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  JESUS IS THE VINE
  by Andrew Murray
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Summary: Andrew Murray emphasizes the importance of abiding in Christ to
experience a fuller and deeper relationship with Him, addressing common
feelings of disappointment among believers.

Topics: "Abiding in Christ", "Maintaining Relationship with God"
Scripture References: Psalm 37:4, Matthew 6:33, John 15:5, John 15:7, Romans 12:2, Philippians 4:13, Colossians 3:2, Hebrews 10:24-25, James 4:8, 1 John 2:6

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DESCRIPTION
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Andrew Murray emphasizes the importance of abiding in Christ, reflecting
on the initial joy and blessings experienced upon coming to Jesus, yet
acknowledging the disappointment that can arise when that joy fades over
time. He encourages believers to maintain a constant contact with
Christ, as Jesus' own life was marked by regular communion with God.
Murray highlights that this relationship requires intentionality and
effort, urging Christians to arrange their lives in a way that keeps
them connected to Jesus daily.

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CONTENT
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You doubtless have never repented having come at His call. You
experienced that His word was truth; all His promises He fulfilled; He
made you partakers of the blessings and the joy of His love. Was not His
welcome most hearty, His pardon full and free, His love most sweet and
precious? You more than once, at your first coming to Him, had reason to
say, "The half was not told me."

And yet you have had to complain of disappointment: as time went on,
your expectations were not realized. The blessings you once enjoyed were
lost; the love and joy of your first meeting with your Savior, instead
of deepening, have been faint and feeble. And often you have wondered
what the reason could be, that with such a Savior, so mighty and so
loving, your experience of salvation should not have been a fuller one
(Abide in Christ, p. 11).

The New Testament scholar William Barclay reminds us that abiding is a
relationship in which we have "constant contact" with Christ. He writes:

The secret of the life of Jesus was his contact with God; again and
again he withdrew into a solitary place to meet him. We must keep
contact with Jesus. We cannot do that unless we deliberately take steps
to do it. . . For most us us, it will mean a constant contact with him.
It will mean arranging life, arranging prayer, arranging silence in such
a way that there is never a day when we give ourselves a chance to
forget him.

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Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/andrew-murray/jesus-is-the-vine/
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