"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me." John 15:4
Do you ever feel dull, bland, um fruitless? I do! There are times when I just have such a blah feeling about myself, a bored feeling. I'm not talking about self-esteem, but rather that I'm producing anything of value. It's almost always a surprise to me when I get in that state, that I'm even like that. Then I start to think, "when was the last time I spent any real time in the Word or in prayer?"
I don't know about anybody else, but there are too many times when I just go through the motions of reading the Bible. There are times when my prayers are nothing more than a "thank you for the day" and "I would like....". Then there are also those times when I have to stop and think about when was the last time I even read my Bible or prayed sincerely. Honestly, these times come far too often.
Yet, the fruitless feelings that I experience are unpleasant, they are good because they remind me that I need to abide in Him. They draw my back to the Word and back into prayer. This happened recently, and as I opened my Bible I found myself staring down at the words of John 15. Honestly, I haven't been able to move on to chapter 16 yet. I keep rereading the words of John 15, especially this section about the branches and the vine. God is trying to speak something into me through this chapter, something deeper than the obviousness of the words.
Let God draw you to His Word, to a particular section. Let Him speak something deep inside of you based and abide in Him there. He has different words for each of us, and words for us in different seasons of our lives. Abide in Him and find out what Word He is developing in you, what Word He is revealing to you, what Word He is equipping you through. Be the branch that abides in Him.
Showing posts with label Abide in His Word. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Abide in His Word. Show all posts
Saturday, June 17, 2017
Thursday, April 11, 2013
The Truth Shall Set You Free
"So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in Him, 'If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free'." John 8:31-32
I read this last night while reading the book Names of God: Exploring God's Character published by Thomas Nelson. It is kind of set up like a devotional with Scripture readings for the different names and attributes of God. I was reading The Truth section last night.
Anyway, I reread these verses and I thought, "that's the key!" Do you see the connection between abiding in His Word and being set free? IF you abide in the Word you are His disciple AND you will know the truth! AND knowing the truth will set you free. God of course is the Truth. So abiding in His Word means you will know Him, not just know about Him, but truly know Him. And knowing Him will set you free. Who doesn't want to be set free?!
Coming to a relationship with God, through acceptance of Christ, ultimately sets us free from eternity of death. You do not have to have ever read a word in His Word for that to happen. Really? Yes, people have come to Christ from just one word spoken by a believer. I know of a pastor in Haiti who, as a child, turned away from the plan for him to become a voodoo priest because a Christian man gave him a piece of candy. That led to him becoming a Christian. A piece of candy. I am sure most people do come to Christ because they have either spent time in His Word or someone else has sent time sharing the Word with them, but God can do ALL things. He can even bring people to salvation with candy.
Even after we become saved and walk in that ultimate freedom we still walk around without freedom. Fear binds us, depression binds us, lust binds us, arrogance binds us, selfishness binds, pride binds us, and on and on and on. So how do we get free from those things? I want to know because I am tired of my bondages kicking my butt! "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." That's it abide in His Word!
But we have to abide in it. We have to abide, which means to remain in a place, to continue to be sure or firm; endure. We can't just pop in every once and awhile and check out His Word, we have remain in it. I am not talking about reading the Bible every day, although it's not a bad idea. I am talking about living it. Thinking about it, devouring it, digesting it, and letting it become apart of us. Anyone can just read the Bible, actually people who are against God read the Bible to refute it. We have to remain in it, continue to be sure and firm of what He is speaking through it and how He is making us more like Him through it, and we have to endure. We can't just give up because the freedom, from whatever we need freedom from, doesn't happen instantly or in our time frame. We must abide!
I read this last night while reading the book Names of God: Exploring God's Character published by Thomas Nelson. It is kind of set up like a devotional with Scripture readings for the different names and attributes of God. I was reading The Truth section last night.
Anyway, I reread these verses and I thought, "that's the key!" Do you see the connection between abiding in His Word and being set free? IF you abide in the Word you are His disciple AND you will know the truth! AND knowing the truth will set you free. God of course is the Truth. So abiding in His Word means you will know Him, not just know about Him, but truly know Him. And knowing Him will set you free. Who doesn't want to be set free?!
Coming to a relationship with God, through acceptance of Christ, ultimately sets us free from eternity of death. You do not have to have ever read a word in His Word for that to happen. Really? Yes, people have come to Christ from just one word spoken by a believer. I know of a pastor in Haiti who, as a child, turned away from the plan for him to become a voodoo priest because a Christian man gave him a piece of candy. That led to him becoming a Christian. A piece of candy. I am sure most people do come to Christ because they have either spent time in His Word or someone else has sent time sharing the Word with them, but God can do ALL things. He can even bring people to salvation with candy.
Even after we become saved and walk in that ultimate freedom we still walk around without freedom. Fear binds us, depression binds us, lust binds us, arrogance binds us, selfishness binds, pride binds us, and on and on and on. So how do we get free from those things? I want to know because I am tired of my bondages kicking my butt! "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." That's it abide in His Word!
But we have to abide in it. We have to abide, which means to remain in a place, to continue to be sure or firm; endure. We can't just pop in every once and awhile and check out His Word, we have remain in it. I am not talking about reading the Bible every day, although it's not a bad idea. I am talking about living it. Thinking about it, devouring it, digesting it, and letting it become apart of us. Anyone can just read the Bible, actually people who are against God read the Bible to refute it. We have to remain in it, continue to be sure and firm of what He is speaking through it and how He is making us more like Him through it, and we have to endure. We can't just give up because the freedom, from whatever we need freedom from, doesn't happen instantly or in our time frame. We must abide!
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