In one sense, Jesus' description of abiding seems to be an all-or-nothing deal. If someone abides in him, his love, and his word, this proves that they are his disciples. To not abide in him and his love and word is to show that one is not a disciple at all.
So, to be a believer is to abide. Jesus tells us to abide in him and to abide in his love v. So, is abiding in Jesus something that is true of all believers? There are certain streams of Christian teaching that have made this unnecessarily complicated. If you believe in Jesus, you are in him.
You are united to him. You are connected to the life-giving branch. But no matter where you are on your spiritual journey, you can experience the reality of this connection to Jesus more and more. You can become more fruitful. There are degrees of fruitfulness. You can enjoy Jesus more.
He not only wants us to have joy, he wants us to have full joy. And you can be more like Jesus. You can experience the sweetness, power, and joy of your connection to him in greater degrees, as you grow in ongoing daily dependence on him. In theological terms, all believers have union with Christ, but all believers can also known communion with him in greater or lesser degrees.
That leads to a final question: how do you abide? If abiding in Jesus involves ongoing daily dependence on him, what does that look like? Jesus himself tells us. We abide in Jesus by letting his words abide in us v. David earnestly seeks God. His soul thirsts for God. There is desperation. There is urgency. Oh, to have a heart that echoes his!
Do we seek God like this? Do we desire God in this manner? He informs them that he has already made them clean John , and has pronounced them clean during the upper room foot washing John This is why he declared them clean, with the exception of Judas a clear indication dirty feet was not the idea. Jesus says this hours before going to the cross to bear their sins and make them clean. It is active. Abiding in Christ is not a feeling or a belief, but something we do.
John further illustrates this abiding relationship with a parallel relationship of a vine and a branch. We the branches are to be connected to him the Vine for our life and sustenance. Only in him can we bear fruit. That would have been deeper grief than I can imagine. Alone, hopeless, misguided. All very real emotions they would have experienced. Until that morning they received the Holy Spirit, God with us to help us and comfort us.
They would have understood them and remembered what Jesus said. Just like you would abide, remain or live with anyone else. Spend time with them. What does that look like for a Christian? Be in the Word, Pray and time in Solitude alone with God , Fasting, give freely of what God gave to you, gather together with other believers to talk about Him, serve others meeting the needs as the early believers did, and tell others about Christ.
Read it, listen to it, talk about it, think about it, learn it, apply it pray it. What does abiding faith mean? Abiding faith is a faith that is more than words or name or going to church at Easter and Christmas. To live out an abiding faith you walk with God every day. Ok, I can almost hear you click away with that last word but hear a girl out. Abiding is about a real relationship. Most of my prayer time is a one-sided conversation.
If I expect a real relationship I have to have time quiet and alone where I am listening to His side of the conversation. Solitude is a spiritual discipline we have lost but desperately need! The early church gave to support each other. Daily they spent time together abiding and helped build, teach, serve, cook, etc. They gave. Giving is a beautiful way to Abide in Christ. To say, all that I have is Yours. Well to be fair, it was Yours when You gave it to me. Now I am just giving back a portion of it to love You and serve others for You.
We will see how to abide in Christ with giving in 2 Corinthians ; Proverbs ; Proverbs ; Luke ; Proverbs ; 2 Corinthians ; Proverbs ; Matthew ; Matthew Earlier in the gospels, Jesus said His disciples would fast and seek God fervently when He was no longer with them. So we know to Fast and Pray is an expectation.
There is rarely a healthy branch that is isolated. Branches of a vine gather together for strength and support.
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