Abiding in Christ: a call to intimacy from the Upper Room

"I am the vine; you are the branches..." Jesus reserved some of his most important words not for the crowd, but only for an audience of eleven (his disciples, sans Judas Iscariot) in the Upper Room. These private words are now spoken by extension to all disciples of Christ, and we are called to abide, or remain, in him always. The truth is that we don't always remain close to Jesus. Is it important? Why is it so difficult to abide in him, and what does it mean to do so? What hinders us from being close to Jesus, and how do we abide in him? Come discover the answers through the prism of the writer's life experience, news events and God's inerrant word to reveal a life that promises joy, purpose and fruitfulness, for His glory, as our eyes, ears, thoughts and hearts remain in Christ.