Do It With God
I have something to confess. It has taken me two decades and counting to learn what it means to be with God. I’m still learning because it is a deep well of relational fullness. As I dive deeper, my life fills to overflowing. It only runs dry when I don’t hold up my end of the relationship and my responsibilities in it.
Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5 NKJV) Branches not attached to the vine cannot produce fruit. If attached to the wrong vine, they might produce, but it won’t be good.
We must watch where we attach ourselves. People will know where our values lie by our actions. Our actions match our roots. Do we gripe about our jobs, family, or friends? Do we spout angry words when things don’t go our way? If we do, and we all have, did any of it help the situation? If you do any of these things and say you abide in Jesus, you need to stop and have a little chat with Him. That includes listening for what He may tell you, even if not immediately.
Once attached, we will mess up. We have a lot to learn from Father God. I’m still learning how deep some of my bad roots go. However, our heart must be like David’s, so we run to God to apologize with our hearts bared and get the help we need. What matters is that we cling to the vine so we get the right food for our heart, mind, and soul. When fed properly, we can produce abundantly.
This leads to another issue. I hear too many people saying they are doing things for God. Well, He doesn’t need us to do anything for Him. He can do anything and everything He needs. It sounds rather prideful if you think about it. It’s like we are tooting our horn while saying, “Look what I did for God.” That never impressed me and rankles me more now that I’m understanding what abiding in Him means.
This abiding is God wanting us to be with Him and Him with us. He will not force us into working with Him. He knocks, but won’t come in unless we open the door. He won’t interrupt our plans if we make them without Him. He will try to get our attention, but if we are not abiding properly, we can miss a lot of opportunities for fruitfulness.
My husband and I have seen a lot of rough patches. It makes us grumble about life or even shout about it. However, when we get the initial gut reaction out of the way, we know we should have let Jesus have the pilot’s seat. So many people say he is a copilot. Nope, He has to be the pilot. You have to work with Him in all things. If you do, miracles happen. If you do, you find an abundant life where you reach the dreams He put in your heart long before He knit you in your mother’s womb.
Life will still be hard. This is a fallen world. I can assure you that having Jesus as your pilot, you won’t go wrong. You will find the help and resources you need to reach your dreams. You will find pleasure even in the hard stuff. You will have a peace deep inside when you know you are on His path so that all you do is with Him.
I wouldn’t be writing what I am if I didn’t allow Him the pilot seat. I would not have a book coming out next month that may be fantasy, but my Christian worldview is there in the story. The stories I write that seem off, I know it is because I did not include Him. Sure, I could probably write well without Him, but what seeds would I be sowing to take root in other people’s lives?
What vine are you grafting into for your roots? It’s hard analyzing yourself and admitting the dark side, but believe me, it’s worth it. Now that I’ve written this, I am sure Jesus will say, “Let’s talk about that (fill in the blank).” I know I have way more layers to peel off to help my grafting to His vine to hit its full abundance.
Picture from Pixabay.
I mentioned a fantasy book in this post. It is called Champions of Light and comes out next month (June 2023). If you enjoy fantasy with runaway royals, overcoming the challenges to become the person you were created to be, and a twist of clean romance you may enjoy this. If you would like to be part of the book’s launch team, you still have time to apply at books.altheadamgaard.com/launchteamapp if you have not done so yet. Thanks to everyone that has signed up for this book’s launch into the wilds.