DEVOTION / How to live an empowered life

Remain in me, and I am going to remain in you. A branch cannot bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine (Jesus, John 15:4).

How can we Christians power our way through life's challenges, losses, and disappointments?

Remain in Jesus

Jesus' answer is, "Remain in me, and I am going to remain in you."

Imagine being plugged into the power of infinite God. This God "is able, according to the power that is at work within us, to do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine" (Ephesians 3:20, EHV). God's limitless power means that whatever we ask him to do, he can do. Whatever we imagine he might do for us, he can do. Better yet, he can do infinitely more than anything we ask him or than we could ever dream up to ask him.

And, don’t miss this, God’s infinite power "is at work within us."

Jesus builds on that promise in John 15. "Remain in me, and I am going to remain in you."

The Greek word translated "remain" can also be translated as abide or live in, stay connected to or plugged in to. Jesus' promise is, as we continue to live lives immersed in him, he lives along with all his power in us.

Remain in God’s Word

And how do we stay plugged into Jesus? We stay connected to his Word. "Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through the word of Christ" (Romans 10:17 EHV).

Jesus illustrates his promise with this picture: A branch with a cluster of young grapes cannot bring its fruit to maturity without staying connected to its vine. A grape branch cut off from its vine can only die. In the same way, if we Christians are to enjoy fully empowered lives. we must draw our spiritual life from Jesus by remaining in his Word.

Remain in Jesus because he remained

Jesus gives us the ultimate reason for wanting to remain in him. He remained on Earth until his perfection replaced all our imperfections. He remained on the cross until every sin in our lives was completely paid for. He remained in his tomb until the moment came when he proved that death could not defeat him and it cannot now defeat us.