Thoughts of Grace

View at the table on the deck.

Good Morning

John 15:1,4,7
I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

Fruit comes from living in God.
It is the result of His life flowing in us,
of our yielding to His power;
not of our trying and struggling to be good.
In the Waldensian Valleys in Italy some of the vines are grown on huge wooden crosses–and in September they are a beautiful sight laden, with grapes. The branches are stretched out on the cross, and so get every drop of rain, every ray of sun. I do not suppose these branches are conscious of he cross, as such as they are of the warmth and life, and joy of fruit-bearing, and is not that a parable of the Christian life?
It explains the joy and peace of the early church, even in persecution. They had utterly given themselves to Another; self was crucified with Christ, and joy and fruitfulness were the result, as it will be with us today, if our lives are hid with Christ in God. ~~S. T. Fraser

Unconditional yielding to the Lord brings us into full unity with Christ to abide in Him, and He in us, and causes us to walk humbly with Him among our fellow men. It places us in sweet fellowship with Him and His. While waiting for His glorious return we are privileged to live on His Life, nourished, fed, strengthened, and constantly filled with His Spirit and presence. Our part is just to give ourselves to Him, fully recognizing our own worthlessness, and ever abide in Him. ~~Selected.

Yield to God. . . Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie