The Source of All
Look around…
Everything’s been masterfully designed: The skies, the trees, the mountains, the oceans. The animals, the people, the seen, and the unseen.
You can breathe because you've been given lungs, oxygen, and an environment that sustains life. You can move because you've been given muscles, tendons, and a brain that instructs your body. You can think, dream, plan, design, create, build—because you've been given the desire, ability, and some raw materials.
So if you want to live a life that matters, a life that leaves an eternal legacy, you must stay connected to the source of life. Jesus said it like this, using an illustration that was familiar to His listeners:
“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”
John 15:4-5 NLT
When Jesus says, “I am the vine,” He’s making a statement. He’s saying that He is the source—that anything that’s made is because of His life-giving power.
So if you long for real truth, for genuine wisdom, or to make a lasting difference in this world, stick close to God—because anything worth being or doing starts with Him.
Every Good Thing We Share
In Philemon 1:6, Paul says, “I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ.”
When Paul writes this to Philemon, he’s not just sending a theological essay. He’s writing a personal letter to a close friend and fellow believer.
Paul is encouraging Philemon not only to embrace the truth of the gospel but to live it out in community. Their “partnership” wasn’t just a casual friendship, it was a mutual commitment to living for Christ, growing in understanding, and making the love of Jesus visible in the way they treated others. In this case, Paul is urging Philemon to welcome back his former servant Onesimus—not as a servant, but as a brother and co-laborer in Christ.
Today, we still need partnerships like this. Following Jesus was never meant to be a solo journey. We grow deeper in our understanding of the gospel when we engage in authentic ...