📖 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5
There are many things in life we depend on: health, opportunities, skills, relationships, and even seasons of productivity. Yet Jesus offers something deeper, more essential, and far more enduring. He offers life itself. Not improved life. Not enhanced life. Not religious activity.
Life. His life.
This is why I love Him.
Jesus is the Vine. I am a branch. Everything flows from Him.
When He said, “Apart from Me you can do nothing,” He was not exaggerating. He was revealing the secret of fruitfulness, peace, and enduring strength.
1️⃣ I love Jesus because He offers life, not religion. 🌿✨
Religion can be exhausting. It can become a cycle of doing, performing, and striving. But Jesus does not begin with demands. He begins with connection.
He does not say, “Produce fruit for Me.”
He says, “Abide in Me.”
Fruit is not forced; it flows.
Fruit is not manufactured; it is produced by life within.
Fruit is not a burden; it is evidence of intimacy.
Philip Yancey notes that grace dismantles our illusion of self-sufficiency. Eldredge adds that Jesus is not looking for religious performance but living relationship, marked by presence, honesty, and dependence. Sproul reminds us that all true life is grounded in Christ’s finished work.
In my personal life, and throughout my years in ministry and leadership, I have learned again and again that activity can never replace abiding. Whenever I drift into doing without being, I become drained. Whenever I return to quietness with Christ, life begins to flow again.
I love Jesus because He offers life, not religion.
2️⃣ I love Jesus because He nourishes me daily.💧📖
Branches do not receive nourishment occasionally. They receive it constantly. This is what Jesus means when He says, “Remain in Me.” To remain is to stay close, connected, dependent, listening, surrendered.
In seasons of heavy work or uncertainty, my soul has been nourished through Scripture meditation, unhurried prayer, years of journaling, worship that lifts the heart, quiet walks that help me reflect, and moments of solitude. Jesus does not nourish me from a distance. He nourishes me from within, and His life becomes my life. His strength becomes my strength, and His wisdom becomes my wisdom.
No leadership book, strategy tool, or personal discipline can replace what the Vine gives. Christ Himself is the source of what I need.
I love Jesus because He nourishes me daily.
3️⃣ I love Jesus because He makes fruitfulness possible.🍇🔥
Jesus says, “Apart from Me you can do nothing.”
Not less.
Not even “not much.”
Nothing.
We can be active without Him, but we cannot be fruitful.
We can impress people without Him, but we cannot transform lives.
We can accomplish tasks without Him, but not eternal impact.
Across decades of ministry and professional work, I have seen that true fruitfulness always came when His presence guided decisions, empowered work, and sustained outcomes. When student ministry grew, when mentees flourished, when governance assignments brought clarity, and when difficult transitions opened new doors, the fruit was never the result of my ability. It was the life of Christ flowing through weakness.
I love Jesus because without Him, fruitfulness is impossible, but with Him, nothing is impossible.
4️⃣ I love Jesus because He prunes me for greater fruit. ✂️🌿
Pruning removes:
Pruning is not punishment. It is love. Jesus says, “Every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”
• distractions
• unhealthy attachments
• pride
• idols
• habits that drain life
• opportunities that are not His will
• even good things that interfere with abiding
Looking back, there were seasons when God pruned my life, whether through transitions, endings, slowed seasons, or unexpected redirections. At the time they felt uncomfortable, but later I saw they were necessary. Pruning prepared me for deeper abiding and greater fruitfulness.
I love Jesus because He loves me enough to prune me.
My Worship Response. 🎶🙌
The hymn for today is “Abide With Me,” a tender prayer that echoes the heartbeat of John 15. It pleads for Christ’s nearness in every passing hour and celebrates the grace that alone can withstand the pull of temptation. “Goodness of God” reminds me that His mercy has pursued me all my life, and every breath is evidence of His faithfulness. “Mwanzo Na Mwisho” lifts my eyes to the One who is the Beginning and the End, the steady center who anchors my abiding.
This has been my story. I need His life. I need His presence. I need His sustaining grace. And the more I abide, the more I love Him.
Reason # 5 Why I Love Jesus:
✨ He is my source of life
My nourishment, my strength, my fruitfulness, and my daily sustaining power.
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