John 15:1 I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman. (4) Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. (5) I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.
The real abiding depends upon a clear vision, a clear seeing, that you are a branch. Once you see that you are a branch, it will be difficult for you to stay away from the vine. You will want to remain in the vine. This remaining is the abiding... We need to pray, "Lord, show me clearly that I am one of the branches." I believe that one day the Lord will show you. You will see that you are one of the branches and you will say, "Praise the Lord, I am one of the branches." Then you will abide in Him. As long as you abide in Him, He will abide in you. His abiding in us depends upon our abiding in Him. Our abiding is the condition of His abiding, but His abiding in us is not a condition of our abiding in Him. Nothing is conditional with Him, but with us, because we are so fluctuating, there is the need of a condition. If we do not abide in Him, there is no way for Him to abide in us. Although He does not change, we have many changes. We may abide in Him today and run away from Him tomorrow. Therefore, His abiding in us depends upon our abiding in Him. [This is in relation to our daily experience and enjoyment of His presence. Even though we know that once we have received Him, He will never leave us.]
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-Study of John, pp. 403. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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