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Day 6 of 6

Abide in Me

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Stay Connected or Get Clipped.

Q: What Does the Bible Say About Discipleship?

Jesus said 'follow me' — and that changes everything about how you live.

John 15 — Where Jesus promotes you from servant to friend and tells you what it'll cost

5 min read

Key Takeaways

📢 Chapter 15 — Stay Connected or Get Clipped 🍇

This is still the night before the . and His have just left the upper room, and He's still pouring into them — knowing these are some of the last words they'll hear before everything changes. The farewell discourse continues, and Jesus reaches for a metaphor everyone in would understand: a vineyard.

Inside this Chapter

Love Faith Purpose Identity Community Rejection Relationships Spiritual Warfare

Events in this Chapter

Jesus' Farewell Discourse

Questions about this Chapter

application

What Does the Bible Say About Discipleship?

application

What Does the Bible Say About Friendship?

application

What Does the Bible Say About Joy?

From the Spotlight

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The Loneliness Epidemic

The first thing God called 'not good' wasn't sin. It was a person being alone. Genesis 2:18.

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Reflect

Jesus says to abide. That means stay, remain, don't run off to do something. Can you do that?

Looking back over this week, what lie about productivity or rest has been exposed?

What follows is one of the most vivid pictures of what it means to follow Jesus. Not just believe in Him, not just show up on Sundays — but to stay connected to Him the way a branch stays connected to a vine. Because without that connection? You've got nothing.

The Vine and the Branches 🍇

Growth

starts with one of His "" statements — and this one cuts deep:

Jesus said: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. Every branch connected to me that doesn't produce fruit? He removes it. But every branch that IS producing fruit? He prunes it so it produces even more.

Jesus said: You're already clean because of the words I've spoken to you. Stay in me, and I'll stay in you. A branch can't produce fruit on its own — it has to stay attached to the vine. Same with you. You can't do it without me.

Jesus said: I am the vine. You are the branches. Whoever stays connected to me and I to them — that person bears a ton of fruit. Because apart from me you can do nothing.

Jesus said: If anyone doesn't stay connected to me, they're thrown out like a dead branch — they wither, get gathered up, thrown in the fire, and burned. But if you stay in me and my words stay in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. This is how my Father is glorified — when you bear much fruit and prove to be my Disciples."

That "apart from me you can do nothing" line is not Jesus being dramatic. He's being fr. The whole point of the metaphor is that branches don't generate life — the vine does. You don't produce spiritual fruit by grinding harder. You produce it by staying connected to the source. The pruning part isn't either — it's God cutting away what's holding you back so you can grow even more. 🌱

Stay in My Love 🫶

Then shifts from the vine metaphor to something even more personal:

Jesus said: "The way the Father has loved me — that's how I've loved you. Stay in my love. If you keep my commandments, you'll remain in my love, just like I've kept my Father's commandments and remain in His love.

Jesus said: I'm telling you all of this so that my joy will be in you, and your joy will be complete."

This is Jesus saying the between Him and — that perfect, eternal, unbreakable love — is the same love He has for His people. And isn't how you earn it. Obedience is how you stay in the middle of it. It's not "follow the rules or I'll stop loving you." It's "stay close, and you'll experience the fullness of what I have for you." The result? Not just . Not just comfort. Complete . That hits different. ✨

The Greatest Love and the Friend Upgrade 👑

Relationships Love

gets specific about what this looks like in practice:

Jesus said: "Here's my commandment: love each other the way I have loved you. There is no greater love than this — that someone would lay down their life for their friends.

Jesus said: You are my friends if you do what I command. I'm not calling you servants anymore. A servant doesn't know what their master is planning. But I've called you friends, because everything I've heard from my Father, I've made known to you.

Jesus said: You didn't choose me. I chose you. And I appointed you to go out and bear fruit — fruit that lasts — so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, He'll give it to you. This is what I'm commanding you: love one another."

Let that sink in. Jesus just upgraded them from servants to friends. In that culture, a servant followed orders without explanation. A friend gets brought into the inner circle. Jesus isn't just giving them tasks — He's sharing His heart with them. And that line about "you didn't choose me, I chose you"? That's not a flex. That's Jesus saying your value doesn't come from your decision to follow Him — it comes from His decision to call you. . 💯

Why the World Hates You 🌍

Rejection

Now the tone shifts. is about to be arrested, and He knows His followers are walking into a world that won't welcome them:

Jesus said: "If the world hates you, just know — it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you like its own. But because you're not of the world — because I chose you out of it — the world hates you.

Jesus said: Remember what I told you: a servant isn't greater than their master. If they persecuted me, they'll persecute you too. If they kept my word, they'll keep yours. But everything they do to you, they're doing because of my name — because they don't know the One who sent me.

Jesus said: If I hadn't come and spoken to them, they wouldn't be guilty of Sin. But now? They have no excuse. Whoever hates me hates my Father too. If I hadn't done the works among them that nobody else has ever done, they wouldn't be guilty. But they've seen it all — and they've hated both me and my Father. This fulfills what's written in The Law: 'They hated me without a cause.'"

This is Jesus being straight up with His people: following Him will cost you. The world isn't neutral — it has a posture, and that posture is opposition to God. The hate isn't because you're doing something wrong. It's because you represent Someone the world has already rejected. If Jesus — who did nothing but good — got persecuted, thinking you'll get a pass is lowkey . But notice: He's not saying this to scare them. He's preparing them so that when the hate comes, they don't think they fumbled. They'll know it's part of the deal.

The Spirit of Truth Will Show Up 🕊️

closes the chapter with a that changes everything:

Jesus said: "When the Helper comes — the one I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father — He will testify about me. And you will testify too, because you've been with me from the beginning."

Jesus isn't leaving them alone. The — not a vibe, not a feeling, but a Person sent from — is coming to back them up. The Spirit will witness about who Jesus really is, and the will do the same because they were there. They walked with Him, ate with Him, saw the with their own eyes. Their testimony isn't secondhand. And with the Holy Spirit empowering them, their witness will carry an authority the world can't explain away. 🔥

Key Takeaways

📢 Chapter 15 — Stay Connected or Get Clipped 🍇

Inside this Chapter

Events in this Chapter

Questions about this Chapter

What Does the Bible Say About Discipleship?

What Does the Bible Say About Friendship?

What Does the Bible Say About Joy?

From the Spotlight

The Loneliness Epidemic

My Notes

The Vine and the Branches 🍇

Stay in My Love 🫶

The Greatest Love and the Friend Upgrade 👑

Why the World Hates You 🌍

The Spirit of Truth Will Show Up 🕊️