"Abide in Me, and I in you.
As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.
JOSHUA 1: 9...
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
Jesus Christ is the Vine, the true Vine. The union of the human and Divine natures, and the fulness of the Spirit that is in him, resemble the root of the vine made fruitful by the moisture from a rich soil. Believers are branches of this Vine. The root is unseen, and our life is hid with Christ; the root bears the tree, diffuses sap to it, and in Christ are all supports and supplies. The branches of the vine are many, yet, meeting in the root, are all but one vine; thus all true Christians, though in place and opinion distant from each other, meet in Christ.
Believers, like the branches of the vine, are weak, and unable to stand but as they are borne up. The Father is the Husbandman. Never was any husbandman so wise, so watchful, about his vineyard, as God is about his church, which therefore must prosper. We must be fruitful. From a vine we look for grapes, and from a Christian we look for a Christian temper, disposition, and life. We must honour God, and do good; this is bearing fruit.
The unfruitful are taken away. And even fruitful branches need pruning; for the best have notions, passions, and humours, that require to be taken away, which Christ has promised to forward the sanctification of believers, they will be thankful, for them.
The word of Christ is spoken to all believers; and there is a cleansing virtue in that word, as it works grace, and works out corruption. And the more fruit we bring forth, the more we abound in what is good, the more our Lord is glorified.
In order to fruitfulness, we must abide in Christ, must have union with him by faith. It is the great concern of all Christ's disciples, constantly to keep up dependence upon Christ, and communion with him. True Christians find by experience, that any interruption in the exercise of their faith, causes holy affections to decline, their corruptions to revive, and their comforts to droop.
Those who abide not in Christ, though they may flourish for awhile in outward profession, yet come to nothing. The fire is the fittest place for withered branches; they are good for nothing else. Let us seek to live more simply on the fulness of Christ, and to grow more fruitful in every good word and work, so may our joy in Him and in his salvation be full.
Joshua is to make the law of God his rule. He is charged to meditate therein day and night, that he might understand it. Whatever affairs of this world we have to mind, we must not neglect the one thing needful. All his orders to the people, and his judgments, must be according to the law of God. Joshua must himself be under command; no man's dignity or dominion sets him above the law of God. He is to encourage himself with the promise and presence of God.
Let not the sense of thine own infirmities dishearten thee; God is all-sufficient. I have commanded, called, and commissioned thee to do it, and will be sure to bear thee out in it. When we are in the way of duty, we have reason to be strong and very bold. Our Lord Jesus, as Joshua here, was borne up under his sufferings by a regard to the will of God, and the commandment from his Father.
This day, January 21, 2015, I have read yet another article which reiterates the 'turning away' from THE LORD, BY conforming to ways of this world, and buckling under pressure from non-believers in the face of opposition TO STANDING WITH *GOD*! Day after day, our stance IN *GOD* is being challenged, in disguise of the Government, the upholding of the Constitution, or other worldly agendas, in which case, many of these challenges are being favoured by courts, and groups of people, and we are being told that we cannot do this, nor that, HOWEVER, THE FAITHFUL STAND WITH *GOD*, and CANNOT cave in to the world: to do so invokes HIS wrath, and removes us from HIM!!!
Just as Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego REFUSED to cower before King Nebuchadnezzar, and worship the golden image he demanded that ALL worship, and despite the sentence of being burned in an extremely stoked furnace for refusal to, these men STOOD with THE LORD, and WERE put into the furnace (DANIEL 3), WE are NOT to cower to what the world decides, especially when contrary to our LORD! THE LORD SAVED these men, and astounded the King, and ALL peoples, in which case, the King decreed that ALL peoples should now WORSHIP THE ONE TRUE *GOD*!!!
We ARE going to be tried, tested, and proven; it IS part of the equation, and this old world IS going to battle against THE LORD, and HIS people, as it IS one with THE PLAN, and the eternal destruction of oppression, and the oppressor! We ONLY need to look to THE LORD, and HIS WORD for instruction, strength, and the will to STAND WITH HIM, no matter what; though we must use our minds, and HIS WILL as the guide for doing so, we cannot rely on our own ways in resisting the powers of the world, instead we RELY ON THE LORD!!!
YES, like ALL the FAITHFUL examples in THE BIBLE, we MUST REMAIN, and ABIDE IN HIM, and HE WILL remain in us! TO *GOD* BE THE GLORY, for HE WAS, IS, and EVERMORE SHALL BE, no matter what!!!
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