John 15:4

Plain English Version

And, you know, a branch has to stay joined to the main trunk of the vine, so it can grow fruit. A broken branch lying on the ground can’t grow any fruit. The trunk and the branch have to stay joined together. Well, just like that, you have to stay joined to me, and I will stay joined to you. If you don’t stay joined to me, you can’t live God’s way.

Cross References

John 14:20

Then you will know that I am joined to my father, so that it’s like I am in him. And you will know that each one of you is joined to me in the same way, so that it’s like you are in me. And I am joined to you, so that it’s like I am in you.

John 17:23

I want to be joined to them, so it’s like I am in them, just like you are joined to me, so it’s like you are in me. Then they will be one mob, joined together properly. Then the people that belong to this world will know that you sent me to the world. And they will also know that you love my followers just as much as you love me.

John 6:56

If anybody believes in me, they will join up with me, and I will join up with them. It’s like they eat my body and drink my blood. I will live in them, and we will stay joined together.

John 8:31

Jesus talked to the Jewish people that believed in him. He said, “If you keep on following me, and if you do the things I teach you, then you will be my proper followers,

Acts 11:23

He got to Antioch, and he saw everything that was happening. Then he knew that God was very good to the people there, so he was very happy. He told those new Christians, “Stay strong for Jesus and keep on following him all the time.”

Acts 14:22

In each of those towns they talked to the Christians and said, “Keep on believing in Jesus, and don’t turn away from him. Some people will keep on making big trouble for all of us Christians, but don’t worry, Jesus is with us. We are in God’s family now.”

Ephesians 3:17

I pray that you will trust Jesus Christ properly, so that he will live inside you. I pray that you will always love God properly, and that you will always love other people too, so that you will always keep standing strong for him, like the roots of a tree always keep it standing up strong.

Colossians 1:23

If you stay strong, God will do that for you. You have to always remember the good news that you heard about Jesus, so that you keep on trusting him and know that he will save you. You see, God got his workers to tell people everywhere that Jesus died to save us. It is really good news. And I, Paul, am one of God’s workers now. My job is to tell people that good news.

Colossians 1:27

God wants his people to know that plan. He planned to use Jesus to save people that are not Jews, as well as people that are Jews. And now he is doing that, so it is really great for people that are not Jews. Yes, Jesus Christ lives in you, and he lives in everybody that trusts him, so you can be sure that later on God will make you great.

Colossians 2:6

You believe in Jesus Christ now, and you let him be your boss. That’s good. Keep living his way.

1 Thessalonians 3:5

And I really worried about you. I thought, “You Christians in Thessalonica are very new Christians. Maybe the boss over the bad spirits gave you too much trouble. Maybe he tricked you, so that you don’t trust Jesus any more. Maybe we worked for nothing there in Thessalonica.” That’s what I was thinking, but I didn’t really know the true story. And when I couldn’t wait any longer, I had to send Timothy to find out the true story about you.