Remaining in the Vine
Every week you can find me writing a post or two on marriage, but I want you to know that here at The Alabaster Jar, this site is more than just a place where you receive godly counsel and encouragement for the married life. I also have a passion for discipleship as well! Perhaps you have noticed this, lately? I refer to these types of posts as ‘Growing in Godliness’. Being that we are Christ-followers, we can always learn more about drawing closer to our Savior, don’t you think?
So here’s the story of where my discipleship heart came from, (of course it came out of pain, much like where most growth comes from)…..When I was 19 years old I heard the Gospel message. I received it with joy, but unfortunately the joy was short lived because I just didn’t understand the Truth. At that time of my life I had no one teaching me and guiding me towards Jesus, and those Kingdom seeds that were sown were easily snatched away by the Enemy.
During the next 7 years I made poor choices, lived a sin-filled life, and denied the existence of God.
But then I heard the Gospel message again and I fully surrendered and gave my heart to Jesus Christ. Yet, I still didn’t know a thing about the Bible and following Jesus, and I still had no one in my life teaching me and guiding me towards Him.
But God being a redeeming God and an all-knowing God, had a great plan for me in all of this because….
He discipled me.
He took my hand and led me to Him.
He put in my heart a hunger and thirst to know Him, and boy did He deliver in teaching this strong-willed daughter of His!
As a new little ewe lamb looking to her Shepherd, He led me to the following verses and the Christian life just seemed to click in my mind and ‘I got it’. I had that ah-ha moment. The moment when the light bulb went on.
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. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:4,5
‘Remain in me, and I will remain in you’ were the words that I tucked into my heart.
And my desire is for you, dear sister, to grow in the Lord and abide in the vine as well, and here’s some ways to help you.
5 Steps to Growing in the Vine
- Stay connected to Christ and He’ll stay connected to you.
- Keep reading your Bible even if you don’t understand what you’ve read.
- Pray for the Lord to show you understanding of His word.
- Have faith. You’ll grow in Him if you keep learning about Him.
- Keep attending church where you’re taught about Him. (I went from church to church to church until I finally found one where they actually taught me the full counsel of God.) Note: if you are not growing spiritually at your church, then find another church! Your spiritual growth is way too important to sacrifice for the sake of your comfort or tradition.
My heart is for all women to be encouraged in their journey of following our precious Savior. I don’t want to see any walk away from the Truth or be confused because they don’t understand the Scriptures. So because of this, just expect more posts to come your way about growing in godliness! But don’t worry, I still have a heart for having a glorious marriage and the marriage posts will continue, because we just need some practical application from time to time for our most important earthly relationship, don’t we?
However, our marriage relationship is not to trump our relationship with Jesus Christ; we need to constantly nurture it and nourish it so it can grow because apart from Him you can do nothing. The cultivating of this relationship is key to the Christian life. Your fruits will start to blossom, fellow daughter of the Most High God, and when they do, it will spill over into all other aspects of your life.
Now before I leave you there are two very important subjects that the Lord is leading me to write a series on, because you can’t write just one blog post on such deep topics! I’m looking for your feedback and thoughts on which one you’d like me to start with.
Here are the two topics:
- The Holy Spirit (gulp!) and along these lines would be learning what your spiritual gifts are as well.
- Obtaining wisdom.
I can’t wait to hear your thoughts as well as finding out where the Lord leads us!
Live a poured out life for Christ,
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Jolene,
I really love reading your blog! It has blessed me tremendously!! You have two great topics coming up so it’s hard to choose. The Lord has been working on me regarding both of your upcoming topics so which ever order is a win win for me.
God Bless,
KW
KW,
Your comment blessed my heart! May the Lord be glorified here. Thanks for responding and sharing your heart. It helps!
both!
🙂
Hi Jolene,
Both topics will be a blessing. The Holy Spirit topic will probably entail a lot but more specifically I know that some women do not know what their spiritual gifts are. They are probably serving in an area out of obligation and as you know there is no better place to be but serving the Lord using your spiritual gifts! I think you should start with that one. Love your blog and the wisdom that the Lord has given you!
In Him,
Brook
Thanks for the encouragement, sweet friend! Yes, the Holy Spirit topic will be a much longer series over the wisdom one. Thanks for taking the time to give me your feedback. I appreciate it!
I will enjoy both topics.
Thanks for letting me know, Denise.
Hi Jolene,
I am new to your place! I think that both would be excellent. I feel I know my gifts but I think deeper understanding can always be gained and applied, and one cannot have enough wisdom.
Well, Modern Day Disciple, welcome!
Thanks for taking the time to let me know what you’d like to hear about. It helps me!
Great steps! So simple but true… they will keep us growing in the vine! Both series would be good… do one then do the other 🙂 blessings~ stopping by from OYHT
This is the first time I read your post, your title caught my eye on Faith Filled Fridays, because I often ponder what it means to abide in Jesus. Great post, very encouraging! I posted my testimony today and what an encounter with the breath of God, his Holy Spirit does to you. I saw you are planning to post on the Holy Spirit, so I thought I would share my link with ya 🙂 http://seasontheday.blogspot.com/2012/06/i-used-to-fear.html
Looking forward to reading more great posts by you!
I enjoyed reading your post, Jolene. My spiritual gift is encouragement and that’s the main focus of my blog. I look forward to reading more of your posts.
We just never keep growing, do we? I’ve found I need your five steps more now than ever. I’d vote for wisdom, although I hope you do the other one, too. I’ve been praying for more wisdom daily.
Hi Pamela, thanks for sharing your heart! Oh, I so love the topic of wisdom!! You can never have too much of it either! I will be doing both topics but after the Lord’s prompting, I’ll be starting with the Holy Spirit and then move into wisdom.