The Plug Process: 4 Steps to Stay Connected to God
the "how" behind the fig leaves falling. My longstanding framework for staying plugged into the Source.
The lamp
You've seen a lamp unplugged from the wall. It doesn't flicker, doesn't dim, doesn't try harder — it just goes dark. Not broken. Just disconnected.
I spent years trying to glow without the plug. Reading all the right books, saying all the right things, performing the Christian life like it was a stage play. And wondering why I felt so dim.
The Plug Process is what brought me back to the outlet. It's not new — I've lived this for years, long before it had a name. Four steps. Simple enough to remember on your worst day, deep enough to hold your whole life.
The Scripture
"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me." — John 15:4
"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." — John 15:5
Jesus didn't say "visit me." He said abide — stay, remain, live there. The branch doesn't strain to produce fruit. It just stays connected, and the fruit comes.
That's the whole Plug Process in two verses. Everything below is just what abiding looks like on a Tuesday morning.
The Plugs
Plug 1 — Get in the Word. Open the Bible before you open anything else. Not for a quota, not to check a box — to hear from Him first. This is the Surrender pillar: the Word is where the fig leaves start falling, because you can't hide from a God you're actually listening to.
Plug 2 — Meditate on the Word. Sit with it. Turn it over. Let one verse follow you through the day like a song you can't stop humming. This is the Quiet Mornings pillar — prayer and meditation, the slow work of letting truth sink past your ears into your bones.
Plug 3 — Love yourself by aligning with God's will. This is the one people skip. Loving yourself isn't vanity — it's agreement. It's saying "God, what You say about me is truer than what I say about me," and then living like you believe it. The Undivided Heart pillar: one heart, not a divided one. Soft, not shattered.
Plug 4 — Love others naturally as a result. Notice: as a result. Not as a performance, not as a debt you pay. When plugs 1 through 3 are real, love for others stops being effort and starts being overflow. That's the Everyday Grace at Home pillar — the people closest to you get the best of you, not what's left of you.
The reflection
Here's what nobody tells you about the Plug Process: it's a rhythm, not a rescue plan. You don't plug in once and stay charged forever. You plug in daily — some days desperately, some days joyfully, most days ordinarily.
My slow mornings are Plug 1 and 2. My Bible open, my tea, the house quiet before my son wakes up. Plug 3 is the daily decision to believe God about me instead of believing my worst moments about me. And Plug 4? That's the warm breakfast. That's choosing gentleness when I'm tired. That's loving my people from the overflow instead of the fumes.
It won't make you perfect. It'll make you connected. And a connected branch doesn't have to manufacture fruit — it just has to stay on the vine.
The prayer
Lord, I want to abide, not visit. Teach me to get in Your Word first, to sit with it until it sinks in, to love myself the way You love me, and to let that love spill over onto my people. Keep me plugged in. Amen.
The takeaway
You don't need a more complicated spiritual life. You need a more connected one. Four plugs. Every day. Start with Plug 1 tomorrow morning.
Want the 4 steps on one page, with a week tracker? Download The Plug Process guide here
Print it, stick it on your fridge, check the boxes. Come walk with me — we'll stay plugged in together. 🤍
Come walk with me. We'll stay plugged in together. 🤍
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