Church Of The Lost Sheep

“If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. In this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be My disciples.” -Jesus of Nazareth, speaking to His disciples, 1st century John 15:7-8 in The Tree of Life Version [This is the 5th and last lesson in this short  series ] Finally living the fruitful life involves abiding (remaining) in God's Word.  God's word is the bible. And in the bible, it is written that the Word who was made flesh is Christ Jesus, born of the virgin, in Bethlehem, came out of Egypt, grew up in Nazareth, suffered and died for our sins, and He rose again. God's word created the heavens and the earth. God's word has power. God's word is eternal. God's word will not return void. God's word is Love. God's word is God. When Christians abide in the word it means they meditate on the word and the word permeates their hearts and minds. The result is a change f...

“Just as the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you. Abide in My love! If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love." -Jesus of Nazareth, speaking to His disciples, 1st century John 15:9-10 in The Tree of Life Version [This is the 4th lesson in this  series ] In the previous lesson , we have talked about why we need to abide in Christ. Abiding in (or remaining with) Christ also involves abiding in His love. Love Begets Love God is love. The Father loves the Son. And the Son loves us. We love them and others. This is what it means to remain in God's love. The ones we love, we keep their commands. And it's not that God's commands are complicated. They aren't. We have talked about them multiple times. It is embedded in the excerpt above and it's essence. God's commands are not even commands, they are merely natural offshoots of His love (like a new branch sprouting out...

"Abide in Me, and I will abide in you. The branch cannot itself produce fruit, unless it abides on the vine. Likewise, you cannot produce fruit unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for apart from Me, you can do nothing." -Jesus of Nazareth, speaking to His disciples, 1st century John 15:4-5 in The Tree of Life Version [This is the 3rd lesson in this  series ] Jesus spoke in parables (everyday stories) and He normally compares and contrasts familiar or everyday things (earthly things) to heavenly things. He is the One who came from heaven, all others only speak of things they know about. He talks of things He has first hand knowledge of. But He has to say it a way that we can understand. New Life We have already mentioned in the previous lesson that our new life in Christ is meant to be a fruitful one. Jesus was illustrating that just as a branch is able to bear fruit, believers can to...

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.   Genesis 1:28 [This is the 2nd lesson in this  series ] In the Jewish Scriptures , it is written that a handful of times the God of Creation has told specific people to be fruitful . In the excerpt we read above, God was speaking to Adam and Eve. The other notable times God has said this was to Noah and his sons when they were restarting their new life, and to Jacob when He renamed Him Israel. For God, a new life means a fruitful life. New Life in Christ God through Christ gave us new life and in the same way, He is also telling us to be fruitful. But He is not merely speaking about tangible fruit but also about having Spiritual Fruit -- the fruit that lasts. God's gifts are everlasting, they are eternal, as God is eternal. God wants our new life in Christ to bring forth everlasting fruit, here and in heaven. Christ brought down heaven so we can have a fo...

"You did not choose Me, but I chose you. I selected you so that you would go and produce fruit, and your fruit would remain. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in My name." -Jesus of Nazareth, speaking to His disciples, 1st century Johm 15:16 in The Tree of Life Version [This is the 1st of this series ] The new life in Christ is a fruitful life. He chose us so that we will bear fruit. The challenge for us now is how to live this fruitful life. There are trees and vines which bear fruit. And there are those which do not. They may look the same but they serve different purposes. Selected God has selected us to bear fruit. We have no hand in this. Whether we like it or not, we are fruit bearing. Now vines and trees do not bear fruit the moment they are sown. They do not bear fruit the moment they sprout. And depending on the type of fruit, they do not even bear fruit within a year. Some will even take several years to bear fruit. Due Season It is the same w...