John 15.7 If you
remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be
done for you. – Jesus
My dog Sophie is a smart dog – she can sit, she can shake, she can, Lay down;
she can, C’mon! She likes to, Go? And she loves her evening walks. She’s
a good dog but she has her moments. If she doesn’t want to do something, she acts
as if she’s gone deaf. If she really doesn’t want to do something she gets
under one of the end-tables in the living room and sulks, averting your gaze.
Sophie is a lot like me.
At the end of His earthly mission Jesus gathered His men
and told them: Remain in me, as I also
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. He was telling them to
stick around and to keep in constant contact with Him. No wandering off; no
going it alone.
Then He said, “If
you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will
be done for you.” That’s a big statement. It wasn’t a blank check, but it
was a promise: If you remain in me and my
words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
Remain. I can’t teach my dog that – she has to want to. Jesus can’t teach us
that either – we have to want it.
Remaining in
Jesus is a choice, a commitment. One has to make up one’s mind that remaining
is what is going to be done – then done. And when we remain in Him, our lives
begin to lose the clinginess that is the world, and we start to become more
heavenly. We become so heavenly minded that we’re of no earthly good. We love
God to the point that we do whatever we want because of that love.
And we ask Jesus for things out of that heavenly
mindedness and guess what? He grants.
But it all begins with, Remain. It begins with eager submission and ends with resolute obedience.
And it takes practice, practice, practice. It takes getting out into the world.
It also takes being quiet in prayer. But it takes a constant awareness of Jesus
and what it is He desires for us in any given moment. And then when we’re attuned
– to Him, we ask whatever we wish because our wishes have become His wishes.
His wishes are the best!
Jesus isn’t about to start circumventing free-will, but
He does know hearts, and He leads us to hearts that are needy. He knows
conversations with others and building relationships with them, is how the good
news – the really good news – begins to penetrate their needy hearts and bring
about change. But it starts with one remaining in Him.
Today, is yet another day of remaining in Him; although,
like Sophie, I’m sure it will have its moments…
Lord, may I
continue to learn to remain in You. Apart from You I can do nothing. May I
learn to let go and let You. May I learn, lead, and love. May I become so You-minded
that I am of no self-good. Thank You for grace. Thank You for Your promise.
Draw me close to You. Amen
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