What we put into a relationship is exactly what we will get out of it.  A relationship with God is the ultimate relationship.  Imagine, if you will, if the President’s staff called you and said the President wishes to see you today at 9 a.m.  What would your response be?   Oh sorry, I have to be at work by 8, and the notice is too short for me to take a day off, can we make it another time?  No, I venture to say you would FIND a way to fit a Presidential visit into your busy schedule.  Now, multiply the importance of Almighty God wanting to meet with you by a few trillion times.  How can we say we have a relationship with God, if the only time we spend with Him is when we don’t have anything better to do, like during the commercials on TV?
    The Lord Jesus said in John 15,
Joh 15:1  I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
Joh 15:2  Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Joh 15:3  Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Joh 15:4  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
Joh 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
Joh 15:6  If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
Joh 15:7  If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
Joh 15:8  Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
Joh 15:9  As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
Joh 15:10  If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
    It is certain that there will be some who falsely profess a relationship with God, and the lack of fruit of that relationship will be evident to all.  Oh, it isn’t the Lord’s desire they fall away, but their lack of input into a relationship with Him will result in their being purged from the vine.  Yet, as long as they live, the mercy of the LORD will keep calling out to them to draw close to Him, so He can draw close to them.  He never gives up on anyone.
   Those who earnestly seek God will have their share of pruning as well, to make them even more fruitful for His Kingdom.  We know in the natural realm, fruit tree growers trim good and living branches that are bearing fruit from a tree, in order to make the tree even stronger and grow better fruit.  Though for a time the tree looks terrible, and we think, How can that help the tree bring forth better fruit, it looks as if they destroyed the tree.  But sure enough, the next growing season, the tree fills out and becomes better than ever.  So it is there are times the Lord corrects, or refines a believer, in order to bring forth richer fruit.  It’s happened to me a number of times. 
   Rather than getting an attitude when the Lord “makes adjustments”, instead, I allowed God to have His perfect way with me, though at the time it didn’t seem very pleasant.  But looking back, I’m SO glad He did, and He did so because He loves me.  Never despise the chastening of the LORD, because He isn’t doing it for Himself, He is doing it for you, to bring you into a place of true joy and good fruit for the Kingdom of God.
   Moving on; sometimes we allow the cares of this world to so entangle us that we become neglectful of our time spent seeking the Lord.  I know of ministers who have become so busy doing work for God that they neglected praying and studying and seeking God.  Just as a branch that falls from the vine, they soon wither up and blow away. How can they hope to help people if they aren’t plugged into God’s Spirit?, for Jesus said without Him we can do nothing.
   While there is no set time of the day to feed the Spirit man, we need to be mindful that the Spirit man has a huge appetite, and it WILL eat, one way or the other.  If we aren’t feeding it God’s Word continually, it will seek whatever else is available, TV shows, and other things of the world, which will result in a sickly and weak Spirit man.  That’s why we often see those who were once strong in the LORD, walk away from Him and end up falling away entirely, back into the world.  Like I said, they neglected making time to spend with the LORD, they neglected Bible study and prayer, and fellowship with other believers, and sooner or later….they withered away, having fallen off the vine.
   The good news is, we don’t have to fall off the vine!  We don’t have to wither up and blow away.  We can stay connected to the vine, and not only hold our own, but INCREASE and grow.  Actually, if you aren’t growing with God every day, you are backsliding, and you can’t afford to do that, because Satan is always at work to find a way to destroy you and all you have.  He never takes a day off or rests, therefore, in order to keep him defeated in our lives, we need to constantly abide with God.  Abide doesn’t mean for you to drop in for a weekly visit for a few minutes, it means for you to move in, bag and baggage for permanent residency.  That’s where most people miss it.  They think they can feed their body three hot meals a day and feed their spirit man one meal a week and it will grow and get stronger.  Sorry, it doesn’t work that way.  We need to make feeding our Spirit man more important than feeding our body, for one day our body will die anyway, no matter how well we take care of it, but the spirit is eternal.
   The Lord Jesus went on to tell us the results of a strong, living, vital relationship with Him:;  Joh 15:7  If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
Take a good look at that statement.  The Lord Jesus didn’t put a limit on what we can ask and receive from Him.  Our relationship with Him, however, does put a limit on things.  IF we abide…, my, how that little word “IF” affects things!  If His words are the frame for our thinking, our actions, or love, our purpose in life, He says we can ask whatsoever we will, and it shall be done unto us.  I truly desire that for my life, and I’m sure you do, too.  Whatsoever the cost of establishing and maintaining that relationship with God is tiny compared to the benefits thereof. 
   So many think all there is available to them is salvation, and that alone is worth anything you might suffer in this life in order to obtain.  But Psalm 103:2 says, Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits:  You will notice the word “benefits” is plural, not singular.  He says in the next verses:
Psa 103:3  Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
Psa 103:4  Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
Psa 103:5  Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
    Have you ever gone treasure hunting?  God’s Word, The Holy Bible, is full of treasure for us to seek and find, and His blessings and rewards are limitless for those who seek Him with their whole heart.  And the best part is, God hasn’t hidden them from us, they are right there in plain sight.  If you aren’t careful, you’ll keep tripping over them, because they are so abundant!  You don’t need special treasure hunting devises to find them, you only need to seek them, and God said you will find them!
    I can’t imagine anything that could be more important to me than my relationship with God.  So many say they can’t hear from God, that they don’t understand the Word of God, that God doesn’t hear their prayers.  Well, that may be their opinion, but it isn’t true.  They CAN hear from God if they will listen.  God WILL open their understanding to give them wisdom in the Word of God if they will ask for it.  And God DOES hear and answer prayer if we pray in faith.  And yes, God himself gives us His very own faith to believe with, so we are without excuse.  It all boils down to whether or not we want God in our life.  We need to learn to set aside any earthly distraction that keeps us from seeking God.  If your TV is interfering with your prayer time, then turn it off, because your TV didn’t die on the cross for your salvation.  Same goes for your time spent on the internet.  Don’t let ANYTHING draw you away from your time spent with God.  All earthly things are temporary, and subject to change, rust, and destruction, but the Word of God endures forever.  If you are smart, you will spend your time doing that which will give you eternal benefit, for the world will pass away, along with everything in it.  It IS all about YOU, right?  I mean, Jesus didn’t die on that cross for Him, He did it all for YOU!  Don’t waste it!!!
    Even if we have never been on the vine, or have through our own neglect fallen off the vine, withering and dying, if we call upon His name, He will hear us, and He will pick us up, clean us off, plug us into His vine of life, and we will have the very life of God flowing in us, growing us, causing us to bud out and blossom with all good fruit.
    So remember, it’s all about ABIDING IN HIM!
 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
What more could you possible ask for?