Walking with Jesus - The Practice of Abiding
Walking with Jesus: Abiding in Christ
Why spiritual growth begins with our relationship with Jesus
Key Scripture: John 15:1–17
What does it mean to walk with Jesus—not just on Sunday mornings, but throughout every moment of our lives?
As we begin this series on spiritual practices, that's the question I want us to explore. My hope isn't that we simply learn a list of things Christians should do. I want us to discover how these practices can help us experience the fullness of life God desires for us.
There's a prayer in Ephesians 3 that has shaped my ministry for many years. Paul prays that believers would be strengthened by the Holy Spirit, that Christ would dwell in their hearts through faith, and that they would grasp the incredible dimensions of Christ's love. He concludes by praising God, who is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine.
I've been praying this passage for my church for almost as long as I've been in pastoral ministry. I learned about eighteen years ago that the New Testament already gives us some of the best prayers we could pray for one another. For much of my ministry, I've returned to Ephesians 3 regularly, asking God to make its promises real in the lives of the people I serve.
Why? Because I want to see the fullness of God's presence expressed in our lives.
I don't want us simply to attend church, enjoy a good sermon, and then return to living exactly as we did before. I want our faith to transform the way we respond to people, handle conflict, manage our money, approach our work, and love our families.
Our faith is meant to shape our whole lives, not just our Sunday mornings.
Spiritual Practices Are About Transformation, Not Performance
When we talk about spiritual disciplines, it's easy to turn them into a checklist.
Read your Bible. Pray. Serve. Keep Sabbath. Participate in community.
Those are good things, but we can turn even good practices into religious obligations. We can start thinking that if we do the right things, God will owe us something in return.
That's not what spiritual formation is about.
The Christian life begins with what Jesus has already done for us. We have been reconciled to God through his death and resurrection. We are welcomed into God's family by grace, not because we've made ourselves worthy through religious effort.
Spiritual practices don't make us more acceptable to God. Rather, because we belong to Christ, the Holy Spirit continues to transform us into his likeness.
That transformation reaches into every part of our lives: how we respond when someone hurts us, what we do with anger and disappointment, how we approach relationships, and even how our past experiences continue to affect us.
As I've been working through these questions in my own life, I've become increasingly interested in what it means to give the Holy Spirit room to work in us—not simply to become more religious, but to become more like Jesus.
I want God's presence to be real in my ordinary, everyday life. I want to see a difference in how I live, and I want that difference to be noticeable to the people around me.
That's the purpose of spiritual practices. They help us place ourselves in a posture where we can respond to God and allow him to shape us.
As we begin this series, my hope isn't that you will try to implement every practice we discuss. Instead, ask God to show you one area where you can grow—one place where you want the prayer of Ephesians 3 to become more real in your life.
But where do we begin?
We begin with Jesus himself.
1. Abiding in Jesus Produces Lasting Fruit
In John 15, Jesus describes himself as the true vine and his followers as branches.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” — John 15:5
The word translated remain is also translated abide. It describes an ongoing relationship—a life of remaining connected to Jesus.
We're not called to abide in Jesus only on Sunday mornings, Wednesday evenings, or whenever we happen to be participating in a church activity. We're called to remain in him throughout our lives.
That's where spiritual practices must begin. Otherwise, they become meaningless activities. We can read our Bibles, study theology, and participate in all kinds of Christian activities without allowing our relationship with Jesus to shape our hearts.
Abiding is about more than knowing the right things about Jesus. It's about learning to live in relationship with him in the ordinary situations we face every day.
What does abiding look like when our children are driving us crazy? What does it look like when we're at work and someone asks us to compromise our integrity? What does it look like when we're tempted to bend the rules because it would be easier?
These are the places where our relationship with Jesus matters.
Jesus wants his followers to bear fruit—and not just a little fruit, but much fruit. That doesn't mean we measure spiritual success by comparing ourselves with other Christians or competing with other churches. The fruit of our lives is meant to bring glory to God.
So what does that fruit look like?
Fruit is seen in our actions
Jesus teaches that our good deeds should point people toward God.
As he says in Matthew 5:16, we're to let our light shine before others so that they may see our good deeds and glorify our Father in heaven.
Our faith should make a difference in how we treat people, serve others, and live out our responsibilities. Those actions can have an impact that reaches far beyond the moment.
Fruit is seen in our character
The Bible also describes the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
This is about more than acting like a nice person when we're at church. We can put on a good appearance for a few hours, but the people who know us best see what we're really like.
Our character should increasingly reflect Jesus in our homes, our workplaces, and our relationships.
Fruit is seen when others come to know Jesus
As God works in and through us, other people can encounter the good news of Jesus. Our service, our character, and our witness can help others hear the gospel and respond to him.
This is fruit that has an eternal impact.
So how do we know whether we're abiding in Jesus? We look for evidence of his work in our lives.
And we don't have to do that alone.
I was talking with a pastor friend recently, and we were reflecting on the value of our friendship. We can ask each other honest questions about our lives and ministries. Is there fruit? Are we growing? Are we becoming more like Jesus?
I also think it's worth asking the people closest to us. If you want to know whether your character is changing, ask your spouse. Ask your children. They see the person you are when you're not standing in front of a congregation.
These aren't questions meant to shame us or give us permission to judge one another. They're opportunities for honest reflection and growth with people who know us and care about us.
2. Abiding in Jesus Leads to True Life
Jesus says that apart from him, we can do nothing.
There are many good things we can fill our lives with. We can pursue careers, raise families, serve our communities, and accomplish all kinds of worthwhile goals. But none of those things can replace our relationship with Jesus.
Jesus came to give us life—and life to the full.
That doesn't mean Christians won't experience hardship, disappointment, or pain. It doesn't mean we'll never struggle with our own sin or suffer because of someone else's. Following Jesus doesn't exempt us from the difficulties of life.
It means that, even in the midst of those difficulties, we can experience the life of God at work within us.
This is also part of the beauty of Christian community. We need people who know how we're doing, who can walk with us through difficult seasons, and who can encourage us when our faith feels weak.
I don't want us to be a church where everybody simply knows everybody's name. I want us to be a church where people are genuinely known.
Abiding in Jesus isn't a private exercise that leaves the rest of our lives untouched. As we remain connected to him, his life shapes our relationships, our communities, and the way we care for one another.
3. Abiding in Jesus Deepens Our Experience of His Love
In John 15:9–12, Jesus speaks about remaining in his love. He tells his disciples these things so that his joy may be in them and their joy may be complete.
That raises an important question: Do we actually experience that joy?
Do we begin Monday morning with a sense of joy in Jesus? What about when work is difficult, our responsibilities are overwhelming, or we're facing a problem we don't know how to solve?
Sometimes we become so busy that we leave very little room to experience God's presence. Our spiritual disciplines can even become another set of tasks to complete.
But Jesus invites us into a relationship marked by his love.
Over the last few months, I've been practicing something simple at the beginning of my day. When I sit down, the first thing I pray is:
“God, I give everyone and everything to you.”
Then I sit quietly. I don't give God a list of demands. I don't tell him what he needs to fix or how he needs to change the people around me. I simply surrender everyone and everything to him.
After that, I say:
“Jesus, I love you.”
That's it.
Those two simple prayers have become part of the first twenty minutes of my day.
I'm not suggesting that everyone has to follow this exact routine. But I've found that beginning my day this way creates a very different posture from immediately grabbing my phone, checking email and social media, or rushing out the door.
Instead of beginning with everything demanding my attention, I begin by turning my attention toward Jesus.
It's a simple practice, but it reminds me that my relationship with him comes first. I can surrender the people and situations I'm carrying, rest in his love, and remember that I don't have to solve everything before the day begins.
Abiding begins with making room to be with Jesus, not simply doing things for him.
If we're struggling to experience the joy and love Jesus promises, perhaps we need to ask whether we're creating space to receive what he wants to give us.
The problem isn't that Jesus has failed to keep his promises. We may simply need to reconsider the way we're approaching our relationship with him.
How Can You Begin Practicing Abiding?
Here are two simple ways to begin.
1. Create space to be with Jesus
Set aside intentional time to be with Jesus. That might mean prayer, reading Scripture, sitting in silence, or simply turning your attention toward him.
If you already have a fifteen-minute quiet time, consider whether you could extend it to twenty minutes. If you need to get up earlier, perhaps that means going to bed a little earlier.
The point isn't to turn time with God into another performance target. It's to make room for your relationship with him to deepen.
As we move through this series, ask God how he wants you to use that space.
2. Practice responding to Jesus throughout your day
Abiding doesn't end when your quiet time is over.
Before a meeting, you might take thirty seconds to pray, “Jesus, I give this meeting to you.”
If you're helping a client, you might pray, “Jesus, I give this person to you.”
If you're a parent dealing with a challenging moment, you might simply say, “God, I give these children to you.”
These brief prayers help us remember that Jesus is present in the ordinary moments of our lives. We can turn toward him throughout the day rather than trying to manage everything in our own strength.
The invitation is to live in an ongoing relationship with Jesus—in our work, our families, our decisions, our struggles, and our joys.
Don't Settle for Less Than the Life Jesus Offers
Everything in this series flows from the finished work of Jesus.
We aren't welcomed into God's family because we've mastered a set of spiritual disciplines. We're welcomed because Jesus died for our sins and rose again, defeating sin and death. Through him, we are reconciled to God and given the Holy Spirit, who empowers us to live the life we're called to live.
And Jesus invites us into more.
I don't want us to settle for a Christianity that is simply fine. I don't want us to settle for attending church, knowing the right answers, and doing enough to feel that we've fulfilled our religious obligations.
I want us to experience the fullness of life that comes from abiding in Jesus. I want to see our character transformed, our relationships deepened, our joy renewed, and our lives bearing fruit that brings glory to God.
As Paul prayed in Ephesians 3, God is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine, according to his power at work within us.
Perhaps you're in a season when you feel spiritually dry. You aren't seeing the growth you hoped for, and some days you're simply hanging on. Start by making space to be with Jesus. Let him remind you of his love.
Perhaps you're in a season of tremendous spiritual growth and blessing. If so, consider how you might allow that blessing to overflow into the lives of others. Who could you encourage, mentor, pray with, or walk alongside?
Wherever you are in your journey, the invitation is the same: remain in Jesus.
Walking with Jesus begins with abiding in Jesus. Everything else flows from that relationship.
A Question for Reflection
What is one change you could make this week to create more space to be with Jesus and remain aware of his presence throughout your day?
