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LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, April 15, 2021

When we first purchased our current house, my wife and I discovered a tree along the edge of the woods on the back of our yard. It stood out from the rest because it had blossoms on it. We wondered what it was. Then, weeks, later, we noticed fruit where the blossoms had been. They were apples. There were only a few, but we now knew that this was an apple tree because of the fruit it bore. It had always been an apple tree, but it wasn’t identifiable to us until after we saw the fruit.

John 15:8  “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”

Here’s an obvious question. “How identifiable are you as a disciple of Jesus Christ?”

Jesus said that we will be known as His disciples by the fruit that is visible.

What fruit?

Good question. It all goes back to what Jesus said in the previous chapter as He discussed being one with the Father. Jesus told His disciples that the Father is in the Son and the Son is in the Father. As a result, work was done to the glory of the Father. Then Jesus told His disciples that while He is in the Father He would be in them (us too.)  Therefore. even more work would be done to the glory of the Father. The fruit that we are to bear because we are in Christ and Christ is in us is this: the character of Jesus will be visible in us, bringing glory to the Father.

Jesus tells us in John 15 what the fruit looks like when we abide in Him.

• We will have a fruitful prayer life, constantly experiencing God’s answers because we are asking according to the life of Jesus in us. (vs. 7)
• We will abide in the love of Jesus, and find it easy to obey His commands. (vs. 9-10)
• We will be filled with joy. (vs. 11)
• We will love each other in the same way that Jesus loves us, even to the point of sacrificing our life for others. (vs. 12-13)
• We will enjoy a friendship relationship with Jesus. (vs. 14)
• We will be assured of our identity as chosen people of God. (vs. 16)

When we are in Christ, and Christ in us, we will bear fruit as Jesus described. The question remains, “How visible is your fruit?”

Pastor John