Rev. Ray and Pat Amos
John 15:4
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, January 9, 2026
“Live in me, and I will live in you. A branch cannot produce any fruit by itself. It has to stay attached to the vine.
I have watched a limb in a tall oak tree for several months now. It broke sometime during summer and is clinging to the tree by its bark. The leaves on it are dead. I always considered the winter’s fallen leaves as dead, but the difference between the leaves dancing with the wind on the ground and the drooping cluster on the broken limb demands that I rethink this.
Living leaves do not just fall off the tree, they seem to jump off with joy for a job well done, a purpose fulfilled. It takes life in the tree branch to set these little skydivers free. When they land the wind sets them to skipping and swirling on the ground. The ones on the broken limb just hang there in a wilted slump.
All the leaves are from the same tree, the difference in them is in one thing: The dead ones were on a branch that had lost its connection to the source of life. They never got to fulfill their purpose.
Child of God we must be careful, that could happen to anyone of us if we do not guard our heart and stay connected to Christ. Jesus saved us by grace so that we could share in His work of Discipleship. We do not want to die on the vine and shrivel up as Christians. To be able to come to the end of the way knowing that we have finished the work God gave us to do is a blessing beyond words. Then even death will be Life with Jesus.
“With your final heartbeat,
Kiss the world goodbye.
Then go in peace and laugh on Glory’s side.
And fly to Jesus,
Fly to Jesus,
Fly to Jesus and live.”
“Live in me, and I will live in you. A branch cannot produce any fruit by itself. It has to stay attached to the vine.” John 15:4
Grace and Peace, Rev Ray
