John 15

I'm sure everyone's heard of this chapter, it's the one that talks about 'the vine and the branches.'  One of my favorite verses in the chapter, it's actually the background on my iPhone, is John 15:5....

"I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."

'Apart from me you can do nothing', you know how many times every week I try to do things completely on my own, not even thinking about thanking God or asking him to help?  Way too many, I need this verse to remind me that I can't do things on my own, because when I often try it doesn't work out well and when it does work out, God needs to be thanked.

I remember a month ago how much this verse helped me, after about 6 hours or so of walking around and pushing/pulling heavy objects and contraptions with at least 60lbs+ on your back, you get so tired and I realized especially during times like those how much I needed God's help.  That part of the verse, 'Apart from me you can do nothing,' would ring in my mind and I'd think to myself, I can't do this on my own anymore, this isn't just a 6 mile run, this sucks, I feel like my spine is gonna snap, Father God guide my footsteps, give me strength, I can't do this by my own strength.... apart from You I can do nothing, and guide me now!

What does God want from us when we draw close to Him, relying solely on Him and not ourselves.  Verse 8 states, "This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."  Dang, when we draw close to God we bear good fruit, people see that, are blessed by it and we reflect God to them.  This makes me think of an awesome quote that goes something like... "You may be the only Bible some person ever reads!"  That hits me hard, because I know often times I don't reflect the Bible perfectly at all in my actions, and you never know when your actions may draw someone closer or push them away from God.

I gotta start putting more of these up, every other day or so, devotional accountability, no excuses for me getting 'too busy' aka lazy this week, sorry about that.

God bless, Joshua 1:9