Wednesday · Apr 1
Living In Jesus
Jesus’ followers left the upper room with Him. Then, they went with Him down the stairs to the street below. Together, they walked to Gethsemane. That night was one of the most important nights in human history. Before they left the upper room, Jesus told His followers some of His most powerful truths.
What does Jesus say in John 15:1–11 ?
In these verses, Jesus explains how to have a close relationship with God. How do we do that? We must “stay joined [connected]” to Jesus ( John 15:4, ERV ), the same as a branch is connected to a vine. In other words, we must “ ‘continue to live in me [Jesus]’ ” ( John 15:4 , EASY). Read John 15:1–11 in the Easy-to-Read Bible and in the Easy English Bible. Count how many times you read the words “stay joined,” “stay connected,” or “continue to live.” Many times, right? This idea is very important. If we want to stay connected to Jesus, He must live in our hearts.
Soon Jesus will die on the cross. Before He dies, He wants His followers to understand that they must live in Him. Jesus also wants us to understand how to do that.
Jesus is the same as the vine. We are the same as the branches that are connected to the vine. When we stay connected to Jesus, we will grow ‘fruit.’ (What is this fruit? Read the answer in Galatians 5:22, 23 and Ephesians 5:9 .) We need help to make ‘fruit’ grow. Sometimes, we may behave as if we are connected to Jesus. But if we are not really connected in our minds and hearts, our lives will show no ‘fruit’ or good behavior. Then we won’t have any spiritual life or power. We will be the same as a dead branch. God cuts off all dead branches from the Vine, Jesus. But even if we grow a lot of ‘fruit,’ God will trim all our ‘branches’ to make them grow better.
We all have painful experiences. If we live in Jesus, these experiences will help us grow strong. The ‘fruit’ that we grow will show everyone that we belong to Jesus. People will praise Jesus because of the wonderful changes they see in us. When we live in Jesus, we will feel joy. We will do everything He asks ( 1 John 5:3 ). Our living in Jesus helps solve the problems that He talks about in Revelation 3:20 . Jesus’ love brings us close to Him in our hearts. When we know this love, we will love God and other people.