Day of Prayer – Ang Lingkod Ng Panginoon-Makati

#RemainInGod / January 8, 2022 / via Zoom

John 15:4-5 – Remaining in the Lord in All Circumstances

4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can
you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it
is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Commentary:
The theme for this year is highlighting the call for our total dependence to God. For us to be strengthened in pursuing this
call, it is important to look back to past experiences to appreciate how God moved us and worked in us.

Last year, God called us to seek Him, hope in Him and trust in Him. 2021 quickly passed and we have seen the Lord worked
in our lives. However, there were difficult and painful times which might have greatly challenged us.

We always start the year offering our plans to the Lord in the hope that God will bless us. We aim for success, thinking that
achieving our goals is all there is to it for success. However, sometimes, success can blind us. Victories can sometimes lead
us to focus on the moment, and on our own capacity, forgetting that the source who enables us to achieve these things is the
Lord our God. Therefore, it is important for us to first recognize that we are offering everything to Him because our life
must be with God and for God. Our pursuits in life must be centered on the service of the Lord and the pursuit of being with
Him eternally, because after all, we are created to be with God.

When we set goals, and we didn’t achieve them, it can be disheartening. When we lose our jobs, or even our loved ones, the
pain and difficulty can be unbearable especially when we are not ready. Yet, the Lord remains to be faithful, generous,
merciful, and loving to us, and because of this, we were able to overcome. Even the pains and difficulties have become
catalysts to our growth. God can turn our problems and challenges into blessings because in Him, fruitfulness is assured.
The challenging situations of the past year must have been preparing us for the call to be in total dependence to the Lord
because during challenging times, our dependence to Him is tested.

Remaining in the Lord is not just recognizing that we have a God. Remaining in the Lord is a call to stay faithful in our way
of life and in our perseverance to follow Him. When we remain in the Lord, we are deciding to continue our life as a disciple,
braving on the challenges along the way, and continuing to become a counter-culture community in today’s worldly lifestyle
and society. In other words, remaining in the Lord requires us to stay in the path of righteousness, under the guidance of
His commandments. This will not lead to an easy life. We will still encounter pain, difficulties, challenges, and problems.
Nonetheless, these shall be nothing compared to the fruit and reward waiting for us at the end of the journey, and so we
must continue to become faithful to the way of life and persevere in our faith. Just like how plants and crops are grown with
patience and hard work, we must also be patient and persevering when we abide in the Lord so we can grow and bear fruit.

One of the leaders in the community once said that success is not acquired by achieving a set goal but is measured by the
fruitfulness of one’s work. We may have accomplished so many things, but in the end, if we are not fruitful in doing those
things, then we have simply done a task. We must aim not only to reach our set goals, but also aim to bear fruit in those
things, and fruitfulness can truly be achieved when we are in communion with God.

May we always remain in God, brothers and sisters.

Meditation Points:

1. Recall the Lord’s work in your life in the past year. What are the highlights of your encounter with the Lord?
2. The call to remain in God and in His ways can be challenging. What are your personal challenges in this area?
3. Remember the times when you were not fruitful. What areas in your life are not in communion with God?
4. What can you do to remain faithful to God as you journey as a disciple? How can you help others to remain in God?