Devotionals

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Abide To Thrive

“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5 NASB

“…Apart from Me you can do nothing.” Let Jesus’ words sink in. Do you want to speak? Write? Serve? Teach? Preach? Reach? Use your talents and spiritual gifts? Then John 15:5 should be a verse that is placed purposely in places that will remind you of this truth when you get busy and lose your focus on Jesus and begin to make ministry your focus. And it happens to all of us.

When you know the feeling of having Jesus work through you to reach a lost and dying world, you thrive. Abundant life! That feeling is more powerful than anything in this world. It's something that you want more and more of. But in the midst of ministry, we can become too busy making ministry our focus. And not wanting to admit it, we send Jesus to the end of the line forgetting that He's the reason we had the desire to serve in the first place.

Think about it. Jesus didn't intend for ministry to be our life focus. He meant for it to be a by-product of our relationship with Him. Because isn't the focus of ministry to bring people into a relationship with Jesus?

So, come afresh to Him today, sit down with Him, even though right now you can not see Him (see 1 Peter 1:8). Open your heart to willingly listen to Him, and open your Bible so He can speak to you. Tell Him what’s on your heart, and listen to what He has to say by reading your Bible. And make your relationship with Jesus first again.

God didn’t tell us to, “Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it. And He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,” for nothing. Let Jesus fill you first, and then watch the excellent work that He does through you to grow His kingdom.

Thank you LORD Jesus for loving me enough to remind me that this life is not about ministry. It’s about spending time with you, and after that you will work through me to work an excellent work in this broken world. I thank you and love you for wanting to spend time with just me. Help me to love you more. Father, I thank you for Jesus and His work in me. Thank you for grace when I lose my focus and you gently redirect me back to Jesus. I love you, too. Amen.

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