How to stay connected to the vine

Messages for July 2018: Our Month of Excellence

Message for Sunday 22^nd July, 2018

Theme: Understanding the Benefits of Discipleship

Topic: How to stay connected to the vine

Introduction: Since this month began, we have been looking at how to stay connected to the vine. Last week, we identified the vine as the Lord, the Vine dresser as the Father and the disciples as the branches. We established that staying connected to the vine is the hallmark of a true disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ or else we would be fruitless.

To ensure that we bear fruit therefore, we have to stay connected to the vine because that is the only demand for us to bear fruit to God as the Lord teaches us in Jn.15:1-5. We can stay connected by continuing in the word of God; this should be done daily [Jn.8:29-31].

The following are therefore some habits that would help us stay connected to the vine:

1.     Doing the word of God in our daily living: By this I mean that every decision we make daily, is based on our convictions from the word of God. If we live this way, we would be living by faith and therefore pleasing God. If we refuse to live this way, we would he walking in the flesh and therefore displeasing God because without faith, it is impossible to please Him. The truth is that when we walk in the Spirit, we walk in the word of God and therefore in faith [Rm.8:1, 5, 8-9]. This is how to live to please God otherwise we would be doing our own things and walking in the flesh pretending to walk in the spirit. This is why spiritual maturity is measured by being led by the Holy Spirit. See Rm.8:14-16 – that you are walking in the spirit is proven by your walking fear free.  

To be able to do the word, we need to:

a.     Read the word daily to feed our spirits to grow spiritually: we are taught to desire the word of God as we desire food. This is so apt because just as food is needed by the body to live on earth, the word of God is needed by our spirits to walk in the spirit on earth. 1Pet.2:2

b.     Meditate on the word or God to enable us process it within us until it hatches understanding to enable us to have faith to do the word of God. This is because the application of the word to our individual life requires faith and the level of faith we can walk in is dependent on the level of understanding we have of the word of God. See Rm.10:17; Jos.1:8 and Col.1:9-10

c.      Give the word of God first place in your life: When we prioritize giving the word of God first place in our lives, it enables us to put it to practice. In other words, we get to do it. It is the word you do that is the spiritual seed you sow. The more of the word of God we do, the more we are blessed because it is the doer of the word that is blessed and not just the hearer. In summation here, it is the doing of the word of God that is walking in the spirit. This is what it means to have faith because the proof of your faith in God is your action in obedience to God’s word. See James 1:22-25; 1Tim.4:13-15 and Mt.7:24-27

2.     Observing quiet times before the Lord: These are times we separate to pray and hear from the Lord. In Habakkuk 2:1-2 the prophet talked about setting aside a time to hear and speak back to the Lord and even receive instructions to write what he hears the Lord say preceding its accomplishment. Quiet times can be observed daily first thing in the morning and last thing at night. The one we observe in the morning gives us the opportunity to enjoy divine guidance which sets the pace for the day and the one at night helps us to know how and why we should live for the Lord that day. The one we observe at night gives us the opportunity to assess ourselves and see how well we have done in relation to God’s plans and purposes to us in particular and to our group if we have leadership responsibility over any group. This is a sure way to stay on course and walk in the spirit. It will make us true followers of the Lord Jesus Christ because he used to awake a great while before day and sought a solitary place to pray. This enabled him to keep his spiritual battery always charged. This habit will guarantee that we abide in the Lord and His word would abide in us and we can bear fruit and be His disciples indeed. We would thus enjoy consistent answers to prayers. See Jn.15:7-8; Mk.1:35 and Gal.5:16.

3.     Observing the Holy Communion mystery: When Jesus Christ was about to finish His earthly ministry, He instituted the Holy Communion mystery and instructed the Church to observe it often in remembrance of Him. The early Church took the Holy Communion daily and it showed. See Mt.26:26-29; Mk.14:22-25; Lk.22:14-20; Acts 2:46-47 and 1Cor.11:17-34. This mystery was not really new even though this was the only one that referred to the cup as the blood of Jesus Christ and the bread as His body. In Genesis 14:18-20, Melchizedek served Abraham bread and wine as the priest of the Most High God and received tithes from Abraham and blessed him. Since we were not told more there, we can only infer that as priest, he performed in his priestly office serving bread and wine and then received the tithes. The book of Proverbs in Chapter 9:4-6 refers to wisdom’s invitation to take of His bread and wine. I believe that that is a fore shadow of the Holy Communion mystery. In Exodus 12 where the first instruction about slaying a spotless lamb and using its blood for sprinkling to protect the children of Israel from the destroyer’s plague, we see a fore shadow of the Lord’s Calvary’s experience there and it turns out that the communion table helps us to put in remembrance all that the Lord has done for us in redemption so that we can be effective as we put on this helmet of salvation which is the hope of our redemption. See Eph. 6:17 and 1Thess.5:8.  When we eat His flesh and drink His blood, we abide in Him thereby. See John 6: 56.

4.     Finally, be responsible: Take up your Cross daily and follow the Lord; not lead Him. The Cross each of us need to take up are not necessarily the same for each man but the principle of responsibility weaves through them all. We determine what our responsibility is from the Lord when we wait on Him and whatever He tells us to do, we do and as we do His word, His blessing will be visible in our lives. This is why we have diversity of gifts and other responsibilities. If we all live this way in the body of Christ, there would be no strife. People will not compare themselves with themselves demonstrating foolishness. See 2Cor.10:12; 1Cor.12 and Rm.12:3-10  

We shall draw the curtain on today’s message for now and by God’s grace, next week, we shall continue looking at the last of this theme for the month of excellence. Meanwhile, for anyone reading this blog who is yet to become one of His and so desires, please you can take advantage of this opportunity by saying the following prayer out loud in faith and you will be born again:

Heavenly Father,

Have mercy on me a sinner. Today, I believe that Jesus died for me and you raised Him from the dead for my Justification. I therefore declare that Jesus Christ is my Saviour and Lord and from today, I renounce the fatherhood of Satan and embrace Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord. Thank you for this father in Jesus’ name! Amen.

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