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.
There is More
There are plenty of things we can see: trees, stars, mountains, oceans, people, penguins, our best friend's smile, elephants, skyscrapers, coffee beans, sunsets, and tulips, to name a few.
God created all those things. He made the natural world, as well as the laws that govern it.
But there are also things we cannot see: behind the breath of the wind, beyond the depths of the universe, beneath the foundations of love. Through Christ, all things were created—in heaven and on earth, both visible and invisible (Colossians 1:16).
And while our mortal eyes might not be able to see the wind or infrared light or the Spirit of God, we still experience their effects. Because there’s more than what meets the eye. There’s more beyond this life.
Paul’s friends, the Corinthians, were experiencing great hardship. They were being hunted and persecuted because of what they believed about Jesus—that He was the long-awaited Messiah. Some were even facing death. But Paul encouraged them to ...