Abiding in Jesus

"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, NKJV)

Jesus tells us that He is the true vine, and His Father is the vinedresser.  (John 15:1)  He also says that we are the branches.  (John 15:5)

Are you abiding in Jesus?

According to Dictionary.com, the word 'abide' is defined as 'to remain, continue, stay'.  If we are abiding in Jesus, we are remaining with Him. We continue with Him. We stay with Him.   It also means 'to continue in a particular condition, attitude, relationship; last'.  Therefore, we continue in our individual and personal relationships with Him.  

How do we do it?

We stay in God's word.  We continue seeking Him.  We keep spending time with Him. 

There are benefits for remaining in constant communication with Him.  For one, we bear much fruit which means we are productive within the Kingdom of God.  (John 15:5)  "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.  By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples."  (John 15:7-8, NKJV)

There are also consequences for not staying in relationship with Jesus.  "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away..."  (John 15:2a)  We cannot and will not do anything really worthwhile without Him.  (John 15:5)  "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned."  (John 15:6, NKJV)

When we abide in Jesus, we also abide in His love.  (John 15:9)  The only way we can truly abide in His love is by keeping His commandments.  And, the only way we can really keep His commandments is by abiding in Him and staying in His word.  (John 15:10)

Copyright 2013 by Dawn Freeman. All rights reserved.

Exalting God's Word

I have often wondered the reason believers exalt natural circumstances over God and His word.  God is so much bigger and more powerful than any natural circumstance.  After all, God is a supernatural being which means He is over the natural.  He created the world and everything in it into existence.  (Genesis 1) God's word is also very important and powerful.

"For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."  (Hebrews 4:12, NIV)

What if Jesus while on this earth exalted natural circumstances over His Father and His word to Him?  What if He told His Father, "I know what you say but..."?  Then, Jesus would not have healed the sick.  He would not have made the lame walk, set the captives fee, taught the parables, discipled His followers, and so on.  He would not have done the work and the will of His Father.  There would not have been signs, wonders, and miracles.

We, as believers in Jesus Christ and children of God, have Jesus' spirit.  We are created in the image of God.  (Genesis 1:27)  We also have God's word.  In His word, He tells us that we are to be just like Jesus in this world.  (1 John 4:17b, KJV)  According to His word, we are able to do even greater works than Jesus did while He was here in this world.  Jesus had to leave this world to be with His Father in Heaven.  (John 14:12-14)  All of us who have Jesus' spirit living within us now are more than the one man named Jesus.  His spirit has been deposited inside of every believer in Jesus Christ.  Therefore, we should be doing even more of our Father's work and will in this world.  There should be many more signs, wonders, and miracles now than back in Jesus' day and time.  

First, we have to realize that we cannot do anything without Him.  He is the true vine, and we are the branches.  (John 15:5)  We can only be fruitful when we abide in Him and Him in us.  (John 15:4)  We also have to stop exalting natural circumstances over God and His word.  We have to believe God and take Him at His word.  Then, we will be seeing and performing many more signs, wonders, and miracles in this world.  Many more people will be healed, set free, and preached the Gospel all in the name of Jesus.  All glory, honor, and praise will go to our Father.  


Copyright 2013 by Dawn Freeman. All rights reserved.