Abide In The Fifteenth Chapter Of John

Making disciples is the overarching purpose of the church. However, many churches struggle with understanding and fulfilling the true meaning of Christian discipleship in individuals’ lives. This writing assignment will attempt to expound on several significant aspects of discipleship. The importance of the centrality of Jesus Christ to Christian discipleship will be detailed. Also, obedience to the directives of Christ and submission of particular areas of one’s life will be outlined. Finally, the three stages of discipleship according to Dave Earley and Rod Dempsy will be delineated and expanded upon.

In Shaped by the Word, by Robert Mulholland Jr., one finds a way to read scripture in order to provide a deeper understanding of God and allow His Word to shape one’s spiritual life. In the Introduction, in chapter 1, the reader is introduced to the idea that there is a movement in the church that seeks to become deeper and stricter in spiritual formation. He claims there are many books written for this purpose, and his intending purpose for this book is for God to use however he may want in the reader’s spiritual life. Mulholland provides the reader with a prayer to pray in preparation of reading this book and states there may be points where God is knocking and calling the reader’s attention to something new.

To truly be a believer and follower of Christ requires that one place faith in, and believe that Christ was “who” He said he was, and “what” He said he was. This belief also requires one to believe what He believed and what He declared to be

John as we know today was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. He was also the brother of James, who was also an apostle. John was the son of Zeebee and of Salome. His father was a fisherman while living in Bethsaida in Galilee on the border of the lake Gennesareth. John's mother was one of many women who gave to the maintenance of Jesus Christ. John's parents were very good people, they loved God and his son. It is said that john and his brother James were fishing when Jesus came and chose them. They were soon known as the fishers of men. The John of whom I am talking about is John the Evangelist.

flesh with desires. Having been made alive in the Spirit, christians should walk in the

Jesus says this in John 15:1 “I AM the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser” (NASB). It is interesting to see the context and time when Jesus says this, and to see the relationship between him and his Father. I have always had a found liking to this particular passage as I grew up on an apple orchard, and was very acutely aware of the process of pruning branches at a young age. The concept of pruning away or cleaning the branches in order to bear much fruit is something that I related to very easily throughout my life.

Bible Memory: It is important to keep God’s word close to your heart, you grow closer to Christ and become armed with a means to protect yourself from the devil’s schemes

This was reassuring to read, as I realized some of these people were calling to God asking for His guidance and help much like I do. Lately, I have been able to frequently turn to God with my own struggles and put my life in His hands. However, I have not always found it easy to turn to Him during difficult times. After meditating on this passage I noticed how many times the people referred to the Word of God. Not only did this emphasize the importance and need for Scripture but it showed me that the Bible should be my go to no matter what I am feeling. I should turn to Scripture so that I am able to gain new wisdom and knowledge about Christ and my current situations. In the end, it is the Word of God that trains and equips us to do good works as His disciples to glorify

Whenever I hear people say the Bible is "to confusing" to get into or they already put in their time serving God, and want to live their own life, I can't help but feel they fail to see the one simple truth: that if a person remains in God's word, they are free from whatever prison that holds them back.

“If you stay joined to me, and I stay joined to you, then you will produce lots of fruit. But you cannot do anything without me.” John 15:5 (Contemporary English Version Bible)

In the Gospel of John 18-33B-37 Pilot and Jesus are having a conversation. Pilot asks Jesus if he is the King of the Jews. Jesus asks Pilot in return if he asked that question because he thought Jesus was the King of the Jews, or because he was told that. Pilot responds to Jesus and said that he was not a Jew and it was his own people who turned in. Pilot then asks Jesus what he has done to make them turn him in. Jesus answers and tells Pilot that his kingdom does not belong to the people of this world. He continues saying that if it did the people would be defending him instead of turning him in as they had done. Pilot asked Jesus for the second time if he was the King of the Jews. This time

Walking this journey this week has driven me back to probably one of the best known passages of scripture in

Act on the word for it is truth not bondage to the believer. God’s word that is implanted in our heart is liberating to the soul and has the power to save us. We are God’s prized

According to Koessler, abiding in Jesus’ Word will help us produce spiritual fruit. That fruit will be love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The author references John 15:7-8 (NIV) where it explains that this is how our union with Christ is maintained, by the Word. If you abide in me; he had said before, and I in you; here he explains himself, and my words abide in you; for it is in the word that Christ is set before us, and offered to us. It’s apparent that finding the glory of God will create the kind of fruit that’s necessary to being a devout Christ follower. Essentially, it comes down to becoming like Jesus. Spiritual fruit will show itself in our lives as a change in our character

In John 15:1-11, Jesus teaches his followers that if they remain in him they will have experienced spiritual success. Jesus teaches his followers the purpose of their existence on earth and what it is to be spiritually successful through fruit bearing. In Jesus final day of life, he and his disciples walk into a vineyard and he tells his disciples that he is the true vine not a true vine because there is only one true vine and there is no choosing between one (Krell, 2010). When Jesus uses “vine” he is using it to describe Israel, to describe Jesus as a deep blessing. Through this verse Jesus refers back to grape growing, and if someone cares for the grapes, they will produce good fruit. Jesus goes on saying that the “Gardener”, who is the Father, is always connected to his Son which is Jesus, who takes away and cleans all the bad habit so that more fruit can be made. If you are not cleaned you cannot bear fruit and Jesus remind His disciples in 15:3 and 15:4-5 that they have been cleaned so they can bear fruit, so they can let Christ live his life through ours. Through the rest of the verse Jesus keeps on saying that his disciples must let him into their hearts or they will