John 15:5 (NLT)
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”
The refinement seasons we walk through are nothing short of uncomfortable. I’m in that kind of season right now, and honestly, it’s been pulling things to the surface that I thought I had already dealt with a long time ago. And to be completely honest, I feel a little embarrassed. Embarrassed that I’m still learning lessons I assumed I should have already mastered after being on this walk with God since I was a child. I’ve been through a lot, and I would’ve thought by now some things would already be settled in me. And yet, here I am—still learning what it really means to abide in Christ.
I don’t know about everyone else, but to me it can seem so simple on the surface—just abide in Jesus Christ. Just stay close to Him. Just be okay with it being me and the Lord. But the truth is, this is something I struggle with. I don’t like being alone or even feeling alone. And yet in John 15:4 (NLT), Jesus says, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.” Remaining in Christ sounds simple, but living it out is another story. Our flesh pulls toward everything else—the noise, distractions, and the fast pace of the world.
As for me, I don’t really want the fast life. I want the quiet, peaceful kind of life—the kind where I come home from work, kick my feet up, and just breathe. I could live like that every day. But even with that desire, I still realize something deeper—I don’t want to do life alone. I want partnership. And what I’m learning is that in order to really have the kind of life I desire, I first have to learn how to nurture the partnership that matters most. My relationship with Christ has to come first, before anything or anyone else.
What we have to learn is that our relationship with Jesus Christ is always number one. He’s the glue that holds everything together. Before we try to nurture anything outside of Him, we have to learn how to abide in Him—to simply live with just us and Him—one on one. In Matthew 6:33 (NLT), Jesus says, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” This is a promise, but it’s also a process. It’s something we have to learn to walk out daily. Because seeking Him first is not always automatic for us—it’s something God shapes in us over time as we keep choosing Him over everything else.
It requires us to be honest with God about where our heart really is. He knows when we’re giving Him something real and when we’re just going through the motions. He knows when our hearts are fully in it, and He also knows when we’re just saying the right words. We can’t really fool Him. Scripture shows us this when it talks about the offerings of Cain and Abel—one was given with the right heart, and the other wasn’t pleasing to God. In the same way, we have to ask Heavenly Father to help us give Him our best, not out of pressure or wanting something in return, but because we’re learning how to truly abide in His presence.
So in the end, learning to abide in Jesus Christ is not just a moment, it’s a way of life. It’s daily, sometimes even hourly for me, choosing to stay close to Him when everything in me wants to pull away or fill the space with something else. And what I’m learning through all of this is that without real closeness to Christ—the kind that meets me in the morning and stays with me throughout the night—I’m not as strong or as fruitful as I think I am on my own. Life has a way of showing me quickly that I cannot produce anything lasting apart from Him. But when I stay close, even in uncomfortable seasons, He is still shaping me, still holding me, still growing something in me that I could never build by myself. Even when I don’t fully understand what He’s doing, I know beyond a shadow of doubt that there is no greater place to be than abiding in Him. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Learning to Abide in Jesus Christ”, written by KLizzie, edited by Reverend Fran Mack, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2026. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.
