Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. {John 15:4}
Living for Jesus is supposed to be easy, not hard. And yet so many of us continue to struggle living for Him. We make it hard for ourselves, even though He has said to us that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. {Matthew 11:28-30} Again and again we run away from being honest and open to Him about ourselves, because we think He’s going to require us to live a holier lifestyle than we can achieve. This kind of mentality is what gets us every single time, and it’s what keeps us failing. The truth is, if we would just be honest with ourselves with the fact that we cannot be holy on our own, and we have no power in us to be holy, half of our problems would be solved. But instead many of us are living for Christ thinking we have to please Him. We go around on our own willpower trying to please God. Rather than thinking I need Him, I need to have Him today in order for me to live a holy life, we are already defeated even before we’ve started. We are trying to achieve holiness only with our own strength and willpower. With Satan around and the principalities in this world, what is your strength compared to them? When you are constantly barraged with so many temptations from morning until night, what is your will compared to them? Zilch, none, you’ve got nothing. We have to come to the understanding that without Jesus we are lost. Without Him we cannot be holy. He is our holiness. He is our righteousness. He is the power we need to be holy. We cannot do it on our own. We have to come to Him all the time or all our efforts will be fruitless.
Jesus tells us, without Him we can do nothing. Unless we are clinging to Him, talking to Him, and always looking to Him for help, forget about trying to be holy. We will surely fail.
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. {John 15:55}
Now, the key thing is talking to Him all the time – all the time. You cannot skip this. You skip this and you’re mincemeat to the principalities of this world. This is exactly what Jesus means when He said to abide in Him. It means, stick with Him. Make Him your home. The word abide is really another word for abode, which means home. There’s a saying, “Home is where your heart is.” It’s basically the same thing when Jesus said, “Where your treasure is there will be your heart also.” {Matthew 6:21} Jesus tells us He will be with us, He will live with us, His presence will abide in us.
At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. {John 14:20}
When we make Jesus our home, our treasure, we will always talk to Him. And when He lives inside our hearts because we have asked Him to be our Lord and Savior, and have been baptized and filled with His Spirit, then living for Him should be a breeze. But still so many of us struggle. Why? Because we don’t make talking to Him the most important thing in our lives. We still think we are the one that does the work of holiness, instead of Jesus in us. We still don’t get it. We are still looking to ourselves instead of Jesus to make us holy.
Talking to Jesus helps us to know Him. The more we talk to Him, the more He will reveal Himself to us. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know what to talk to Him about. Sit there and spend the rest of the hour with Him. Ask Him to show you what to talk to Him about. Come with your open heart. Be honest with Him and tell Him that you don’t know what to talk to Him about. And even if you’re bored to tears about coming to Him and talking to Him, tell Him about it. Tell Him if you’re struggling with your relationship with Him. Tell Him everything that is in your heart. Don’t hide anything and don’t be afraid. He loves you so much. If you’re ashamed about something that you’ve done, tell Him that about that as well. Tell Him you’re ashamed of something you’ve done and you’re having a hard time coming to Him because you’re ashamed of it. If you want a better relationship with Him, you have to tell Him everything that is in your heart. Talking to Jesus and baring our hearts to Him is abiding in Him. This is what He wants us to do. There is something supernatural about talking to Jesus that takes place inside of our spirit. It renews our minds, it helps us see the supernatural things in this life. God through our communion with Him can speak to us and deal with us, and therefore, change us. We will come to understand that truly without Him we can do nothing. We need Him.
This is really should be the focus of our holiness, needing Jesus. We have to come to accept that we need Jesus, and we’re lost without talking to Him. Instead of being afraid that we’ve done something wrong again and He’s not pleased with us, our focus should be “I need Him.” This mentality brings Him near. This pleases Him. He wants us all to be in need of Him because He’s so in love with us. He doesn’t want us to live without Him. He wants us to be so dependent on Him for everything. To put it bluntly He’s hopelessly in love with us, and doesn’t want us to want or need anyone else but Him. And when we humbly tell Him, “Lord, I know I have failed you again today and it seems like I will probably fail You again tomorrow, but it doesn’t matter Lord because I love You and I need You. I am lost without You.” This kind of prayer melts His heart. With that kind of sincere, humble need of Jesus in your prayer, He will do a supernatural work in your life whereby the things you struggle with will become history. One by one He will take away the power they have in your life. One by one you will desire them less and less. Stop working towards holiness and start focusing your desire to need Jesus and have Jesus all the time with you. This is so much easier than doing it yourself. He will do the supernatural if you would just need Him and worship Him.
It’s so important to be honest and open with Jesus if we want a holier life. Baring our sins and shame to Him should be a natural part of our talks with Him. It should feel natural. It should not feel like giving birth and dying, though in the spirit when we repent and confess our sins, we end up dying and going through a rebirth. Still this process should not be painful when you’ve made it a habit and a ‘must do’ to talk to the Lord. The more you come to Him, the more you will come to see that He understands your mind and your desires. He understands what causes you to fall and what causes you to turn away from Him. Knowing this there is no condemnation. You come to know He loves and accepts you just the way you are, because you’re in the process of being made perfect by Him. You come to understand your perfection lies in your love for Him, in your need of Him. Your perfection lies in knowing that without Him indeed you can do nothing. Your holiness purely depends on having Him and always looking to Him for help.
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. {Philippians 4:13}
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. {2 Corinthians 12:9}
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. {Galatians 2:16}
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. {John 8:36}
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. {1 John 1:9}
Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. {Isaiah 12:2}
And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. {Luke 9:23}
Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. {1 Peter 1:16}
Prayer
Lord Jesus I thank You so much that with You nothing is too hard. You have done everything already for me at the cross so that I can live a happy and holy life before You. Thank You with all of my heart for giving Your life for me.
Father, I need You, I am lost without You. Please Lord Jesus help me to keep coming to You and being open and honest in my heart about myself to You. Help me to spend time with You more and more, and love it and desire it. Take away fears, doubts, and stubbornness from my spirit. Take away anything that keeps me away in my mind from being honest and open with You. Help me love coming to You, Jesus. Help me love You. Give me more love for You, Lord Jesus and faith and trust and hope in Your love for me. I pray all these things in Your mighty and wonderful name, Jesus. Thank You, Father. Amen.
