E94 - Hope’s Harbor Gritty Bible Devotions - The Benefit of Abiding in Jesus

Hope’s Harbor

Gritty Bible Devotions

Episode #94

Title: The Benefit of Abiding in Jesus

Date: February 20, 2023

Contact: info@hopesharbor.net

Key verse: John 15:4 – “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”

Intro: Have you ever wondered what it means to ‘Abide in Jesus?’ The Greek definition of abiding describes ‘remaining in a given place, to continue, and endure.’ This describes what it takes to abide, but what about the essence of abiding? What is Jesus telling us to do for our benefit?

Devotion focus: Abiding bears fruit

Here’s another question – what does the Bible mean by bearing fruit? The Greek word for fruit in John 15:4 is the same word used for fruit in Galatians 5:22 & 23, where Paul describes fruit as virtues of the Holy Spirit living in us. They can be thought of as good works brought about by GOD’s Spirit.

This is in keeping with the key verse John 15:4. In the 15th chapter of John Jesus is teaching His followers a final set of lessons and principles, the night before He goes to the cross. Do you think He poured out His heart to them?

His emphasis in John 15 is His desire for us to live so close to Him we’re actually one with Him in our spirits. Now, besides Jesus wanting us close for relationship, in which He takes joy, there is another benefit that comes out of living close, like that branch growing out of that vine. That benefit is fruit.

The branch bears the fruit as a result of attachment to the vine. So, why the lesson, the principle, about bearing fruit? Is it important? In John 15:8 Jesus explains the benefit – “By this, My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”

I know it’s hard to understand fully why GOD’s Glory is so significant. And by the way, we cannot add to GOD’s Glory, because He is already complete in Himself, but we can point to His Glory by the way we live.

However, it is important to GOD, that we recognize Him through His Glorious attributes. When we abide in Jesus, this puts us in a place appointed for us so that we will bear fruit to GOD.

This is a much-overlooked principle of our spiritual lives that we neglect, to our loss. You see when we live in a way that is close to Jesus and He is able to bear fruit to GOD’s Glory, and His Glory, we are then destined to receive rewards from GOD when we stand before Jesus at His judgment seat. This account is found in 2 Corinthians 5:10 – ‘For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he, any Christian, has done, whether good or bad.’

This judgment is not for punishment of sin. For Christians, the punishment for sin was taken care of at the cross. The judgment seat of Jesus is where He holds a tribunal and examines our deeds done in the body. It’s about how we live.

Let me take the verse, 2 Corinthians 5:10, and break it down into smaller parts for better understanding, and listen, we are meant to bear fruit to GOD’s glory. But in 2 Corinthians 5:10 GOD lets us know He will reward us for the work it takes us to bring forth that fruit for Him.

Here we go:

First, we are going to appear before Him and make evident by declaring the things we do habitually. Those things we practice, whether good or bad. Now, good in the Greek means just that: good, in all things and ways.

But bad…wow!

Listen to the definition of bad, from the Strong’s Concordance: it is worthless, depraved, injurious, evil, noisome, and lastly, wicked. The word for bad, kakos - (kak-os’) is found in 46 verses in the New Testament. And it was a little shocking to discover that a word describing evil is used for Christians in 2 Corinthians 5:10.

I believe this is where carnal Christians live, and it is sadly to their eternal loss that they are living for worldly pleasures and possessions. According to David, he writes this having lived as a carnal Christian for many years. He also adds it was a painful experience to wake up to the truth of his carnality one day and realize he can never go back and do it differently. But, if this is you, living for the Devil while wearing the Cross, you can change your life now before another day goes by. It’s your choice. If you choose to repent, confess the sin to GOD, and ask His forgiveness based on the shed blood of His Son, Jesus, on the cross.

Now confession is not just saying the words. Biblical confession is the first step to forsaking the sin of living for the world and its satanic systems of chasing wealth and possessions, and so forth. So we turn away from living selfishly.

Next, ask GOD to give you an open heart which you will need to live for, and abide in Him. It will take work to make the change and it is a process to learn to abide habitually. But isn’t it better to change now and avoid any more loss of the rewards GOD longs to give you? Surely -

Now, let’s bring this back to where we started in John 15:4 where Jesus tells us to abide so that we may bear fruit for Him.  And this is when I should go ahead and get a common misunderstanding of an earlier verse out of the way.

John 15:2 – “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”

Where it says He takes away every branch that doesn’t bear fruit, this is an unfortunate translation of the phrase ‘takes away.’ The literal meaning is ‘lifts up.’  The context confirms that what Jesus is referring to is a child of His who has fallen and is lying in the dirt, so to speak, and He comes along and lifts up His child.

The misunderstanding occurs when it is thought that the phrase ‘He takes away,’ means taken totally away and is associated with the branch in verse 6 that is taken away and burned. The branch in verse 2 is not identical to the branch described in verse 6. The difference being one branch is in Jesus, as in abiding in verse 2, and the other branch in verse 6 is not abiding in Jesus and therefore does not have the life of Jesus. And this is why it is cast away and burned. This is also a picture of the end-time judgment mentioned in Revelation 20:11-15.

In the context of this parable, the branch in verse 2 that has fallen down into the dirt is lifted up by the vineyard keeper and washed off, then placed back where the branch belongs. Listen to Jesus in John 15:3 as He describes the process of a branch having fallen in the dirt and in need of cleansing:  “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.” Here, Jesus infers that cleansing accompanies the lifting up in verse 2.

I know that was a lot of detail, but it’s necessary to fully understand the passage in John 15:1-11. We must correctly understand the passage in order to get the blessing of being at peace within GOD’s love for us, knowing He will not cast away any child of His.

And finally, there is also the bonus benefit of receiving joy when we do abide in Jesus, as He described in John 15:11.     

Summary: It is GOD’s will that we abide in Him, that we remain close to Him.

We do this by, first of all, reading His Word in the Bible and reading it consistently. Abiding places us where GOD will bring forth fruit through our lives that will point to His Glory. His Glory is contained within His attributes of holiness, power, love, steadfastness, and so forth.

Action to consider: Take time to read John, chapters 15, 16, and 17 to get a deeper understanding of what Jesus intends us to know about abiding, and how it will enable us to become ‘one with Him.’

Next week’s devotion: Depression