It’s the verse that anyone who has grown up on a Christian home has probably heard a million times. Jesus is talking to His disciples and teaching them, and He says:

“I am the vine, and you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me, you can do nothing.”

And yes, I have heard it a million times. We had a rock in our garden growing up that had this verse on it. We had a drawing of a vine done by one of us at about 3 years old with this verse on it on the bathroom door. (does anyone else’s family do that?) And yes, I have studied it and appreciated it before, but this morning as I read it really jumped out at me and made me think– have I been abiding in Jesus lately? I want to be someone who bears fruit for His kingdom, but have I really taken the time and effort to abide, as much as I could have?

The book of John was written in Greek. While I was thinking about this, I did a quick Google search of the word abide in Greek, and it means to remain or stay, to continue to exist, and to persist.

There are times when I feel really rooted in Jesus, like a branch on a vine, or a plant in soil with its roots going deep. But there are other times where I don’t, I know God is there and I love Him still, but I’m not feeling His presence. And for me, this is almost always when I haven’t been prioritising Him, in the little things. Sometimes it’s the very little things, too. And it’s not because God is punishing me for not putting Him first, not at all. It’s that I have a choice to abide in Him, to remain, to stay, and persist in growing, in His presence. And God uses this to teach me a whole lot! And I really think that these things are different for everybody, but here are some things that help me to abide in Jesus, to put Him first– and I know that through them I will not only see (I pray) much fruit, the fruits of the Spirit, in my life, but God will also use me to bear more fruit in the lives of others, and to be more peaceful, and more gentle and wiser. (Because we all know, and so does He, that I really need it!)

Quiet time and Bible reading every day.

I always yap on about this. But it’s TRUE! Consistant morning quiet time has blessed me SO much since I started trying to do it at the beginning of this year, and even more as I committed to it halfway through the year. So much. I find myself feeling more peaceful and gentler, and I have learnt so much. It’s nothing fancy, just me right when I get up with a Bible and a pen and a highlighter.

But there are times, like lately, even when I love doing this so much, that it slips. I don’t get up quite early enough, and it’s rushed. I go on my phone first. I don’t focus in and skim over verses instead of taking time to write them out or write notes or use them to pray for people. It’s little things, but done over a period of time, I start to lose a little bit of that fire, because I’m just going through the motions, not doing the things that feel hard and time consuming, because I just don’t feel like it. Which is why we need to choose to take the time to abide in Jesus. Because when we do, He talks to us through His word, and it’s amazing. But we have to choose to make it a priority, to do it every day, to treasure the time. Because the fact that we can spend time with and talk with the creator of the universe– what a privilege! And it’s something that we don’t need to take lightly!

The music that we listen to and the things we watch.

This might be a bit controversial, but I definitely think it’s true. I think we all know deep down that when we watch explicit and immoral movies or TV shows, well, it’s just not so good, because God tells us to think on things that are lovely and pure and right and noble, and stimulating ourselves and feeding our eyes with this kind of media is not that. But I would go a step further and say that the music we listen to makes a huge difference too. I know for me, I listen to quite a lot of music. I often listen to it while I do things like sewing, dishes, studying, or traveling. Which does mean a fair amount per week. And I really think that music has a lot of power; I love it so much, it has the ability to create stories, make us feel strong and beautiful emotions. And for me, it also has the ability to transport me back to a time when I listened to that song, sometimes years and years ago, and feel all the feelings of that time in my life, which is really cool. We also use it to praise God, which is so so powerful, and God often speaks to me through words of a song, and often the Holy Spirit moves while we are praising in song, which is amazing. The Bible says that we should teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude on our hearts (Colossians 3:16). Worship and praise is so powerful, and Christian music is powerful too. Worship lifts God up, and teaches our hearts, brings us joy, helps us learn, and gives us wisdom, and Christian music can touch and inspire us and help us to learn about God. And if you think about a worship song that has really touched you recently, would it be half as powerful, would it stick in your brain and heart, and even soul, half as much, if it was just words without the tune? I know for me, it would not. And God has created music so that it can touch us incredibly, but music has also been used for evil. Have you ever sung the chorus of a popular song, only to hear the verse a few weeks later and realise it actually meant something pretty nasty? I know I have. And I have also listened to, over and over, songs that may not be explicit, but that don’t glorify God. And when I do that, I write them on my heart. And they may have catchy tunes, but do I really want to be singing those lyrics over and over, and having them stuck in my head as I drift off to sleep? If I’m honest, I don’t think I do. And I have noticed, although it can be a small thing, when I’m listening to music that doesn’t glorify God a lot, I feel further away from Him. Because even though I sometimes feel like listening to certain things, again, I have a choice to abide in Jesus as I listen to things that lift Him up. And I’m not saying you can never ever listen to a non-Christian song, or that you can’t like a clean non-Christian song. They absolutely have their place, and they are fun and nostalgic and great for a little karaoke. But when we listen to them all the time, and are daily feeding our minds with them, that’s when it’s a problem.

Our thoughts.

No one sees this, because it’s inside our own minds–but we can absolutely use our thoughts to abide in Jesus. The Bible says to take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). We all have our things we struggle with in our thought life, whether it is gossip, judgment, lust, anger, jealousy, or even fear and doubt. And it’s easy, and sometimes it’s just plain comfortable, not to do anything about these things, because humans can’t really see them– But God can, and these things do separate us from fully abiding in Jesus. But how to we take captive these thoughts? Sometimes it’s really hard. We need to first of all recognise what they are, and that they are harmful. Then pray and ask God to help you. Then, going back to Philippians 4:8, whatever is true, whatever noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable– if anything is excellent or praiseworthy,– think about such things. And what are those things? Jesus, His character, His love and His sacrifice are all of those things! Praise Him and thank Him for that. When God honouring thoughts come to your mind, focus on them, and dwell on God’s word day and night. This will also lead you to not only stop walking away from abiding in Jesus, but it will lead you to abide in Him even more! And again, feed your mind with God-honouring media and music, and it will help so much.

Also side note, I’ve seen this thing recently with Christians, especially young Christians, calling people out for saying things that were not meant in a dirty/vulgar/whatever you want to call it way, but sound a bit interesting. Which is great, we don’t want to accidentally say things that cause people to cringe and feel uncomfortable, for sure (especially as a home schooler who isn’t super culturally aware, please call me out). But I’ve also seen it where the calling out doesn’t stop at the obvious things, but almost creates problems with the things people say. Which I get, because sometimes living in a world where people around us are always saying nasty things or always making crude jokes, we have to be almost super heightened to these things, so that we don’t laugh or agree unintentionally. But also, I think we don’t need to create problems with what people say, even for humour with close friends. Titus 1:15 says to the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are  corrupted, and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their mind and conscience are corrupted. And I know this is talking about non-believers, but I think it’s true, in a way, for some Christians too. Let’s be perceptive and aware and discerning, but also those who are pure in heart, and who don’t see everything around us, and everything everyone says, as corrupted–do you know what I mean?

Ok, side note over.

So, abiding in Jesus can be hard, and it can take effort, and it takes conscious choice, but it will bear so much fruit in the long run. And God is our gardener, and our teacher, and our pruner, and He will do all of those things as we abide in Him, and sometimes it’s not always comfortable, but it is always good, and so is He. Remember also that without God we can do nothing, so we need to be seeking Him! I would really challenge you to read John 15 and see what God might be saying to you, and also to try some of these things, even just one of them, or something that God shows you to abide in Him and see what happens.

Love you so much. Thanks for reading and I hope you found this useful or learned something, or that it got you thinking or inspired you, and most importantly, that you will grow closer to Jesus and to abiding fully in Him, in everything.

~Hannah xoxo