We welcome you to the Sunday version of Faith for Living that we call Your Sunday Chapel. Today I continue from a series I preached from John 15. “Living the Fruitful Life,” according to our Lord Jesus in John 15, is a far cry from “Your Best Life Now” self-actualization and self-help advice from pop-theology gurus. To find life, we must die to self. To live for Another is to live for others.
We have heard of the little boy visiting a new Sunday School with his friend. His pal, a member of that particular church and that class, advised his uninitiated buddy on how things work: “Listen, if she calls on you just say, ‘Jesus,’ and you will get 90% of the answers right.” Hmm. Well, there is at least some truth there to ponder. But the truth is this: In treating almost any pathology of the human soul, the pastoral counselor can cover a multitude of problems by recommending, from Scripture, “Love God” and “Love others.” Or, to follow the language and principles of our text for today, “Abide in Christ” in order to “give your life away to others." And to do so is neither simple nor easy. Why? S-I-N. Self-centeredness, “what’s in it for me” impulses flow from a heart that has not known the grace of God, or has forgotten the miracle of Christ’s atonement for your sins. But through the power of the Holy Spirit we can be liberated from the self-imposed chains of selfishness to discover a life of meaning and purpose in serving God and serving others out of love and gratitude.
And now to the inerrant and infallible Word of the living God and the Bible message prepared for you today.
The Fruitful Life
An abridged devotional from the message on John 15:4–6
We come now to the reading of the Word of God. Before we turn to the words of our Lord Jesus in John 15, let us first hear the warning and the plea of Amos, the country preacher who came to town. A fig farmer and shepherd from Tekoa, Amos was sent by God to the religious and political leaders of the northern kingdom with a searching word:
“Therefore because you trample on the poor and you exact taxes of grain from him, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not dwell in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine… Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said. Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph” (Amos 5:11, 14–15).
There must be fruit, or there are dire consequences.
Now we turn to the new-covenant people and hear Jesus speaking into the quivering hearts of His beleaguered disciples on the night before the cross. The Kingdom was not unfolding as they had imagined. Crisis was at the door. Into that anxiety the Lord speaks both warning and deep encouragement:
“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. 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” (John 15:4–6).
I want to focus our hearts this morning on verse 4.
It was December 1977. Coach Lou Holtz and the Arkansas Razorbacks were preparing to meet the mighty Oklahoma Sooners in the Orange Bowl. Arkansas had lost star players to grades and behavior. The newspapers had already written the eulogy. The team walked onto the practice field listless, defeated before the contest began. Holtz gathered them in the locker room and said, in effect, “Everyone is telling us what we lack. Before we leave this room, I want you to tell me what we have.”
Silence. Then one player stood: “Coach, we still have a good place-kicker.” Another: “We have one of the best defenses in the nation.” A third pointed to his teammate: “We have one of the greatest quarterbacks right there.” Soon the room was filled with what they possessed. The final score: Arkansas 31, Oklahoma 6.
Sometimes we need to know what we have, because the world is relentless in telling us what we lack.
Jesus is doing the same for His disciples—and for us. The world says, “Look at what is missing.” Christ says, “Look at what is yours.”
First, you have a home in Jesus Christ.
Eugene Peterson renders the Lord’s words, “Live with me, and I’ll make my home with you.” The Greek menō carries the sense of remaining, of continuing to dwell. Jesus is promising more than temporary companionship. He is promising residence.
The Apostle Paul presses the same truth upon the Corinthians: “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). Under the old covenant, the people met God at a location—the tabernacle, the temple. Those sacred places pointed forward. In the new covenant, the fulfillment has come: Christ, by His Spirit, makes His home in the believer. You are the temple. The living God dwells within.
I felt the force of this truth in a personal way not long ago. One of our elders returned from a journey and told me, “Mike, the house where Aunt Eva lived—they tore it down.” The news struck me like a blow. A line from an old song drifted through my mind: the key to a house far away, the building torn down, the key left unreconciled. Yet almost at once the deeper reality returned. That house of wood and nails was never my home. Aunt Eva was my home. The place was only the setting. Home was the person who loved me, raised me, and pointed me to the Lord.
So it is with Christ. The buildings of this world rise and fall. Careers shift. Nations change. Bodies weaken. But if Jesus Christ has made His home in you by faith, then you are never homeless. Service without Him is mere duty. Service with Him becomes joy. Is Jesus Christ your home this morning?
Second, having Jesus makes a difference—fruit appears.
“As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.” The life that flows from the Vine produces the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. It produces the work of our hands for others, the pursuit of justice and mercy, the quiet sharing of the gospel, the simple giving of one’s life.
I once stood on the church steps after a sermon in which I felt I had fallen short of what God required of me that day. Behind the smile and the handshake, a quiet discouragement settled. Then a young man with Down syndrome approached. He likes to hug me. He wrapped his arms around me and would not let go. His head rested against my chest. In that unyielding embrace, the fruit of the Spirit reached me—grace that is not conditioned on my performance, love that simply holds on. Through that young man the Lord whispered, “My love and My grace are not measured by your sense of success. I will take care of My own Word and My own people.”
Fruit is never meant for self-actualization. It is meant to be picked and given away. Leave the peaches on the tree or the grapes on the vine and they rot. The fruit the Spirit produces in us is intended to bless others and to advance God’s purposes in His world. How is that difference being lived out in your life?
Sometimes we need to know what we have, because the world is relentless in telling us what we lack. Jesus is doing the same for His disciples—and for us. The world says, “Look at what is missing.” Christ says, “Look at what is yours.”
— Michael A. Milton
Third, there is an invitation to commitment.
“Abide in me.” It is both command and blessing. Moses once set before the people life and good, death and evil, and called them to choose (Deuteronomy 30:15). Paul, quoting the prophet, declared to the Corinthians, “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). The same urgency sounds here. Abide in Christ. Live with Him, and He will make His home with you. Welcome Him by faith, and you receive not only eternal life but a present life of purpose—a fruitful life.
The world will continue to catalogue what you lack. Jesus Christ continues to declare what you have: a home in Him, a life that can make a difference, and an open invitation to remain in the Vine.
Abide in Him. And may the fruit that remains bring glory to the Father.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dear Lord, I pray for all who come to this page today and receive Thy Word; for those in need of knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior; for those seeking an escape from the tyranny of self; for those who are hurting, who are ill, and who are feeling despair. We pray that they may be healed of the toxic ideas of this present evil age, awakened from the deadly consequences of sin, comforted by the power of the Holy Spirit, and transformed by the resurrected and living Christ. Grant these things and do that secret work known only to Thee and the person to whom You speak through Thy Word and Spirit. In the name of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with Thee, O Father, and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forevermore. Amen.
Ethical Writing Statement
The writing, research, and theological substance of this article are my own. I use machine learning tools such as Grammarly and Grok solely as editorial assistants—to refine clarity, structure, grammar, and style. These tools never generate the content, arguments, or voice of the work.
— Michael A. Milton
