Episode Transcript
[00:00:07] Speaker A: Welcome to the Weekday Podcast of Sugar Hill Church, where we desire to help you know God and discover your purpose, whether you're exercising, driving, meditating, or just hanging out while you tune in with us today. Thanks. We hope these next five minutes help you feel encouraged and inspired for your day.
[00:00:22] Speaker B: Well, hey friends, it's so great to have you on today's weekday podcast. Thanks for hanging out with us for a couple of minutes today.
I just want to remind you that you're not meant to fake a relationship with Jesus. Jesus said in John 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him. He bears much fruit, but apart from me, you can do nothing. Now, I don't know if you've ever tried to fake something important, whether you pretended you understood a topic that you really knew nothing about, or if you tried to replicate a skill that you hadn't mastered. It may work for a little while, but but eventually the truth will come out. And this is especially true when it comes to our relationship with Jesus. You simply can't fake it. Jesus makes it clear that real, lasting results in our lives comes from this genuine connection with Him. When he says, apart from me, you can do nothing, he means that without this authentic relationship with him, all of our efforts are actually fruitless, and it goes against the grain of what the world teaches us. In our results driven society, we're often told that outcomes matter more than anything else. But Jesus flips this on its head, showing us that relationships precede results. Think about the Pharisees. They started with good intentions, but they ended up focused on rules and external appearances. Instead of this internal relationship with God and their rigid adherence to the law. It suffocated their spiritual vitality and it resulted in dead, horrible, hollow practices. Jesus makes it so clear. Man made results. They're not in sync with what he desires. Genuine fruit. It comes only from abiding in Him. This is also true in earthly relationships. If you merely go through the motions without actually investing emotionally and relationally, those connections will eventually wither. And the same is true in our relationship with Jesus. We've got to think relationally, not religiously. External results without an internal relationship ends up producing dead fruit. A dead machine cannot produce results, but it lacks the life that true fruit requires. Bearing fruit in our life demands a disciplined commitment, much like tending a garden. It requires time, effort, good soil, sunlight and rain. Conditions that only come from being rooted in Jesus. Trying to live like Jesus without connecting with him is like trying to bake a cake from scratch. Without a recipe, without flour, it just won't happen.
You cannot produce real fruit with fake connections. Nothing goes right when our hearts are wrong. That's why remaining or abiding in Jesus is such a big deal. It's the only way to produce lasting, meaningful fruit. Fruitless branches, those with no living connection to the vine, they're eventually cut off. The false peace, the false confidence that comes from willful disobedience, it just won't last long. So today I want to encourage you, let's focus on the relationship and the instead of the results, let's prioritize abiding in Jesus, knowing that true, lasting fruit can only come from Him. Because you can't fake a relationship with Jesus. Authentic connection leads to genuine transformation thanks so much for being with us on the podcast. We look forward to seeing you back here very soon.
[00:03:27] Speaker A: Thanks so much for joining us today for the weekday podcast. Our prayer is that the encouragement you just heard would help you live more like Jesus today. We would love to see you at Sugar Hill Church for one of our gatherings each Sunday, Sunday at 9, 15 and 11 and we're always streaming live at Live Sugarhill Church. Thanks again for joining us today. As always, if today's message encouraged you, share it with friends and family by tapping the share button. Have an awesome day.
