Joyful Checklist

One thing certain/in a believer's walk

at some point they will feel an uncomfortable distance between them and God

When you were a new believer/seemed like

even the most trivial prayers answered

You got all of the green lights / work

You started to notice the small details

in God's world that reflect His glory

A sunset you normally wouldn't notice...

...all of a sudden/masterpiece/painted by God.

The worries of this world began to fade away

and you finally discovered/diff/happiness/joy

But somewhere during the course of that walk...

God began to feel more and more distant.

Your prayers aren't nearly as frequent and don't seemed to be answered like they used to.

You begin to pay less attention to the constant

blessings God pours out on us and...

...the worries of this world all of a sudden returned and robbed you of your joy.

This doesn't just happen to new believers...

it happens to all of us.

Some refer to it / season of spiritual dryness

And if you've been there you know

it's a lonely place to be

Thankfully for us God has provided us w/ a

checklist / guaranteed / back on track

As Christians we are expected/commanded

to bear fruit.

Now that fruit /manifest itself / various ways

but regardless / type of fruit a Christian bears

if it is genuine, it glorifies our Father in Heaven.

In John chapter 15 Jesus gives/last of 7/I AM

W/ each of these 7 statements claiming deity

He says I am the true vine

He goes on to explain true believers/branches

and just like a physical branch depends solely

on the vine for its life, sustenance/ability fruit

We 2 must cling to/abide in Him 4 same things

John 15:4

But of course Jesus doesn't just leave us there

as that sounds really spiritual, but without

practical application we may miss out on

what it means to abide in the vine

So He provides us w/ a brief checklist starting 7

4 Abide in Me, and I in you.

As the branch cannot bear

fruit of itself, unless it abides

in the vine, neither can you,

unless you abide in Me.

John 15:7

Starting w/first part of that verse we see

His WORDS must abide in us

We have to be spending quality time in His

word consistently

Surface reading is great, but r u digging deep?

Are you diligently seeking Him...? OR

Do you set your bible down/Sunday afternoon

and don't pick it up again/Sunday morn/JIT for

If you abide in Me, and My

WORDS abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

The 2nd part of verse 7 says IF His words abide

in you, you will ask what you desire

and it shall be done for you

If you have your face buried in your Bible

you are being transformed into/image Christ

The HS is testifying to your spirit and a result is

your desires line up with His desires

When your desires line up w His/they shall be

And what's the byproduct of this?

Verse 8a

Another addition to our checklist can be found in verse 10

John 15:10

In order to abide in His love, abide in the vine

we must have a right standing with Him

We need to be living righteously

If a parent gives their child a set of expectations

and rules to follow and the child chooses to...

8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit;

10 If you keep My

commandments,

you will abide in My love,

just as I have kept My

Father’s commandments

and abide in His love.

...disobey constantly or only obeys when it's

convenient for the child...

There will be a wedge or tension between the

parent and child

The love remains... The loyalty remains

But that parent won't be rushing out to

shower the child with gifts, encouraging the

rebellious behavior/not if they r a good parent

That tension that wedge PG describes / kinking

When we are not in a right standing w/God

kinking/quenching the power/our sustenance.

In verse 11 He gives us one example of fruit

we can expect to bear

when we are able to successfully check these

items off of our checklist

JOY - which is one of the fruits of the Spirit

So let's review our checklist/1.Study His word 2.Be in prayer/3 Live an obedient life

11 “These things I have

spoken to you, that My

joy may remain in you,

and that your joy may be full.

And you are guaranteed to bear much fruit that glorifies your Father in Heaven

...and you will have joy

And so what's the opposite of that?

If you are not studying His word

you are not in prayer / you are choosing only to obey when it's convenient / you will

not bear much fruit/will not glorify your

Father in Heaven and can't expect/exp. joy

Now I'm not saying this explains every dry

season, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and

say it explains most

So if you are currently in one of these seasons...How are you doing on that checklist?

We tend to complicate and over spiritualize

things, but a breakdown of His word brings

clarity

The Lord is faithful

He's provided us a blueprint

We just have to follow His lead

as this describes His earthly ministry to a tee

And He even sent the The Advocate

The Helper to see us through.

Thank you for your time

and I'll see you down the road