Remain in Me
(Jn.15:5-8)

The will of God to us is that our soul is blessed and everything goes well so that we can be filled with joy all the times. However, our life has ups and downs frequently even we are happy. Today’s scripture reading has a parable to the grape vine and its fruit.

1. Life remaining in the Lord
To have a fruitful life to please God and be filled with the happiness, we should remain in the Lord. (Jn.15:4-5) To have fruits, the branch should remain in the vine. Likewise, we cannot produce fruits without remaining in the Lord. Therefore, we should be in the Lord with meditating the Word of God and being closer to the Lord so as to communicate constantly in any circumstances thereby having joyful life.

2. Life yielding fruit
The reason God chose us is to receive glory from our fruits. (Jn. 15:8) To give glory to the Lord, we should have fruits through repentance. (Mt. 3:8) A farmer cuts off every branch that bears no fruit because of obtaining better fruits. Likewise, we should get rid of some obstacles to hinder us from resembling Jesus. (Jn. 15:2) The real repentance eradicates sins and redirects us to have meaningful fruits fit with true repentance. Furthermore, we should bear many fruits such as the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal.5:22-23), of words (Prov.18:21), of light (Eph.5:8-9), of prayers and thanksgiving.

3. Life abiding in Love
To give glory to the Lord by our fruits, we should remain in love. Jesus says us, "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.”(Jn. 15:9) Jesus loved us so much enough to be sacrificed on the cross. (Jn. 15:13) . Only love can be solutions in the world where many people suffer from being deficient in love. We should love each other with the same love that Jesus showed to save us by being dead on the cross. (1 Jn.4:10-11). By doing so, the love of Jesus will remain us and we remain in him, As a result, the love of Jesus will be achieved perfectly in us.