John 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Have you ever noticed that the older and more productive branches grow thicker and look more and more like the vine? They are still the branches, they are not the vine, but over time it becomes harder to distinguish where one leaves off and the other begins.

Such is the abiding presence of us in Christ. The secret of that gradual and steady change is in the abiding. If you do not abide, you stop growing. If you stop growing, you stop being productive.

1 John 2:14 I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.

Have you ever said, “I’ve read the bible.” Not in the sense that it is part of your daily experience but as a thing done in the past. That isn’t abiding in the word. We are human and therefore subject to decay. Our minds will remember selectively, without accuracy, without relevance if it is not refreshed continually.

Acts 6:4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.

Do not tell yourself that you are not an apostle and therefore this word does not apply to you. Until you discover who you are in Christ, never say to yourself, this does not apply to me. That is cutting off the source of spiritual growth before you come of age to discover who you are in Christ.

Life can be very frustrating and the enemy is trying to keep you from becoming that most effective tool for Christ. Even if you discover your identity, Satan seeks to dull you. Do not forsake the reading of the word. Do not forsake discipleship and accountability.

Romans 14:1-3 Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.

Faith needs to be exercised or it will remain weak. Exercise will also increase the appetite. You will find that an increase in appetite drives the desire for strong meat.

A common mistake in sharing these verses is the assumption that those who are weak in faith need nothing but God. These words are about attitudes towards those that are weak in faith. If we were to encourage them to stay weak why do we have pastors, teachers, sermons, lessons, and Sunday school?

Few churches today have discipleship classes. The assumption that making disciples only involves witnessing and making baby Christians misses the whole point of discipleship. If I were to put this in the framework of exercising faith, then I would ask you to step into the gym. Here we have many different pieces of equipment which are designed to build up certain muscle groups. In order to understand how each piece of equipment works and how to properly use them in order to obtain the most out of your time in the gym, you need a trainer.

In this gym the trainer is not the Holy Spirit, it is another disciple using the equipment and profiting from his own exercise. That disciple will give you a better understanding of how all the equipment works together to promote faith growth. In this case the equipment is the Word of God.

James 1:22-24 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

They place mirrors in a gym to allow you to check your form, not your vanity.