Elevate Your Day with Andi and Brian Hale

A Living Relationship

“If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown out like a branch, and dries up; and such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, and are burned.” (NET)
Into the Text
A simple fact: a branch that is not connected to the vine has no life flowing through it, so it withers and dies. Without a true connection to Jesus, a person is like that branch, dead and unable to bear any Lasting Fruit.
Jesus has already said in verse 2 that His Father, the Vinedresser, “takes away every branch that does not bear fruit in me.” And in verse 8, He says that the proof of a person being a true disciple is that he or she will bear much Fruit.
While there are many in the church today who claim to be Christians, if all they produce is bad, rotten Fruit, they are not true disciples of Jesus and have never been attached to the Vine. While such people may fool others for a while, their Fruitless life will ultimately make it clear that they did not belong to Jesus. The Father will judge and destroy such branches in the end. The Vinedresser is not surprised by this, and He is still in control.
At the same time, we may be confident that if we have truly surrendered ourselves to Jesus, the Father will make sure that we bear Fruit. He has promised it. He will judge those who don’t belong, but He prunes and disciplines those who do. He will cut away the dead branches but cultivate the living ones.

Bearing Lasting Fruit

“I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me—and I in him—bears much fruit, because apart from me you can accomplish nothing.” (NET)
Into the Text
I love how Jesus says, “bears much fruit…” It’s as if He’s gently reminding us that our lives are meant to overflow with Spiritual Fruit. But here’s the best part. We aren’t expected to produce it in our own strength. You, my sweet friend, are utterly unable to make this Fruit grow. It’s a task that we do together with Jesus.
Our part is to stay connected and rooted in Him. It’s not a passive wanting to remain connected to Christ, but a daily coming to Him in faith and prayer for help. In these actions, He’s the One who supplies everything we need—our Strength, Wisdom, and Nourishment. As we draw from His Life, He produces Amazing Fruit through us.
Too often, we think we have to strive, push, or muster up the strength to produce Fruit. But the truth is, we don’t bear Fruit by struggling. We bear Fruit by abiding. Through Jesus, we already have everything we need to grow and bear Good Fruit. Abiding in Jesus means realizing and believing that we have been united to Him. Everything He has, He wants to give to us: His Joy, His Love, His Purity, His Life, His All.
So, if you’re feeling weak or overwhelmed by life’s demands, remember your role. You are the branch—not the Vine. When we’re weak, He is Strong, and it’s perfectly okay to lean into that Truth. Apart from Him, we can do nothing. When we abide in Him, He does the heavy lifting.

Abiding in Jesus to Bear Fruit

“You are clean already because of the word that I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.” (NET)
When I read John 15:3-4, I imagine Jesus leaning in and looking each of the disciples in the eyes. “Remain in me, and I will remain in you….” (NET) It is a promise. Jesus knew that for each of the disciples to become useful in their life and ministry, they would need to abide in Him.
The same Truth applies to us today. We can do nothing of lasting value apart from Jesus. Just as branches must remain connected to the vine for nourishment and growth, we, too, must remain rooted in Jesus for the Spiritual Strength we need to flourish.
When new branches start to grow, they often droop low to the ground. As they touch the soil, dirt and mud begin to cling to them, which can stop them from growing strong and bearing good fruit. To help them thrive, a gardener has to gently lift the branches, carefully washing away the dirt, so they can reach their full potential and produce good fruit.
For us, we experience a similar “cleaning” through God’s Word. As we read and renew our minds with Scripture, God shows us areas in our lives where things need to change. It may be areas where sin has muddied our lives and hindered us from receiving the nourishment we need to grow. But hope is not lost. Through God’s Word, it’s as if He lovingly lifts, cleanses, and restores us, allowing us to grow and bear the Good Fruit we were created to produce.

Walking In The Light

Elevate your day is a short daily devotional from Brian and Andi Hale, and can be found at elevateyourday.podbean.com
“If we say we have fellowship with Him and yet keep on walking in the darkness, we are lying and not practicing the truth.” 
Abiding in Christ means choosing to walk in His Light, live transparently before Him, and allow His Truth to shape every part of our lives. But sin disrupts this fellowship and creates a distance between us and God.
That is why we need to make confessing our sins to God a regular habit in our lives. Confession is a powerful, freeing practice that keeps our hearts free and aligned with God. It isn’t simply about listing our wrongs and moving forward without any change. It’s about bringing all our sins before Him because we are truly sorry, surrendering fully to His Grace, and walking in humility and obedience.
As we confess, Jesus steps into our brokenness and heals us. He reminds us that His Love and Grace are greater than our failures.
This ongoing process of confession and cleansing is essential to bearing Fruit. Just as a vine requires clean, unhindered pathways to deliver nutrients to its branches, we need to keep the pathway to Christ open. When we confess, we allow the Holy Spirit to flush out all the accumulated dirt. This is where True Fruit is born, not from our own efforts but from a heart fully surrendered to Him.
Abiding in Christ is an act of trust. Even when we fall short, He is Faithful to restore us. Confession isn’t a burden but an invitation to have our guilt removed, to walk more intimately with Jesus, and let His Love work deeply in our hearts.

Letting Our Light Shine

Elevate Your Day is a short daily devotional produced by Andi and Brian Hale, M-F and can be found at elevateyourday.podbean.com
"In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven.” - Matthew 5:16
The Light that we are called to shine through our lives is not for others to better see us, but to better see Christ. When we abide in Jesus, our lives begin to reflect His Light, shining in a world that desperately needs to see Him. This Light is the evidence of God’s Love within us, transforming our lives and radiating out to bless those around us.
As we learn to abide in Jesus, something beautiful happens: gratitude begins to overflow in our hearts. We start to see God’s Goodness in every moment. Praise becomes part of our daily rhythm. It’s not just a quick “thank you” here and there but a deep and constant awareness of and gratitude for His Presence.
Our lives become a testimony of God’s Faithfulness, a Light that points others to His Love. It’s shown in acts of kindness, forgiving those who’ve wronged us, speaking comfort into someone’s pain, and choosing humility over pride. When we abide in Christ, we find that our good deeds are simply the natural overflow of His Love in us.
Sweet friend, your Light may seem small at times, but Jesus assures us that God uses every act of faithfulness and obedience to bring Him Glory. The impact of your abiding life goes far beyond what you can see or even imagine. When we choose to live as a Light for Him, we’re part of something Eternal, pointing others to the source of all Light—Jesus Himself, the Light of the World.

The God Who Works Within Us

Friend, God is always at work in your life, even when you don’t realize it. While we’re called to intentionally pursue our faith, it’s God Himself who works within us. He is the One giving us both the desire and the strength to live according to His Will.
Staying connected to Jesus, the Vine, and allowing God to transform you is what it means to abide. Abiding isn’t about perfection or instant change. It’s about daily surrendering to God’s Work within, trusting that He is Faithful to complete what He started. As we stay close to Jesus, we start to see our desires shift, our hearts soften, and our lives begin to bear the Fruit of His Spirit. Every moment spent in His Word, every prayer whispered, and every act of surrender are part of that incredible process.
While the Bible calls us to “continue working out your salvation,” it also makes it clear that the only reason we are able to do so is because God makes it possible. He knows that we are utterly helpless without Him, unable to produce any Fruit at all. What He asks of us is to admit our own weakness, then, in faith, ask Him to provide everything we need in order to fight sin and live a victorious Christian life.
God is both the Source and Sustainer of our faith. As we remain in Him, He works through us, producing Fruit that will last, bringing Glory to Him and blessings to others.

Trusting The Gardener's Pruning

I’ll never forget the day our new lawn company came to “treat and trim” our yard after we had moved into our home. What I didn’t realize was that it was pruning season. By the time they finished, they’d cut the rose bushes back so much that they looked like nothing but sticks. I wondered if they’d survive.
But to my surprise, not only did the bushes come back, but they grew fuller, stronger, and more beautiful than before. Though it seemed harsh, I learned that pruning allowed the bushes to grow healthier and bear more blooms.
God, our Loving Gardener, does the same with us. He removes the parts of our lives that hinder growth, cutting away what holds us back from producing Spiritual Fruit. God’s Pruning might look like losing a relationship, sickness, the loss of a loved one, a difficult marriage, a traumatic experience, stepping back for a season, or letting go of old habits or tightly held plans. These hardships are not sent at random but by a Wise Gardener who knows exactly what each one of us needs in order to become a Fruitful Branch.
Our lives and the Fruit we bear are meant to glorify Him and bless others. That’s why our Heavenly Father will not leave us the way we are. Being disciplined or pruned may hurt us, but it will never harm us. God is always after our good, and we can trust Him with every “treat and trim” He makes in our lives.
 

Jesus is the True Vine

I’ll be honest. I’m not much of a gardener. I wish I were! But I can tell the difference right away between a garden that’s lovingly tended and one that’s been left to itself. Without a gardener, plants either wither and die or grow wild and unruly. In both cases, they fail to thrive and fulfill the purpose they were planted for. However, when a gardener steps in, the garden is transformed. With the right mix of love, care, and wise cultivation, the garden becomes a place of life and purpose, offering nourishment and beauty.
The same is true for us. God, our Ultimate Gardener, is the One who tends to our lives with love and care. In Genesis, we see this beautifully displayed as He places Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden—a place overflowing with life, beauty, and abundance. Before sin entered the world, we were given a glimpse of a life of perfect abiding. It was a life where all they needed, every joy and source of strength, came from their relationship with God.
Just as with plants, where we draw our nourishment matters. Who or what we’re connected to will either bring us life or drain it away. Jesus tells us He is the True Vine, with God as the Gardener of our lives. God lovingly tends to us, shaping us for Fruitfulness. He prunes, waters, and provides all we need for Spiritual Growth, but we must stay connected to the Vine, Jesus.
As we abide in Him, we find everything we need for a Fruitful life that brings Glory to God.
 

No Approval Needed

When Making Others Happy Is Making You Miserable
Day One: No Approval NeededKey Verse: Proverbs 29:25
At the height of the coronavirus pandemic, our adult son had to abruptly return to America from Australia where he’d been living on a work visa. He rented a room from us for a few months until he could make his next move in life.
We soon noticed mail addressed to him stuffing our mailbox. As a member of Generation Z, he became a potential client for nearly every credit card company in existence, many showcasing a zero percent introductory interest rate with no annual fee. Stamped on the envelopes of these offers in large, eye-catching letters was this phrase: NO APPROVAL NEEDED. Now, if only we Christ-followers would understand this concept in our interactions with others!
Constantly seeking the approval of humans leads to people-pleasing. A few years ago, I realized that I didn’t just like to please people, I was also afraid of them. Maybe not afraid that they were going to do something to hurt me, but afraid of what they might think of me. Or scared of what they’d say about me. Or fearful of disappointing them. And so, I fell into the people-pleasing trap—big time!
Proverbs 29:25 declares “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.” (NIV)You might know the meaning of the word snare in English. It means “a trap,” much like one set to catch an animal. But the word as it is used carries a connotation that goes far beyond critter catching.
In the original Hebrew, the word translated in English as snare is the word moqesh. Moqesh doesn’t merely mean a trap for prey, it also carries the concept of bait or a lure. It indicates an animal, object, or person that is enticing, causing another to stop what they’re doing and insert themselves into a hazardous situation because of the “prize” set before them. Before they know it, they’re trapped!
Have you ever been enticed to say something you didn’t really mean to gain someone’s approval? You know, give your coworker an untrue compliment or rave about your neighbor’s new ginormous garden statue, that you don’t care for but that he is obsessed with?
Are you tempted to say yes to requests when you’d much rather say no just to avoid the uncomfortableness of turning the asker down? Is there a relationship in your life where your heartstrings are constantly tugged? And perhaps, worst of all, is there, someone, with whom you have a dysfunctional relationship, and you dread making them sad or upset, so you constantly take the bait and give in, just to garner their approval?
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then you, my friend, have been caught in a moqesh.
So, what are we to do to free ourselves from this snare? We wriggle free when we realize we do not constantly need the approval of others. We have already secured the greatest approval of all—that of being a child of the Most High God. It is he who can grant us the courage to resist being caught.
Second Timothy 1:7 reads, “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline” (NASB). Let’s tap into this spirit of bravery—harnessing its power to truly love people by being honest with them, and disciplining our minds to remember that we already have God’s approval, so we don’t need to seek it from others.
Will you dare to begin making choices based on what God wants you to do rather than based on if someone else approves? We can learn to trust our lives to God, giving responses that line up with His Word, carried out with confidence, not timidity.
Respond
How does the image of a snare accurately apply to situations where you are tempted to please someone or gain their attention or approval?
When, in the future, you are tempted to make choices to gain someone’s approval, what will you remind yourself of from Proverbs 29:25 about the fear of humans?
Prayer
Father, please keep me from falling into the people-pleasing trap by constantly seeking the approval of others. Remind me how much I am already loved and cherished by You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

The Final Outcome

Victory and the Final Outcome
While Jesus was on the cross, He cried out, “It is finished.” The outcome of His sacrifice not only paid the penalty for the sins of the world, but additionally ended the regime ruled by Satan.
When Jesus rose from the dead, darkness was defeated and life prevailed. After His resurrection, Jesus said to his disciples, “All power and authority is given to Me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18). The Worthy One regained the earth from the prince darkness. Then Jesus sent His followers into the world as ambassadors of heaven to proclaim and reveal His Lordship. Our triumph is rooted in the finished work of the cross.
Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. – Ephesians 3:7-12 ESV
What is your testimony? Jesus is your testimony—the One who has destroyed the works of the devil and has brought you out of darkness into His marvelous light! By the blood of Jesus, we are forgiven, cleansed, sanctified, justified, redeemed out of darkness, have peace, and access to the throne of God.And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. – Revelation 12:11 ESVSometimes in the middle of the fight, it can be hard to see why you’re fighting. I encourage you to stay in the battle and stand firm in the armor of God. When you remind yourself of the amazing work God has done in your life and share your testimony as a witness of God’s faithfulness, the Holy Spirit will empower you to overcome even on the darkest days.
How do you testify? You testify by being a witness to what you have seen God do in your life. Has He healed you? Testify. Has He saved you? Share the Good News with others. Has He delivered you? Find someone has not experienced freedom and declare the mighty power of Jesus to that person. We can do none of this in our own power and efforts, so we clothe ourselves in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Magnificent heavenly Father, I want Your fame and glory to be spread throughout all the earth. I agree that only one name should be lifted above every other—the name of Jesus.
Thank You, Jesus, for taking my sin upon Yourself so I could be made righteous. Thank You for becoming a curse so I could receive the abundance of my Father’s blessings. Because of the shed blood at Calvary, I am a recipient of Your great grace. Jesus, when You declared from the cross, “It is finished,” Your work was complete. I take my place in Your army with the blood of the Lamb, the word of my testimony, and I lay my life down for You daily so that You can live through me. Amen and amen.