I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you (John 15:1-7).

Abiding is living in, settling down, dwelling in. It is not “coming in” and “going out.” The Wuest translates abiding as “a living communion.” Jesus is the vine. We are the branches. If you separate the branch from the vine, you break the union. You can lay the branch right next to the vine, but if it is not one with the vine, the life won’t flow into that branch to make it produce fruit.

Rufus Mosely said, “Fruit appears on branches. God has to have branches of the same texture as Himself, the same sap, the same mind, the same spirit, before He can bring forth in fullness what He wants to bring forth.” God has had to wait for a people who will be branches. James 5:7 says “…Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.”

The Amplified Bible says, “So be patient, brethren, [as you wait] till the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits expectantly for the precious harvest from the land. [See how] he keeps up his patient [vigil] over it until it receives the early and late rains.”

Many believers don’t bear fruit. They get born again, but do not abide in Him. There is no living communion—no life flow. Their spiritual lives wither and they become subject to the devil, subject to the enemy. Sickness and disease comes upon them. They do not live like spiritual men, but like natural men.

We are not to get born again and then stop. We are not born again just so God’s house will be full, even though that is important to Him. We are born again to be His special possession in the earth—a group of people who will do anything He tells them to do—who will be obedient. Then He will get His plan finished and the earth will be full of His glory.

Rufus Mosely also said, “All you have to do to keep union is to put Him first and keep your mind stayed on Him. In union and love, you will have everything else. Our only responsibility is the responsibility of the union. If we will give ourselves to the union, He will look after everything else.”

How are we to do this? By His Spirit. Jesus did not expect us to do that in our own power. He expected His Spirit to come and live in us and communicate His words to our spirits. The Spirit of God is in us to bring about that continual living communion with Jesus.

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland