John 15:16 (NIV)
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last.
Today's devotion tells us that a "true Christian remains in Jesus, and has an intimate relationship with Him." Jesus told us that He is the vine and the Father is the gardner. He wants us to be fruitful. How? Jesus said: "Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."
Are you bearing fruit or are you busy with preoccupations and other priorities that fill up your life -- giving no room for God to work in and through you? Truly, the most fruitful believers are those who have been pruned over and over by God and whose strength and life source is from our Savior!
YESTERDAY'S SONIC WINNER IS:
CARA COX
Cara, thank you for sharing from your heart. I'm so excited to see that you're sold out to sharing God's love to everyone that you meet. You are in my prayers, in all our prayers -- may God be glorified, honored and exalted in your daily walk with Him.
Are you ready to fully trust God with your entire life?
Are you ready to fully follow His commands?
John 15:12-14
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.
I found this picture and made me think of love -- loving friends. It also reminded me of our special guests at church tomorrow: The Children of the World. I can't wait to worship with these precious children who come to us from all over the world.
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I want to thank Jenny once again for sharing her testimony with you yesterday on the blog. We are all going to have many scheduled opportunities to share our faith with others during our entire trip. I agree with Jenny when she shared that we need to share how we felt before knowing Jesus, what made us want and feel that we needed His salvation, and what has happened since accepting Jesus as Savior and Lord.
Here's my testimony:
My childhood days were spent playing with school friends, doing homework, chores, and Sunday drives with my family. You can say that I had a "typical" childhood. Both my parents used to be "church-goers," but like many other people, something happened that turned them away from the church at an early age.
My first encounter with God was in the sixth grade through friends of my parents. They wanted to pick me up and take me with them to church. Like Jenny, I too began attending church by going on a church bus. These friends drove one of the church buses on Sunday mornings and picked up children as well as entire families and took them to church.
My first Sunday was exciting! I was greeted by the other passengers on the bus, escorted to my Bible study class with other kids my age, welcomed by other kids my age, and greeted by others in the morning service. I'll never forget this day because people showed kindness, compassion and love toward me.
Weeks passed, and I soon became aware of the person Jesus Christ and my need for forgiveness for my sin nature. Through reading the Bible, and my new friends sharing scripture with me, I soon realized that: "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" and that "the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord." I discovered that God loved me so much that He gave His one and only Son so that I would not perish, but could have eternal life through faith in Him. Within a month I knew what I must do: admit that I am a sinner, ask for forgiveness, and confess Jesus as Lord for He is the way, the truth, and the life and no one comes to the Father but through Him. I did just that, and my life changed forever on that day because I felt a love from God that filled me like nothing else in my entire life.
As I began my life with God, I wanted to know more about Him. So, I not only got involved with my local church through Bible study and worship, but I spent time daily in God's Word and through prayer. As I grew older, I became more and more open to allow God to work in and through me. Jesus said that "I came so they can have eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of." I cannot imagine my life without Him!
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TODAY'S SONIC QUESTION OF THE DAY:
The verses that we read today are so powerful; so much the Savior is saying to us.
Please write down one of the verses from our devotional that was so meaningful to you today.
Christ living in me,
Ken
"I no longer call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master does. But I call you friends because all thing which I have heard from my Father I have made know to you."
- John 15:15
--Cara Cox :)
PS
5 DAYS TIL SCOTLAND!!!
Hey dad,
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener."
John 15:1
Hannah M.
By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. (keep my commandments) John 15:8,9
"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last."
John 15:16