Day 15
John 15:4-5
“ Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”
One of the most challenging things to remember on the journey to deeper intimacy with God is that it is ongoing. On this journey, God is making you into an entirely new kind of person. However, God can’t change your life from a distance. That’s the point of intimacy. You must come closer. As you draw near to God, all those things in you that are not like him are illuminated in the light of his presence, and he begins to remove them. Why? So you can bear fruit. Fruit is the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:11), aka, love, joy, peace, patience, etc. (Gal 5:22-23). God is removing the bad fruit (mindsets, character traits, habits) so you can produce the fruit of the spirit. Sometimes, as we journey with God, the rotten fruit feels good and looks good, so it hurts terribly when God removes it, but that’s where we must trust the heart of God. The pruning is for your good. God prunes us through the word of God. Not church, not spiritual encounters, not even fasting and prayer. All those things are beautiful and necessary additions to Scripture, but the word of God must be the foundation of your transformation, or it won’t last.
The message of the gospel is the only thing that could save you. Therefore, consistently meditating on that gospel is the only thing that can keep you. In Greek, “abide” means to stay, but that doesn’t make it passive. Abiding is not just about reading the word. It’s the activity of living it out. By reading the scriptures, the love of God gets into us, and as we continue to abide by taking the word into the world, that love comes out of us. To abide, we must follow Christ, no matter how we feel (Jn 15: 10-12). I love Jesus so much because he never asks us to do anything he didn’t do first. Jesus had to abide in God to fulfill his mission on earth. He obeyed even to the point of death (Phil 2:6-11). Another way to understand abiding is by thinking of it as remaining faithful no matter what. Everything has its time in God’s divine plan. You might not have seen the fruit of the job, the relationship, or the answers you’ve been praying for, but where have you been waiting, and what have you been doing while you wait? Have you been abiding- not just reading the word but applying it to your life? If so, your life might not look how you want it to right now, but God is preparing you to blossom. In the meantime, he’s giving you the fruit of patience, humility, and love for him that isn’t conditioned on what you get from him. He’s making you beautiful (Ecc 3:11). If you abide in God, it’s only a matter of time before you reflect the glory of where you’ve been growing.
Next Steps
Read John chapter 15 and take notes, making observations and asking questions as you read.
Mediate on 1 or 2 verses that stood out to you. Focus on what they reveal about God and how the Spirit is inviting you to respond. Find a helpful guide to biblical meditation here.
Write down whatever the Holy Spirit puts on your heart.
Reflection Questions
Sometimes, we overcomplicate abiding. What practical practice can you prioritize to make sure you’re not only reading the word but abiding by it (using a journal, discussing scripture with friends, etc.)
What fruit have you witnessed tangibly grow in your life over the past year of your faith journey? What has remained stagnant? Reflect on the difference in those two areas. Can you pinpoint the reason for the change or lack thereof?
Prayer Points
God, give me grace to abide and eyes to see the fruit I’m producing no matter what season I find myself.
God, help me surrender to your process instead of doing things my way.
God, open the eyes of my understanding so that when I read your word, it comes alive to me, and I can apply it in my life.
