In John 15, especially verses 15-17, Jesus tells us WHY we must “stay connected to The True Vine”.
Yesterday was chilly, so I built a fire in my woodstove. It was cozy and nice and this morning, hot coals still remained, so I decided to start the fire up again. But, being half-asleep, I forgot to fully open the damper, and smoke poured out of the stove, smoking up the whole house in a matter of minutes! I had made this mistake once before, and then had to wash all walls, windows, and floors, because of the smoke residue sticking to them. : (
I opened the windows and put air cleaners on, but the smoke was so dense it was not clearing out at all. It looked like an early-morning Lake Michigan fog INSIDE my house! Then, I REMEMBERED HIS WORD:
“Jesus! Your Word says in John 15 that
‘IF YOU ABIDE IN ME, and MY WORDS ABIDE IN YOU, YOU SHALL ASK WHAT YOU WILL, and IT SHALL BE DONE FOR YOU!‘ Well, Jesus, I abide IN YOU, and YOUR WORD ABIDES IN ME, and I desire to BEAR LASTING FRUIT TO GLORIFY GOD! So, right now, Jesus, I am STANDING ON THIS WORD YOU HAVE GIVEN ME, and I’m ASKING YOU TO clear this place of this stinky SMOKE, and LET IT LEAVE NO RESIDUE, for I BELIEVE NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU, ALMIGHTY GOD!”
And then I left the room and went into my bedroom in the back part of my house, away from the stove.
When I came back out, the smoke WAS GONE, there was NO HAZE, NO RESIDUE; and the air was now PERFECTLY CLEAR, when less than 2-3 minutes earlier, it had been FILLED with a smoky, stinky haze. Now, it smells like a fresh forest after a spring rain, with just a bit of a flowery-like fragrance that I’ve come to learn is the FRAGRANCE OF YESHUA. (I’ve smelled this before several times, when I’ve asked Jesus to “let me smell the FRAGRANCE OF YOU, instead of molds/chems/cats, etc….)
I pray this testimony BEARS LASTING FRUIT, and spreads like a Roaring Fire, the ever-lasting, ever-powerful, ever-faithful Words of Jesus Christ, that NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD, IF YOU BELIEVE–and, it doesn’t matter if your request is big, small, or in-between! What REALLY matters is that YOU BELIEVE WHAT JESUS HAS SAID AND YOU TRUST HIM TO DO IT, and then USE YOUR TESTIMONY of the Mighty and Miraculous Works of GOD to BEAR LASTING FRUIT THAT GLORIFIES GOD!
The Fire of God clears sticky, stinky residue and cleanses; leaving new freshness, with the sweet-smelling fragrance of the Glory of GOD! Spread His Fire through Holy Spirit IN YOU, and bear lasting FRUIT by continually SHARING YOUR TESTIMONIES, and Glorify GOD!
John 15, Matthew 17:19-21, 21:18-22