September 27, 2023 – Experience Joy Through Surrender
John 15:4-5
Sermon: 2488 How to Have Fullness of Joy, Part 2
Pray Over This
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
John 15:4-5
Ponder This
A branch exists for one reason: the vine. It makes a full surrender to the vine. You say, “But, Pastor, I’ve got a family; I’ve got a job; I’ve got this; and I’ve got that. How can I just have one issue?” Well, you must totally, completely abide in the vine. If you don’t do that, you’re not going to have joy. And how do you abide? Full surrender. Have you ever made a full surrender?
Imagine a human being could have a conversation with a branch. The branch would say to the human being, “Now, you human beings think you’re so intelligent, but you always seem frustrated to me, rushing around, knocking things over; no rest, no peace.” And the man says to the branch, “Well, you seem to have peace. How do you do it?” He says, “I’ve reduced all my concerns to one and that is to abide in the vine. And once I do that, worry has to go. When summertime comes and I need a drink of water, I don’t worry about where it comes from. That’s the vine’s business. I abide in the vine, and the vine puts his roots down into the soil and brings up that moisture for my wilted leaves. And then in springtime when I need buds, I don’t worry about where those buds are going to come from. I abide in the vine. And when the time of vintage and harvest comes, I don’t worry about the grapes: how big, how few, how sweet. It’s none of my business. I don’t produce the fruit.” You will have joy when you abide in the vine.
- What does it look like to abide in Jesus?
- How has abiding in Jesus impacted your life?
Practice This
Through prayer, surrender anything you have been wrestling with to God and abide in Him.
For more from Love Worth Finding and Pastor Adrian Rogers, please visit www.lwf.org.
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