Rooted in Ink Podcast

We have spent seven weeks sitting in the I Am statements of Jesus. This week we wrap up the series by asking a simple question: now that we know who Jesus says He is, what does it look like to abide in Him?

Neither of us had ever studied these verses back to back like this. Jesus is the Bread of Life, the Light of the World, the Door, the Good Shepherd, the Resurrection and the Life, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and the True Vine. Looking at all seven together, we saw how they connect. The vine feeds you like bread. The vinedresser prunes so the light can come in. The shepherd leads you. We also talk about how these truths have moved from our heads to our hearts, and how we are seeing Jesus more clearly in the Old Testament as the fulfillment of everything that pointed to Him.

In this episode we talk about:

• What each I Am statement teaches us about who Jesus is and how they fit together
• Why abiding is a daily choice and a lifelong walk, and why fruit grows in its season and not overnight
• Jamie's story of full surrender at 37, and why you can only take people as far as you have gone yourself
• The hard question of whether Jesus is still enough if God prunes away everything, and what Job, Joseph, the faithful in Hebrews 11, and Paul show us about that
• The spiritual warfare that comes when you sit deeply in God's Word, and the promise that winter ends and His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3)
• A story about a woman who kept asking God to speak to her, and what He asked her in return
• Practical ways to abide: get in the Word and obey, show up when you do not feel like it, be part of a local church, be careful about what you consume, run your thoughts through Philippians 4:8, examine yourself and invite the Spirit to show you what needs to go, and find discipleship

We also say something plainly about church. We believe Scripture calls us into community with other believers, and that watching church from the couch every Sunday is not the same as being part of a local body. If you live somewhere where finding a sound, Bible believing church is hard, please email us at hello@rootedinkpodcast.com. We have connections across the country and around the world, and we would love to help you find a church or a Bible study group.

Next, we begin a slow walk through the book of Romans, starting with Romans 1:16 and 17. Please read Romans 1:1 through 17 before then so you have the full context. Romans is the practical application of everything we have learned in the I Am series. It tells us who we are, and it calls out sin.

If this episode encouraged you, would you subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a friend? It helps more people find Rooted in Ink. You can follow us on Instagram at Rooted in Ink Podcast for Bible study resources and updates. If you feel led to support this ministry financially, you can use the link HERE.

Scripture referenced: John 6, 8, 10, 11, 14, and 15, Romans 12:2, Romans 1:16 and 17, Philippians 4:8, Lamentations 3, Hebrews 11

Keep your mind rooted in truth and your heart anchored in Christ. Stay rooted.

This week, Jamie and Crystal close out the entire "I Am" series with the final, most complete claim Jesus ever made about Himself. Spoken hours before the cross, at the Last Supper, to disciples who thought their identity was already secure because of their bloodline — Jesus flips the whole picture: "I am the true vine, and my father is the vine dresser."

In this episode:

• Why this declaration cuts deeper than every "I Am" statement before it — being a sheep means dependence, but being a branch means you die the instant you're disconnected: "The moment I'm severed... I wither up and die. I lose all source of life."
• What a real vine dresser actually does — radical winter pruning that cuts back 80–90% of the plant, all in service of sweeter, more productive fruit
• The single most convicting question of the whole series: "Which of the fruits am I trying to manufacture on my own? If the fruit keeps running out, the source may be the problem."
• A genuinely unforgettable image for sin you won't stop thinking about — "it's like a pile of poop covered in frosting... we don't see that until the light comes in to shine on it"
• The theology of grafting, and why it reframes an entire verse: "When we think of Jesus, by His wounds we are healed... he was wounded for our transgressions, and by His wounds we get to be re-grafted in."
• Why your "trellis" — the specific, named people God puts in your life — might be the most overlooked part of spiritual survival: "Who are the names on your trellis that you can call, that are holding you up?"
• The full Galatians 5 list, read in one sitting, and the hard question underneath it: "What's growing? Because the fruit is the proof of what you're attached to."

A line to sit with:

"Jesus doesn't simply make dead branches look alive. He brings us into Himself and gives us His life."

Scripture referenced: John 15:1–5 · Galatians 5:16–25 · Romans 11:17–24 · Isaiah 53 · Jude

This is the final "I Am" statement in the series — but not the end. Next episode: a full recap on what it actually looks like to abide. If these seven statements have shaped how you see Jesus, subscribe, leave a review, and share this series with someone still searching for an identity only Christ can give.

Keep your mind rooted in truth and your heart anchored in Christ. Stay rooted.

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Would you get in a stranger's car for a coffee shop you'd never find on your own? Most of us would, without a second thought. So why is it so hard to do the same with the only One who actually knows the way home?

This week, Jamie and Crystal sit with the climax of every "I Am" statement so far — spoken hours before the cross, to a room full of grieving, confused disciples who'd just been told their Rabbi was leaving them. Thomas asks the question most of us are too afraid to ask out loud: "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?"

In this episode:

• The full context most people skip — this declaration happens during the Last Supper, right after Jesus washes their feet, predicts Peter's denial, and tells them He's leaving
• Why "the way" is the most controversial of all seven "I Am" statements — "Jesus is not claiming to be one of them. He is claiming to be the road."
• The Greek grammar detail that changes everything: unlike last week's declaration, this one does have the repeated "and" — "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" — placing equal weight on all three and revealing they're not separate claims, but one identity
• What truth actually is when it's not up for debate: objective, absolute, universal, and internally consistent — "There is not my truth and your truth and her truth... there is one truth"
• A genuinely striking exercise: writing down every attribute of God you've quietly stopped believing is true, and why "my heart has changed... because I identified the lies I was believing" — even when the circumstances never did
• Why preparing "a place for you" isn't about carpentry in heaven — it's about the cross, read with the same love and intention as preparing a nursery for a child
• The hardest, most honest question of the whole episode: "Do we want Jesus as our Savior, but resist Him as our way of life?"

A line to sit with:

"When we believe Jesus is the way, we don't have to know the whole road. We just have to keep following Him."

Scripture referenced: John 14:1–7 · John 8:32 · Matthew 7:13–14 · 2 Peter 2:21 · Hebrews 3:10 · 1 John · Isaiah 52–53

Next week: "I Am the True Vine" — John 15:1–17. If this episode challenged you, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone still trying to find their own way there. New "I Am" episode every Tuesday.

Keep your mind rooted in truth and your heart anchored in Christ. Stay rooted.

Follow us on Instagram: HERE

Support our Podcast: HERE