ICS Daily Devotions
Branches of Living Faith
John 15:5-7 (NKJV) I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
John 14:13 (NKJV) And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. It means that our own will must flow out of God’s will. If we were the tree, then of course, we could do whatever we liked to grow spiritually. But it is not the case. Therefore, if the branch does its own will, it will lose contact with the tree and withers. It is no good and it’s to be burned with fire. Therefore, we must be always connected to Jesus and His desires for our life.
To ask in “Jesus’ name” means that we are aligned with His will. We say that “Jesus takes the lead.” As Christians, we are naturally used to do things in the name of Jesus. But the name of Jesus is no magic formula that works apart from the context of God’s Word and His general will for our lives. We need to understand the general terms first before going into specific details. The Pharisees were picky about details and checked whether Jesus and his disciples keep Sabbath, but Jesus criticized them instead that they were missing the broad picture of loving God.
Luke 11:42 (NIV) Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.
We can ask Jesus for meeting our desires, but God’s love and justice must be in our heart first. That is the DNA of the tree on which we have been implanted as branches. We need to radiate the same character. Then we will not be stressed or over motivated, which is a characteristic of the branches that are about to wither. We want to enter God’s rest and peace instead, ready for every good work of the Kingdom of God. God’s desires together with our desires will flow out of our hearts!
Acts 19:13-16 (NKJV) Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
This is a biblical example of what happened when people approached the name of Jesus with their mind only, observing the miracles that the apostle Paul performed in the name of Jesus, but their heart was not attached to it. If we want to be true disciples of Christ, therefore, it is not enough to understand the gospel with our mind, it must be part of our heart. There is a difference between active faith that flows from our hearts and mental-assent faith that just rationalizes on the truth about God. To bear spiritual fruit, practice the active faith and live close to God as a Christian after God’s own heart.
Sermon series: Being a Disciple of Christ
