Vines and friends…

 Vines and friends…

Yesterday was John 14, today-John 15,

Remain, remain..11 times repeated in the NIV version…or abide in ESV…

I like that word “abide”…it sounds much more personal…synonyms of abide-wait, hang around, tarry, linger, remain, dawdle, outstay, stay, dwell, stick around, await, hang on, loiter, overstay, dally….

Just picturing being around your very bestest friend…all those words fit…and Jesus wants to be that bestest friend…He wants to share what his father has made known to him…to the point of giving us the Holy Spirit…what a gift of friendship….that connection of the vine and the branches, even the pruning when we need it…a bestest friend…

 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 

Remain in me, as I also remain in you. 

No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 

“I am the vine; you are the branches. 

If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. 

Now remain in my love. 

If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. 

Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 

This is my command: Love each other. 

Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. 

“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. 

And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.

John.15.1,John.15.4-5,John.15.9-10,John.15.15,John.15.17,John.15.23,John.15.26-27

 As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. 

If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 

And this is what he promised us—eternal life. 

As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. 

But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.

1John.2.24,1John.2.25,27

 I am a friend to all who fear you,to all who follow your precepts. The earth is filled with your love, Lord;teach me your decrees.

Ps.119.63-6

Thank YOU for the connections that only you can make….

Friends…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MmvYxgUZqc