What Are You Giving Birth To?

One of my favorite Scriptures is John 15. On Day 12 of DWG, my takeaway from this scripture is GIVE BIRTH.

Jesus calls us to bear fruit, to birth something lasting for Christ. But, there's a condition: we have to remain in Him and remain in His love.

I found it interesting that the words "remain in me" and "remain in my love" appear 8 times in this passage from verse 1 to verse 10. And in verse 11, Jesus says, "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete."

The number 8, according to Biblical number symbolism, means resurrection and new beginnings. Something is complete and a new thing has begun. Something is cut off or pruned so that more fruit can be borne.

When our joy is in Jesus and it is complete, and we want nothing else but Him, it is in that place that we can bear fruit, not for ourselves, but for Him.

But, for our joy to be in Him, we need to remain in Him and in His love. This is so important that He needed to repeat it eight times.

How do we remain in Him? By being present in our relationship with Him. By finding joy in Him. By having unbroken fellowship with Him. By allowing Him to influence who we are and what we do and exerting His power in us.

Jesus says that if we keep His commands, we will remain in His love. To obey Him is to love Him.

If we want to be used by Jesus, to fulfill His plans and purpose for us, to make an impact and change the world for Him, to give birth to His dreams for our lives, to bear fruit (internal and external) that lasts, then we need to remain in Him.

Apart from Jesus, we can do nothing. A branch is useless without the vine!