John 15 Study: Abiding In Christ, 2of10, Evans Olang

John 15:3-5, “3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you 4. 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. 5 “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” 

In this vs. Jesus wants His disciples to be reminded of their salvation and He uses the word “already clean”. This cleansing is effected through hearing, believing, and obeying the Word. The Word tells us what to do that we may be cleansed and saved. The word of Christ is spoken to all believers; and there is a cleansing virtue in that Word, as it works grace, and works out corruption. We have been purged from the guilt and power of sin, moved from the wild vine and grafted into the New True Vine.

Those who have repented and trusted in Christ alone for eternal salvation are already clean (made holy); the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, Romans 1:16, Romans 11:16, “For if the first fruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches”.

Seasons Change, God Remains The Same, Evans Olang

Judges 15:18-19, “18 Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the LORD, “You have given your servant this great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” 19 Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived.”, (NIV).

The desire to be victorious in every area is a thirst majority craves for. A desire to let everything run smoothly in one’s life yet we find that there are times you are victorious in one area and a failure in other areas. We are like trees that go through different seasons, the winter, spring, summer and autumn. If you took time to look at trees in these different seasons, you will discover that there is change on how they look. During winter time, their leaves are gone. For someone who may not know may conclude the trees are dead but the truth of the matter is, they are alive and well adjusting to the season in which they find themselves in. Their existence is not dependant on the season, their existence is dependant on the roots that have gone deep underground in search of water and nutrients. So the days they may not look attractive, they still have a way of surviving one season while they wait for the next season.

Uncovered Wells, Pastor Phil Sessa

Genesis 26:18, “And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them”

Have you ever been frustrated that the Gospel that you hear preached is not the Gospel According to Jesus Christ? Have you ever asked yourself, if the Gospel you hold to is the saving, biblical Gospel that Jesus preached? It seems that in our day and age (although it is really not a new thing) the Gospel message has been vastly compromised in pulpits across our country and our world.

The Best Is Yet To Come, Part 3of3, Evans Olang

John 2:1-10, “vs. 10 …but you have saved the best till now.” (NIV)

Vs. 8, “And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it”. Point to make, faith goes with humility. You can only bow when you are humbled. Humility is the act of submission or courtesy, submitting to what the Lord has said over what I might think. The servants had faith to pour water however do you not think they would look stupid giving water to the MC? Could not Jesus tell them to taste it first then give? This could have been a test to see if they would still have faith till the end. It is like first having faith for your miracle then having faith for someone’s miracle.