always close to us, we will produce Christian values that will attract others to the Christian way of living.

When God abides in us, it is the triune God, who dwells there- Father, Son and Spirit. The Father loves us as His sons/daughters, the Son, Jesus supports and intercedes, while the Spirit gives the grace and power required to bear much fruit.  

Without a relationship with God, we choose to follow our own dictates of his/her heart.  Luke 6:45 says about the heart: ‘Good people draw what is good from the store of goodness in their hearts; bad people draw what is bad from the store of badness. For the words of the mouth flow out of what fills the heart.’

‘Abiding’ therefore, is about ‘staying’, and ‘continuing’ in Christ, and remaining stable, yet also with expectancy.  In other words, when we abide in Christ, and He in us, we are more likely to be centred and grounded through the grace of the One who lives there. Scripture also says:

“For wherever your treasure is, that is where your heart will be too. (Luke 12:34)