Spiritual Disciplines

Jesus said, "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by
itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me."

Spiritual Disciplines

Since I am on sabbatical, for a few weeks, we are featuring devotions from a few guest writers. This week's devotions are written by my son-in-law, Jeffrey Samplaski, Student & College Pastor at Great Hills Baptist Church.

I am a relatively new parent. I have a 1 year-old named Claire (Daddy's Little Bear), and another little girl on the way (Riley). There are very few things that I love as much as I love being a dad. Don't get me wrong: as many of you know, being a parent is hard work! But parenting is such a joy at the same time!

Ever since the day that Claire was born, God has used her little life to teach me so many things about Himself at a much deeper level than ever before. (I am quite sure Riley will be the same way once she makes her grand entrance into the world in a few months.) A few months ago, Claire waddled her way up to me, lifted both of her little arms straight up in the air, and said, "Daddy, up!" Of course, I did the only thing I could do: I stopped what I was doing and lifted her up. As I held her in my arms, the joy on her face was crystal clear! I will always cherish that sweet moment with my daughter!

A few days later, as I was spending time with the Lord in prayer, I couldn't help but think of that moment that God allowed me to share with my daughter. As I talked to the Lord, He allowed me to see a little more clearly what it means to commune with our Heavenly Father.

In John 15:4-5 Jesus said, "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; 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."

The intimacy that we see in this text is astonishing! Within this text, we see Jesus, through a gardening metaphor, teaching his followers about what it means to be a fruitful follower of Christ. The language used in this text is so amazing! Jesus said, "Abide in me, and I in you." In the original language, the term "abide" means "to make your home in". Do you hear the intimacy in that? It is making our home in Christ, and Christ making his home in the believer, that leads to bearing fruit. There is no other way to bear fruit outside of us abiding in Christ and Christ abiding in us. Conversely, a believer abiding in Christ and Christ abiding in a believer always bears fruit! So, what does abiding in Christ look like? Plainly, it looks like raising our feeble arms to our Heavenly Father and saying, "Daddy, up!"

So, this might leave you wondering, "If my abiding in Christ and Christ abiding in me leads to bear fruit, then how exactly do I abide in Christ?" Throughout the Bible, God graciously lays out His plans regarding how Christians are to abide in Christ. These are often referred to as "spiritual disciplines". Through the course of this next week, we will identify and explain several of these disciplines. My prayer this week is that God would intensify our zeal for abiding in Christ as we talk about the spiritual disciplines.