To Abide is to Have Fruit – To Have Fruit is to Abide
This is Dave Scherrer and we are having a conversation here in the 100 Fold Backyard regarding the command of Jesus to abide. It is one of the most important conversations that we can have with each other. And with Jesus. This conversation can transform your life!
We started in our last blog on July 21, 2025, by laying the ground work for a new, or at least different, paradigm that gets us off a spiritual teeter-totter that has us running back and forth between sin on one side and legalism on the other. This constant comparing of our spiritual lives with others and the desperate striving for finding a place of balance somewhere on this tipping incline is not only exhausting, but it is spiritually deadly! As I noted in the last blog, this is a sure lose-lose endeavor. You will never experience the fruit that Jesus promised on this teeter-totter.
Jesus has offered us an alternative. He invited us into a new paradigm on the night that he was betrayed. That is how I know that this is an important conversation. In this "Deathbed Discourse" Jesus gave us some of his most compelling and urgent teachings. Here is some of what he said that night when He introduced the concept of Abiding to His disciples in the Upper Room at the Last Supper:
John 15:1-8
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 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. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples."
You can see that abiding is the theme of the evening. Some biblical translations use the English word "remain" instead of "abide." However, the idea of making a home is closer to the Greek word used than just sticking around. The Greek word translated as "abide" is meno (μείνω). This verb means to remain, stay, dwell, or continue. It emphasizes a close, intimate, and ongoing connection with Jesus. It means... Abide!
This idea is immanently personal. Check out Lisa's story:
Lisa's story – "Why didn't anyone ever tell me this?"
Lisa has been going to church most all her life. In the last dozen years she has taken it to heart. As an interim Pastor at her church I began to teach week by week of the Kingdom of God breaking into our world on a daily basis.
"Dave all my life I have thought the point of the Christian life is to not sin. My life is filled with regret and shame and disappointment with myself. My sins just seem to repeat over and over."
Lisa looked me in the eyes.
"Today in church you said sin was a problem of course but that we cannot simply 'will sin away.' I've proven that reality over and over. You also said that we should get off the teeter-totter of religious legalism and worldly license. I have been walking back and forth on that stupid teeter-totter all my Christian life. I want off!"
For the next 40 minutes we spoke of the coming of the King, His call to follow and to abide in Him and to renounce the world. To put our singular allegiance with Him and to serve His Kingdom rule and reign. We spoke of pursuing His Kingdom priorities and to enjoy our fellow Kingdom citizens.
"You're telling me that I can find abiding peace and overflowing joy and crazy freedom from this troubled broken place I'm in? Why didn't anyone ever tell me this?"
To abide is to live in Christ and for Christ to live in me. To make a home in each other!
To help us understand this deep, eternal mystery of abiding, Jesus once again pulls a word picture from the world around Him. In this case, the garden...
John 15:1-8 (TLB)
"I am the true Vine, and my Father is the Gardener. He lops off every branch that doesn't produce. And he prunes those branches that bear fruit for even larger crops. He has already tended you by pruning you back for greater strength and usefulness by means of the commands I gave you. Take care to live in me, and let me live in you. For a branch can't produce fruit when severed from the vine. Nor can you be fruitful apart from me.
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"Yes, I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in me and I in him shall produce a large crop of fruit. For apart from me you can't do a thing. If anyone separates from me, he is thrown away like a useless branch, withers, and is gathered into a pile with all the others and burned. But if you stay in me and obey my commands, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted! My true disciples produce bountiful harvests. This brings great glory to my Father."
Here he is drawing our attention to an organic relationship, not a legalistic one. The idea is that if the soil is good (Mark 4, Matthew 13 – Parable of the Soils) and our spiritual roots are deep (Colossians 2:7 among many others) and we are planted near good water (Jeremiah 17:8 also among others) and have ample sunlight (John 8:12, again among others), then we cannot help but produce good fruit.
This fruit is not the number of verses memorized or church attendance or robust giving (not awful things as far as they go) but rather a fruit of "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control" (Galatians 5:22). Fruit trees do not strive and strain and set their will to grow fruit. It just happens. And it is this fruit that gives evidence of our lives in Him.
We can now rest in the abiding Hope and Grace and Mercy that is Jesus Christ.
This is Dave Scherrer and this is also Backyard Conversations. We will remain here on this topic another blog! There is much more to explore about how to practically abide well!
