Have you ever scrolled through social media looking at pictures of people having fun together and ended up feeling like you didn’t have a friend in the world? Seeing all the Best Friends Forever pictures can make you feel lonely when your kids have the chicken pox, and you haven’t seen a living adult soul in 2.5 weeks.
I don’t know about you, but I tend to let my happiness revolve around my relationships. Which works well if our family and friends are always perfect and perfectly present to us 100% of the time.
But for most of us, basing our happiness on our relationships is shaky ground. We learned that back in middle school when that girl wouldn’t sit with us on the bus. As adult women, we learn it all over again when our husbands just can’t quite understand us, or a friend hurts our feelings.
Do you ever wish you had a best friend who would always be there to listen and never let you down?
We forget our most vital relationship is with Jesus.
When we invest solidly in our relationship with Jesus, all our other relationships tend to improve. We feel happier and more peaceful.
In John 15, our Savior calls us friends. Jesus is the only Forever Faithful Friend who never fails to satisfy our needs. Our relationship with Him is the only solid ground we can build our lives on.
Yet sometimes everyday life gets in the way of our relationship with Jesus.
John 15 offers 3 keys to build a deeper, sweeter relationship with Christ.
Abide in Him
“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.” (John 15:4)
The Lord knew the challenges and responsibilities of daily life would turn our focus away from Him, so He gave us a key command: abide. When we abide in Christ, we make our home with Him, we remember Him, we talk to Him, and we call on Him when we encounter difficulties too big for us. We rely on Him.
Abiding in Jesus requires that we intentionally turn our hearts towards Him.
Live it out: Seek to abide in Christ today by returning to Him often in your thoughts and prayers. Ask Him to bless and help you in each task. Call on Him each time you have a need throughout the day
Abide in His Love
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.” (John 15:9)
Sometimes it’s not our own busyness, but disappointment or hurt that gets in the way of our relationship with Jesus. When we remind ourselves over and over again of His great love, we abide in it. To abide in His love, we pour over Scriptures that remind us of it, and we pray, asking Him to make it more real to us.
Live it out: How about taking a moment to sit still, turn your heart towards Jesus, and thank him for His death on the cross for you? Ask Him to pour His love into your heart. Sit with that a moment and pray, “Lord, I receive your love.”
Keep His Words
“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.” (John 15:10)
Have you ever experienced frustration in a relationship when a child or loved one totally disregards your wishes or directions? One way we bring sweetness and health to our relationship with Christ is to obey Him.
To keep His commands, we need to first read and know them. John 14 gives an important hint about keeping God’s commands: “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me” (John 14:21a). I love that image of having or holding God’s commandments. We cannot keep what we do not know, so to keep God’s commands, we have to read His Word.
Live it out: One way to jumpstart your relationship with Christ is to set aside 10 minutes each morning to read Scripture and choose one truth you want to obey or put into practice that day.
We can build our relationship with Christ by remembering and putting into practice two simple words: Abide and Keep.
As we seek to abide in Jesus and keep His word, He promises us a fruitful life. When we seek to build our relationship with Jesus first, our other relationships will grow healthier, and our work will bear more fruit. We’ll find more joy and peace when we center our lives around Jesus.
Now it’s your turn: What challenges make it harder for you to live out a close relationship with Jesus?
Need ideas on how to get more out of your quiet time? I wrote More of God: A Distracted Woman’s Guide to More Meaningful Quiet Times to help overwhelmed and distracted women recover a fresh sense of God’s presence, learn to hear His voice, and grow their prayer lives. Click on the image below for more info:
Note: This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase, I earn a small commission towards the maintenance of this site at no extra cost to you.
Are you facing the challenges of life on an empty tank? Need help renewing your relationship with God?
Betsy
I love this post. I want to move towards spending time in am reading the Bible but not sure how to or where to start. Would this book apply to a man as well? I am by no means trying to put you on the spot just looking for guidance.
Thanks
Charles
Hi there, Charles! So great to hear from you! Thanks again for calling me the other day. I’m glad you did end up finding the book helpful!
Thank you Betsy for your uplifting words! I am currently going through a bad relationship and battling alcoholism..I pray everyday God will get me out of this stupor..Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding, in all your ways submit to Him and He will make your paths straight! I hope I got the verse right! I know you can fight evil by knowing the Bible! I love Dr. Charles Stanley also!! Pray for me please..
Busyness used to distract me when I was working full-time. I found it hard to prioritize time reading the Bible and sitting quietly in His presence. I have more time available now and sometimes I find myself “wading through” programs, studies, podcasts, etc. That practice of reading God’s Word first in the morning works for me.
Hello everyone
My name is Charles and I am a man I felt compelled to leave this comment not something that I normally do. It’s in reference to the book more of God a distracted woman’s guide to a meaningful quiet times some thing that really interested me and I felt like I wanted to start a quiet time with God each day as I have fallen far away from God due to distractions and different reasons.
I am on my second day of my time with God and this is amazing to me as I read this book I actually am trying some of the suggestions and I sit inviting God to be with me during this time and on my second day there is no doubt in my mind he revealed something to me today.
I was struggling a couple weeks ago to order this book or not as it does say a guide for women. I was at HEB the other day and ran into a friend I haven’t seen in a long time. We were just talking quickly at H-E-B and I have no idea why I brought up ordering this book that was written by Betsy and I wasn’t sure if I should order or not because it was for women. She said God doesn’t care if you’re a man or woman order the book. Now first of all I have never discussed with her anything about church God anything like that I didn’t really think anything about it but I went home and ordered the book. As I started my time with God today I was just talking to him reading this book out loud with him and all of a sudden he revealed to me why do you think I had you and Diane meet at that time at H-E-B and even discuss this book it was the first time that I really know for sure that God revealed something to me and there is no doubt in my mind that he had us meet at that time discuss something we’ve never talked about before And order this book and start my my time with God. I’m in the middle of chapter 5 right now and during my time with God when I invite him to be here I read this book and I talk to him as I read it And feel his presence thank you God for this book and what you’re showing me. I have to say I’m a little hesitant to post this as I said in something I normally do but I am going to go ahead and hit the send button and hope it encourages someone else as well.
Charles
Thanks so much for sharing these encouraging words, Charles. Your call the other morning made my day! I am so glad you took the time to share this. I want to tell a friend in Austin about it because she says God-things always happen at HEB!
Please tell your friend about it.
We love our HEB
CHARLES
Will do! I love HEB too. Dallas does not have it. (A definite downside!)