Abiding

Abiding – God invites you to flourish in His Presence.

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.

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. John 15:4-5 NKJV

Bruce Wilkinson, the author writes:

“His purpose is not that you will do more for Him but that you will choose to be more with Him. Only by abiding can you enjoy the most rewarding friendship with God and experience the greatest abundance for His glory. To abide means to remain, to stay closely connected, to settle in for the long term. With this picture Jesus is showing the disciples how an ongoing, vital connection with Him will directly determine the amount of His supernatural power at work in their lives. Within six verses in John 15, Jesus says abide ten times. You can sense the passion and poignancy of His plea. Jesus knows that He is about to leave His friends, yet He is saying “We must be together.” He knows that in the coming years, these downcast, frightened men now standing with Him in the vineyard will be called to produce an unheard-of, miraculous amount of fruit- enough fruit to turn the whole world upside down”.

Here are seven important questions from this week’s study on abiding.

What do I believe about getting close to God?

Think of a time when you felt especially near to God. List three words that describe how you felt.

What does it mean to abide?

Think of fellowship, communion, remain and stay.

We abide in Christ, we abide in His love, and we abide in His word.

Why is abiding important?

Abiding is one of God’s greatest desires. Throughout the Bible beginning in

the Garden of Eden we read of God’s desire to have a relationship with us.

How does abiding lead to much fruit?

When we abide in Christ and His Word, our prayers change. His desires become our desires.

Who else in the Bible chose to abide.

Mary, sister of Lazarus and Martha. Luke 10:38-42

John, the disciple whom Jesus loved. 1 John 2:24-28; 4:7-16

How do I grow in abiding?

Plan a regular time and place. Protect your daily appointment as if you were meeting with a king (which you are).

Purpose to seek God until you find him.

Practice the Spiritual Disciplines.

What can keep me from abiding?

If communion with God is such a deep desire of the human heart,

Why do so few Christians pursue it successfully? The culprit is often unrecognized attitudes or habits of thinking that cut us off from what we really want.

By: Curtis Gibson

Live with expectation full of His spirit guiding you!