27 Marriage Devotional: 5 Ways to Abide in Christ Together

Show notes

About This Episode Week 27 of the Marriage After God devotional series is about the opposite of hiding from God: abiding in Him. Aaron and Jennifer open with John 15, where Jesus calls Himself the true vine and tells His disciples that apart from Him they can do nothing. From there they ask an uncomfortable question every couple should sit with: when you are sad, hurt, bored or angry, where do you run? To your spouse, a screen, food, work, or to Christ? Then they walk through five practical ways to abide: be in God's Word daily, seek communion with God through prayer, live as a living sacrifice, rely on the Holy Spirit, and obey Jesus' command to love one another. Along the way they talk about family Bible time, repentance as a gift, God's pruning, and why the fruit of abiding shows up first in your marriage and your children.

About Aaron & Jennifer Smith Aaron and Jennifer Smith are the founders of Marriage After God and authors of Husband After God, Wife After God, and Marriage After God. Married since 2007 and raising six children in Bend, Oregon, they started Husband Revolution and Unveiled Wife to share what God was teaching them, not from a place of having it figured out, but as fellow travelers pointing couples back to Jesus.

In This Episode 00:00 — Intro — Opening and series introduction 00:27 — Welcome to week 27 — Aaron and Jennifer open the devotional series and point to the Husband After God and Wife After God books. 01:24 — From hiding to abiding — After last week's episode on hiding from God, today turns toward running to intimacy with Him. 02:21 — What abide means — To abide is to stay and remain, and it fuels both our marriages and our walks with Christ. 02:48 — John 15: the true vine — Jesus' words on the vine, the branches, pruning and why apart from Him we can do nothing. 05:21 — A responsive love — A reading from Husband After God on what abiding in God looks like day to day. 06:17 — Where do you get your strength? — A hard question: are we drawing life from our spouse, work or hobbies instead of Christ? 07:45 — Celery in water — Jennifer's propagation analogy for growth that looks real but can't last without real soil. 08:43 — Where do you run when you're hurting? — An honest test of what we reach for when we're sad, bored, tired or angry. 11:42 — Way 1: Be in the Word daily — Psalm 119:1–8 and why the longest chapter in the Bible is all about God's Word. 14:02 — Treasure God's Word — Matthew 6:19–21 and Luke 6:43–45 on how what fills the heart overflows from the mouth. 15:28 — Family Bible time — Proverbs 22:6 and a warning to parents not to leave their children's discipleship to the world. 17:50 — Way 2: Communion through prayer — Unveiling your heart to God, the prayer roots of this ministry and The Marriage Gift. 19:49 — Ask, seek, knock — Matthew 7:7–8 and Hebrews 11:6: God rewards those who seek Him. 21:30 — Way 3: Be a living sacrifice — Putting the flesh to death, firstborns dedicated to God and living as a portrait of Jesus. 23:32 — Run with endurance — Hebrews 12:1–2 and why repentance is a gift that helps us put sin away. 25:29 — Practicing repentance — Abiding doesn't mean never sinning; it means staying sensitive to conviction and returning. 26:25 — Pruning and washing — Sanctification as Christ washing His bride, and choosing to stay rather than run. 27:24 — Way 4: Rely on the Holy Spirit — Acts 1:8 and why we were never meant to love our spouse or lead our home alone. 29:18 — Flesh versus Spirit — Galatians 5:16–18, 2 Peter 1:3 and Romans 8:10–17 on the power at work in us. 31:42 — Way 5: Obey the command to love — John 15:10–12 and what Jesus' one commandment actually is. 33:09 — Jesus learned to love — How Christ chose love under insult and suffering, and calls us to love the same way. 34:37 — Can you love without abiding? — Worldly love versus love rooted in God, and why you can't abide and hate your brother. 37:03 — Loving by the Spirit — Putting self aside, serving real needs and how all five ways weave together. 38:29 — Relentlessly pursuing intimacy — The Marriage After God quote and the picture of drawing closer to the light. 39:23 — Discussion questions — How your family benefits from your abiding and how intimacy with God shapes marriage. 41:48 — Call to action and prayer — This week's challenge to thank God, seek communion and obey, then a closing prayer.

Scripture Referenced John 15:1–12, Psalm 119:1–8, Matthew 6:19–21, Luke 6:43–45, Proverbs 22:6, Matthew 7:7–8, Hebrews 11:6, Hebrews 12:1–2, Acts 1:8, Galatians 5:16–18, 2 Peter 1:3, Romans 8:10–17, Ephesians 5:25–27, Galatians 2:20, 1 John 4:20

Resources from This Episode Husband After God by Aaron Smith Wife After God by Jennifer Smith Marriage After God by Aaron & Jennifer Smith Shop Marriage After God Full show notes and blog post

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