Devotional (Abiding in Christ)

Before we get into our devotional message, let’s pray.

Let me ask you guys a question:

What is something that constantly competes for your attention every day? —Pause

What about TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, or YouTube?

Or, video games and trying to level up or keep up with friends online?

What about sports, and training schedules.

Or, text messages and group chats that never end?

Or, Netflix, streaming, and endless entertainment?

What about, worrying about fitting in or what others think about you?

Do you spend the majority of your time thinking about these things?

2. If someone were to look at your screentime report compared to the time you spend reading your Bible, what would they say matters most to you? —Pause

Would they say that your phone matters more to you than God?

Or, that social media gets more of your attention than God does?

Or, that you spend way more time being entertained by the things of the world than being in God’s Word?

Would they say that your priorities don’t align with your profession of faith in Christ?

Guys, I know that I often feel pulled away from spending time in the Word by the things of the world. Social media, keeping up on what my friends are posting, or following my favorite sports team often times consumes more of my time than God does.

But guys, this is not how it ought to be! In todays culture we spend way too much time following the influencers, the athletes, the celebrities, and the trends, but the Bible calls us to abide in Christ and to produce good fruit in keeping with our profession of faith.

3. What do you guys think it means to abide in Christ? —Pause—it means…

Staying connected to Jesus every day, not just on Sundays.

It means, spending time in God's Word and praying consistently.

Trusting Jesus when life gets difficult.

Obeying Him even when it's not popular to do so.

It means, finding our identity in Christ rather than in friends, sports, school, or social media.

Depending on Him for strength just like a branch depends on the tree it is attached to.

Turn in your Bibles to John 15. In John 15:4-5 Jesus says,

4 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. 5 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.

Have you guys ever seen a large tree swaying back in forth in a massive wind storm? Why do you think it is that it does not fall over or snap in half when the winds beat against it?—Pause— because it draws strength from the roots below. All of a trees nutrients comes from the ground up. It is all interconnected and the branches on a tree gain strength from the roots below. What happens to a branch that is cut off from the tree?—pause—it withers away and it dies! Just like that branch, when we ignore our need for spiritual connection with Christ due to distractions like our phones, we risk withering away. We often feed our minds with temporary feel good things and forget that real strength comes from abiding in Jesus. Abiding in Him is essential for our growth and fruitfulness. As we engage with His words, we find the nutrients necessary for growth, just as a tree relies on its roots for survival. Our hope is not ultimately in the strength of our grip on Christ, but in the strength of His grip on us. True believers persevere because God preserves them through His Spirit and through His Word.

In Matthew 3:8 we are told to produce fruit in keeping with our profession of faith. Here in John 15 Jesus says, apart from Him we can do nothing. That means, that if we profess Christ, and have been truly born again by God’s Spirit, the evidence of that is going on to produce fruit which confirms our profession of faith. What is the fruit Jesus is talking about? It is love and good works; active obedience to the commands of God which Jesus tells us are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And to love our neighbor as ourselves. This fruit also includes holiness, the fruit of the Spirit, and a life increasingly transformed by Christ. Jesus makes it explicitly clear that only in Him can we produce this fruit. Picture a gardener who diligently prunes his garden, ensuring that every branch is healthy and productive. One day, he notices a branch that isn't yielding fruit; it's withered because it has detached from the vine. He realizes that it needs to be reconnected in order to thrive. Just like that branch, we can become spiritually unfruitful if we do not remain attached to Christ. Our daily distractions, like our phones, can cause us to neglect our spiritual health, but by choosing to abide in Him, we flourish. Those branches that permanently detach from Christ and never return show that they were never truly united to Him by saving faith.

Turn with me to Mark 4—Pause. Jesus describes three very different kinds of professors of faith here in the parable of the sower. Mark 4:3-8 says,

3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

Jesus goes on to describe how the seed is the Word. Starting in verse 15, he says,

15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

Guys often times people can be like the seed sown among the rocks, which quickly clings to Christ with joy, but when hard times come or when they are made fun of for their faith they wither and fall away, producing no good fruit. Others can be like the seed sown among the thorns, where they hear the Word and cling to Christ but along side of them are the love of the world, and the deceitfulness of wealth, and the lusts of their flesh, which seek to distract them from abiding in Christ, making them fruitless. Guys, we can all be guilty of this! Often times, we can be distracted from our walk with Jesus and from abiding in Him by the love of the world, our own desire to be liked by the world, or by our desire to have the things the world offers, but guys, we have to constantly remind ourselves that love for this world is not love for God. 1 John 2:15-17 says,

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

The will of God is to abide in Him and produce the fruit of righteousness in our lives.

Guys, the Christian has three enemies—the world, the flesh, and the devil! We have to constantly fight the temptation to give into the distractions all around us that seek to devour us and keep us from abiding diligently in Jesus who is our source of all strength. We need to be like the seed that is sown in the good soil; that hears the Word, believes it, abides in Christ, and produces fruit; thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold. In John 15:6 Jesus reminds us what happens to the one who never goes on to produce good fruit, he says,

6 If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

Guys, Jesus’ words here are very sobering, let us each take an honest look at our lives. Are we abiding in Jesus diligently and producing fruit in keeping with our profession of faith? Or are we just professing Christ and living how we want to; according to the lusts of our flesh, the lusts of our eyes, and the pride of life? Are we being distracted by the worries of this world and what people will think of us? What should matter more to us is what does Christ think of us? Are we glorifying God with our lives? Is our deepest desire for Christ or for other things?

Let me ask you guys:

Which soil from the parable of the sower do you most identify with today? —Pause

Are you someone who hears God's Word, but afterward, you continue to live worldly and are unaffected by it? That is the seed sown on the path.

Do you get excited after camp or youth group, but struggle to stay consistent especially when hard times come or you are laughed at for being a Christian? That is the seed sown on the rocky soil.

Do you believe God's Word, but the love for the things of this world constantly pull your focus away from Him? That is the seed sown on the thorny soil.

Is your greatest desire to strive to grow and follow Christ faithfully, even though you are not perfect and no matter what the world thinks? That is the seed sown on good soil.

Guys, the true believer will go on to produce good fruit because the seed of God’s Word has taken deep root in the good soil of their heart even if at times they struggle. The call for us is to persevere and not give up when the burning heat of persecution comes, or the thorny cares of the world try to choke out our faith. Jesus says, that in the last days the love of many will grow cold, but the one who perseveres and doesn’t give up is the one who will be saved.

What do you guys think causes someone to appear excited about God at first, only to fall away like the seed sown among the rocks? —Pause

Maybe their faith was based more on emotions than conviction over sin. Sometimes we can have this grand emotional experience but never really feel the weight of our sin and the glory of God’s grace.

Or, they expected following Jesus to be easy. The Bible tells us that the world will hate us because they hated Him. 1 Peter tells us that we will suffer because Christ suffered, but our reward is in heaven.

Or, maybe they faced ridicule from friends or classmates.

Maybe they were unwilling to give up certain sins or lifestyles. The Bible calls us to repent and turn from our sin.

Or, maybe they never developed habits of prayer and Bible reading. These things require diligence and perseverance.

Or, maybe they just cared more about approval from people than approval from God. The Bible instructs us to be more concerned about pleasing God than man.

What distractions most often compete with your relationship with Jesus? —Pause

What about social media and endless scrolling?

Or, sports and extracurricular activities.

Video games.

What about dating!? Sometimes relationships can be a HUGE distraction in our lives from pursuing Christ!

What about the pressure to succeed in school? Maybe we want to have the best grades in our entire class and that drive distracts us from pursuing Christ.

Even when things are not inherently bad, if they consume us so much so that they distract us from Christ, they can be an idol.

What about chasing popularity and acceptance?

Or, is endless entertainment what distracts us from abiding in Christ?

What about anxiety? Jesus tells us to be worried about NOTHING but instead to bring our worries to our heavenly Father who cares for us.

What about the love of money and possessions, or wanting what others have? This breaks God’s tenth commandment!

Or how about comparing yourself to people online?

Guys, these things all distract us from abiding in Christ and at the root of all of them is sin.

So guys, the point of all of this is to take seriously our call to abide in Christ and go on to produce fruit in keeping with our profession of faith. This fruit of good works is not the thing that saves us. Only by God’s grace are we saved through faith in Jesus Christ. In Ephesians 2:8-9 the Apostle Paul says,

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

But then he goes on to say,

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

The fruit of Good works is the evidence of a true and lively faith!

So, guys let’s pray and ask the Lord to work into us by His Holy Spirit and His Word a deep desire to abide more diligently in Him, not allowing ourselves to be distracted by the many things in this world and in our own hearts that seek to pull us away from Him.