My dwelling place is where fruit begins: in this fourth and final message of the series, Pastor Paul Hohman teaches that the daily habit of spending time with God is what produces lasting fruit in a believer’s life. Like a farmer, he says, every Christian reaps what he plants. Abide in Jesus, the true vine, and the fruit of the Spirit grows; feed the flesh, and its works grow instead. The choice, and the harvest, are ours.
This message continues from My Dwelling Place #3: Changes Me — How Dwelling With God Transforms You. Below are the video, a summary, the Scripture behind each point (NKJV on Bible Gateway), a timestamped outline and steps for this week.
Sermon at a Glance
Pastor Paul Hohman preached this closing message at the New Testament Church in Merrill, Wisconsin, while Dr. Hohman, the senior pastor, was away ministering and helping plant a Russian church in Minnesota. The series began with God speaking to him about building right habits, and this final part shows where those habits lead: to fruit that others can see and be drawn to. He ends with the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22–25 and prayer over the church.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Speaker | Pastor Paul Hohman |
| Series | My Dwelling Place (#4 of 4, final message) |
| Main text | Romans 12:1–2 and John 15:1–16 |
| Key theme | Daily abiding with God is the habit that produces the fruit of the Spirit |
| Length | About 56 minutes, ending in prayer |
Building Right Habits in My Dwelling Place
Pastor Paul begins by recalling the heart of the series. Christianity, he says, is not showing up to church on occasion and then living any old way we want once we leave the building. We have to discipline ourselves to build right habits, and the first habit is devotion. If we are not committed to dwelling with God every day, our priorities are out of order, because we are to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33).
Scripture describes this in many ways: abiding in Him, living and moving and having our being in Christ, sitting at the feet of Jesus, coming to the table. All of them, he says, mean spending our time with Him. And if God is love (1 John 4:8), then being with Him is how we learn to love.
We are new creations, he reminds the church. Old things have passed away and all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17), and His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22–23). Satan wants us to dwell on our mistakes, but the Bible is not joking with us. God’s Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105).
He points to the senior pastor’s testimony of Jesus showing up when he was near death on drugs. Pastor Paul is glad he did not have to reach that point; he believes God’s promises because he reads them, and without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). By choosing to dwell with God, he says, he has had his own encounters with the Most High and begins to think, act and talk like Him.
That includes seeing people through God’s eyes of compassion, because John 3:16 says God so loved the world, not only believers. “In my own strength I can do nothing,” Pastor Paul says, but in Him all things are possible.
Romans 12: Let God Give You a New Mind
A harvest is never instant. Christians, Pastor Paul says, are farmers too, and it is up to us to sow good seed if we want a good harvest. Each path we choose has its own fruit.
He reads Romans 12:1–2 from the Living Bible: give your bodies to God as a living and holy gift, do not act like the sinful people of the world, and let God give you a new mind, so that what you do will be good, pleasing and perfect. In our own strength, he says, good is mediocre and perfect is far off, but when we honor God He makes a way where there is no way.
Each believer has a part. The hand cannot say to the foot that it has no need of it (1 Corinthians 12:21), and every joint supplies. Standing on one leg, he showed how the rest of the body strains when one member will not do its job.
We have all done childish and selfish things, but the only one bringing them up is the thief who comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4), and Jesus has overcome the world (John 16:33).
Repent simply means choosing to change from old ways to God’s ways, which we learn by making Him our dwelling place. The more time we spend with Him, the more we think, speak and act like Him. Since Jesus is the Good Shepherd, we are His sheep, and “sheep produce more sheep.” People are meant to see Christ in us and be drawn to Him.
God created us in His image and likeness (Genesis 1:27) and breathed His breath of life into us (Genesis 2:7). Each of us, he says, was divinely appointed to carry out great exploits God envisioned from the foundation of the earth. If God is for us, who can be against us (Romans 8:31)? So do not grow weary while doing good (Galatians 6:9); the breakthrough is on the other side.
Guard Your Dwelling Place: Evil Company Corrupts Good Habits
Sheep beget sheep, so we belong out in the highways and byways, compelling people to come in (Luke 14:23). People are striving in their own strength and need to hear there is hope. God promises that when we seek Him with all our heart, we will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13).
That is why our company matters. “Evil company corrupts good habits” (1 Corinthians 15:33). Some hangouts may need to change, though work and family cannot always, and God understands. A steady diet of negativity and fear breeds worry, yet perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18), and that love is a wall whose name is Jesus.
It is the little foxes that spoil the vines (Song of Solomon 2:15). Small things repeated again and again begin to feel normal. Pastor Paul wants believers so full of the Holy Spirit that a check rises in their spirit when the Lord’s name is taken in vain or talk turns against God’s Word. He is not the sin police, he says, but when it starts affecting you, it is time to leave, humbly.
He still has unsaved friends, loves them and prays for them, and they come to him when something happens: “Paul, I need prayer,” or “what does the Bible say about this?” Because God’s Word lives in him, he has Scripture to share. Why do bad things happen to good people? Because we live in a fallen world, and it is the thief who destroys, not God.
He recalls the bumper stickers after NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt died, saying God needed a driver. That was not God’s plan, he says. God’s thoughts toward us are of peace and not of evil (Jeremiah 29:11), and Satan is the one trying to steal the potential and greatness God has assigned to your life. Pastor Paul knows God’s will because he spends time with his Father.
Two Roads, Two Harvests: The Works of the Flesh
There are really only two ways, Pastor Paul says. Broad is the way that leads to destruction, but narrow is the way that leads to life (Matthew 7:13–14). Galatians 5:19–21 lists the works of the flesh, from adultery and idolatry to jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, envy and drunkenness, and warns that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Pastor Paul walks through the list honestly: contentions, jealousy and selfish ambition creep into all of us. The danger is the slow build, the voice that says this one thing is okay and I will ask forgiveness before bed. God does forgive, and His faithfulness is great, but we cannot keep a steady diet of these things. No one falls overnight, he notes; it takes a little, then a little more.
The protection is a habit. Every day he has devotions with God before his family wakes, reading the Word, sometimes the same chapter for weeks, asking God to speak to him for that day. Some mornings nothing jumps off the page, yet he has still sown seed. Farmers do not always feel like doing their chores, but daily work yields the harvest.
Be real with God, he urges, and bring Him the struggle with a manager, a relationship or a pain before running to friends. He compares skipping the habit to ignoring the dentist. “My teeth are strong,” someone says, and stops brushing, and decay sets in. If we stop doing what God told us, the good we have begins to slip away.
The table below sets out the two roads as he presents them in this message.
| Road | What you sow | What it produces | Scripture |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sowing to the flesh | A steady diet of negativity, fear, bad company and “it’s just this one time” | Works of the flesh, corruption, and loss of the good you had | Galatians 5:19–21; Galatians 6:8 |
| Abiding in the vine | Daily devotion, reading the Word and time spent dwelling with God | Love, joy, peace and the rest of the fruit of the Spirit | John 15:5; Galatians 5:22–23 |
| Not abiding | Trying to do things in your own strength | A withered branch that bears nothing | John 15:6 |
| Accepting God’s training | Discipline that feels painful at the time | A harvest of righteousness and peace | Hebrews 12:11 |
He then reads Psalm 91:1–2 from the Amplified version: whoever dwells in the secret place of the Most High remains stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty, whose power no foe can withstand. Heated moments will come, and there is a real foe, but He hides us. Many times a day, Pastor Paul tells himself, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).
Abide in the Vine: How My Dwelling Place Produces Fruit
God does not hand change to us on a silver platter, Pastor Paul says. We have to apply the Word, come out from the world and be transformed by the renewing of our minds. As the saying he quotes goes, “change isn’t change unless there’s change.” Those who abide, dwell and sit at His feet will be strong and carry out great exploits.
Then comes John 15:1–16. Jesus is the true vine and the Father is the vinedresser. Every branch that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that bears fruit He prunes so it may bear more. Pruning can feel like loss, but God wants us to grow.
Picture a tree, he says. The branch draws its nutrients from the trunk, yet the fruit appears out on the branch. “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” Without Him we can do nothing. That, he says, is what building strong spiritual habits means: dwelling with the Father, talking to Him, getting to know Him and becoming like Him.
He asks the church to notice the word if. If anyone does not abide, he is cast out as a withered branch. But if you abide in Him and His words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done, and by this the Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit. It is a choice.
The same if returns in verses 10 to 14. If you keep His commandments you abide in His love, so that His joy remains in you and your joy is full. You are His friends if you do what He commands. He chose us and appointed us to go and bear fruit that remains. That fruit is not only for us; it flows out so others are drawn to His love.
To abide, he explains, means to continue on and on and to remain in union with Christ, like a marriage where two people know everything about one another. It is beyond a union; it is a covenant, and God is no covenant breaker. Daniel 11:32 says the people who know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits.
He warns against playing church. The wages of sin is still death (Romans 6:23), and there is a real heaven and a real hell. God is not mocked; whatever a man sows he reaps, and the one who sows to the flesh reaps corruption, while the one who sows to the Spirit reaps life (Galatians 6:7–8).
A Harvest of Righteousness and Peace
In 1 John 2:3–17, whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk just as He walked. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and that gives confidence to step out in faith. Whoever hates his brother walks in darkness, blinded. Satan, Pastor Paul says, creeps in with flattery and temptation. The world and its lust are passing away, but he who does the will of God abides forever.
When we abide, fruit simply comes, the way a tiny seed becomes a stalk that puts food on the table. In Hebrews 12:9–11, our earthly fathers disciplined us for a little while, but God disciplines us for our good so that we share His holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, yet it yields a harvest of righteousness and peace for those trained by it, or, as Pastor Paul puts it, those who have built the habits for it.
He closes the teaching with the fruit itself. Galatians 5:22–25 says the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control; those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh, and if we live in the Spirit, we walk in the Spirit. God does not just want us to make it; He wants us to thrive.
For anyone who has been trying without seeing it, he says the breakthrough is around the corner. Life is not a lottery ticket; God has a plan. Irritations will roll off like water off a duck’s back, and compassion will flow even toward people you once struggled with.
Living From My Dwelling Place This Week
Pastor Paul ends in prayer, asking God to forgive the church for sowing to the flesh and to help them sow seeds for righteousness, peace and joy, and declaring that perfect love casts out all fear. Here are practical steps drawn from the message:
- Guard a daily devotion. Meet with God before the day starts, even when nothing jumps off the page; you are still sowing seed.
- Refuse the replay of your past. When the enemy reminds you of old mistakes, answer that old things have passed away and His mercies are new every morning.
- Watch your steady diet. Notice which voices and habits are feeding you, and step away when they start to affect you.
- Do your part in the body. Every joint supplies; serve where God has placed you so others do not have to carry your load.
- Take things to God first. Be honest with Him about relationships, work and pain before you go to anyone else.
- Let your light draw others. Let your light so shine before men (Matthew 5:16); sheep produce sheep, so keep caring for unsaved friends.
When your past comes up, he says, “you just remind Satan of his future.”
Timestamped Outline
- 0:01 Closing the series; Dr. Hohman ministering away
- 0:48 How my dwelling place produces fruit: building right habits
- 3:23 New creations, and Satan’s reminders
- 8:36 Christians are farmers who sow seed
- 9:40 Romans 12:1–2 in the Living Bible
- 10:36 Every joint supplies
- 14:41 Sheep produce sheep; created in His image
- 17:04 Divinely appointed for great exploits
- 19:59 Evil company corrupts good habits
- 23:55 God’s plans are good, not evil
- 25:54 Galatians 5: the works of the flesh
- 30:04 Daily devotions before the family wakes
- 31:52 Ask God for help; the dentist illustration
- 36:17 Change isn’t change unless there’s change
- 37:17 John 15: the true vine
- 39:32 The word if: a choice to abide
- 45:10 Sowing to the Spirit; 1 John 2
- 49:10 Hebrews 12: a harvest of righteousness
- 50:18 The fruit of the Spirit and closing prayer
My Dwelling Place Series
This is the final message in Pastor Paul Hohman’s My Dwelling Place series. Start from the beginning or go back one message:
- First message: My Dwelling Place, Part 1: The Secret Place Habit That Comes First (Pastor Paul Hohman)
- Previous: My Dwelling Place #3: Changes Me — How Dwelling With God Transforms You
- You are here: My Dwelling Place #4: Produces Fruit — Abiding in the Vine
Frequently Asked Questions
What if my devotions feel dry?
Pastor Paul admits that some mornings nothing jumps off the page, and he may read the same chapter for weeks. He still counts it as sowing seed for that day, like the farmer who does his chores whether he feels like it or not and so yields a harvest. Faithfulness in the habit, not a feeling, is what produces fruit.
Do I have to cut off unsaved friends?
No. Pastor Paul says he has unsaved friends whom he loves and prays for, and they come to him for prayer when something happens. The issue is a steady diet: if their talk or habits begin to affect you, step away humbly, without acting better than anyone, and keep prioritizing your dwelling place with God.
Why does God prune a fruitful branch?
In John 15, even branches that bear fruit are pruned so they bear more. Pastor Paul explains that sometimes God needs to take things away from us because He wants us to grow, mature and receive greater things. Hebrews 12 says the same about discipline: unpleasant at the time, but it yields a harvest of righteousness and peace.
Scripture References
All passages open in the New King James Version on Bible Gateway:
- Romans 12:1–2 — a living sacrifice and a renewed mind
- John 15:1–16 — abide in the vine and bear fruit
- Galatians 5:19–21 — the works of the flesh
- Galatians 5:22–25 — the fruit of the Spirit
- Psalm 91:1–2 — dwelling in the secret place
- 1 Corinthians 15:33 — evil company corrupts good habits
- 1 John 2:3–17 — walk as He walked
- Hebrews 12:9–11 — a harvest of righteousness
- Daniel 11:32 — those who know their God
How this summary was made: written with AI assistance from the sermon’s own transcript and checked against the Scriptures listed above.
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