TWO
BEGIN
Pray to experience joy in Christ through our theme verse:
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)
Review the memory verse for the week:
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. (John 15:11)
READ
Read and meditate on this passage today: John 15:1-17.
Look for what you learn about Christ and listen for what the Spirit is saying to you through the Word of God. How is Jesus like the vine, and how are we like branches? Meditate on this image and ask God to reveal its meaning to you.
John 15:1–17
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 “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. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
Go back and focus on John 15:11. What do you learn about joy from this passage? How does the image of the vine and the branches give insight into how to experience joy in Christ? What do you think it means to have Christ’s joy in you?
PRAY
As the Spirit leads, let these themes guide you in your prayer today:
- Praise God that you can be in Christ, like a branch in a vine.
- Ask God to confirm to you how you should fast for these 21 days.
- Ask him who you should invite to be your prayer partner for the 21 days.
- Pray that you will remain in Christ’s love by obeying his commands.
- Pray that Christ’s joy will be in you and that your joy will be complete.
JOURNAL
What are you learning as you seek to experience joy in Christ?
What do you sense God is saying to you through this passage?
SHARE
Talk with your prayer partner about what you are learning, and how you are growing to experience more joy in Christ. Pray together.
