Tag: love

Abiding in Christ

(OT usage)

Psalm 102:12 NASB But You, O LORD, abide [H3427] forever, And Your name to all generations.

HEBREW: Strong’s 3427

  1. to dwell, remain, sit, abide
    1. to sit, sit down
    1. to be set
    1. to remain, stay
    1. to dwell, have one’s abode

(NT usage)

John 15:4 NASB “Abide [G3306] in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.

GREEK: Strong’s 3306

  1. to remain, abide
    1. to sojourn, tarry, not to depart
      1. to continue to be present to be held, kept, continually
    1. to continue to be, not to perish, to last, endure

In both Greek and Hebrew the meaning is the same.

I was recently questioning a state in which I find myself. To be sure, it is not a place I would choose to ‘abide’. But, no matter where we are, in pleasant or not so pleasant circumstances, it’s clear from a biblical standpoint that circumstances are of little to no consequence at all. They are not what matters most for Christians.

According to a multitude of biblical verses, it is the soul, the mind and the spirit which is of prime importance to God.

Indeed, while He can and will use our physical circumstances for His purposes for our spiritual growth and our good, it’s clear our physical is not His main concern. His goal is to transform us into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Our soul must align with scripture; therefore, we must not just be familiar with what scripture says, but we must live by them, obey them.

To abide in Christ, is to live in, to remain, to not depart, to settle in and do what we are commanded to in His Word.

For example, in 2 Cor. 10:5 it says, We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

So, speculations and lofty things raised up against the knowledge of God, we take those thoughts captive. We don’t dwell on them, we cast them out of our minds. We replace them with the truth of God’s Word.

What are speculations? Perhaps they are our own human reasoning, false philosophies, and intellectual doubts.

Perhaps it’s tuning into worldly wisdom, and the arguments used by false teachers. I believe it also includes any worldview, assumption, or skepticism that rejects God’s truth in favor of human logic.

What could every lofty thing mean for us?

Quite simply, in my opinion, its arrogant human pride, our own self-righteousness, and any and every big or little rebellion against God.

For ex: doing our own thing, having our own way when we know it’s not God’s way. That’s rebellion no matter how you look at it!

We simply cannot abide in Christ if we don’t take every one of those thoughts or attitudes captive and cast them off.

Abiding in Christ is reading His word and doing what it says.

There are so many scriptures that lead us into living God’s way, but I will list a few.

I’m going to include the one-anothers.

Mark 9:50 – be at peace with one another, simply not easy at times, with some people

John 13:34 – love one another, again not easy with some people, they just rub you the wrong way right?

         Also mentioned in: John 13:35; John 15:12, 17; Romans 13:8 – love one another

Romans 12:10 – be devoted to one another; give preference to one another in honor. A challenge at the best of time once we’ve set our minds on one thing, yet feeling a nudge from God?

Romans 12:16 – be of the same mind to one another; do not be proud, think more highly of yourself!

Romans 14:13 – do not judge one another,  every opinion we have of another is a judgment; good or bad, it’s a judgment, and if we tell another what those opinions are, we are then gossiping, perhaps leading into slander?

Romans 14:19 – we pursue things which make for peace and the building up of one another

Romans 15:7 – accept one another, as Christ accepted us, hmm, the homeless, the foreigners flocking into our city, the radically different, or younger generations? Not easy is it?

Let’s move onto Love in 1 Cor 13:

Love is patient, kind, is not jealous, does not brag and is not arrogant.

Love does not act unbecomingly, does not seek it’s own (way), is not provoked, does not pay attention to a wrong suffered (forgive), does not rejoice in unrighteousness but rejoices with the truth.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.

If we are consciously pursuing a life of abiding in Christ, we will follow and obey the above. We will stop and check our attitude when wronged, judged, don’t get our own way, or are provoked.

Abiding in Christ take conscious effort in everything we say and do. We must be vigilant with our attitude and our thoughts.

Abiding in Christ means we intentionally practice being deeply connected to Jesus for spiritual strength, and it means relying on His grace rather than our own striving.

Remembering that His ways and His thoughts are higher than ours, we must simply choose to obey His Word, those are His ways and His thoughts.

Do we suffer from arrogance or pride? Do we tell lies, white or otherwise? How about wanting our own way? If someone says something snarky to us, what is our instant reaction inside? Do we get all snarky in our thoughts? Do we well up with anger and wanting to get back at them?

What if someone lies about us to others? Or gossips about us, hurts our reputation?

No matter what the circumstance, we take control (captive) of our thoughts and bring them into the obedience of Christ.

Two things I’ve learned over the years that have helped me in attitude and thought are 1. Forgiveness toward others, no matter how difficult it is, and doing it in the moment, and 2. Developing a heart attitude of thanksgiving.

1 Thessalonians 5:18: Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

 Ephesians 5:20: …giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

These are not suggestions, but it takes time for them to become 2nd nature. But when we do, that is one step closer to abiding in Christ.

Forgiveness? This also takes time to learn to forgive in the difficult times, but as Jesus forgave us while in the deepest of pains on the cross, so too can we forgive when we feel in the deepest of our pains, frustrations, hurts and angers.

Ephesians 4:32 . . .  and forgive one another, as God has forgiven you through Christ.

How many times do we forgive the other for hurting us over and over? For the same sin? In Matthew 18: 20-22 when Peter asked Jesus how many times do we forgive one who sins against us, Jesus replied, I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

Since Jesus is our Supreme Example of abiding in the Father’s Love, we do as Jesus did, we have an attitude (with action) of thankfulness/gratitude and we forgive freely.

It’s my prayer these few words will help you on your own journey of Abiding in Christ.

Baruch Adonai,

How do we see others?

I was watching a man and woman who had been married for many years. I could tell by the ease with which they interacted that they still loved each other very much.

They were not young and beautiful anymore, but they ‘saw’ each other.

When he looked her in the eye, I could tell by the way he looked he wasn’t seeing the older misshapen figure, the wrinkles, the grey hair. It seemed to me he didn’t even see the outer physical woman. He saw her spirit, her personality, the ‘real’ woman she had become. His love for her encompassed her physically, but he paid it no mind at all as he saw the most important part.

He saw her real beauty. He saw her compassion, her grace, her sense of humour. It seemed to me in that moment of looking her in the eye, he saw everything about her, the good and the not so good. And still, he loved her.

Though we all have our small peculiarities, that isn’t the bit that matters when we look with eyes of love.

Shakespeare said in his 116th Sonnet,

Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments;

Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds, or bends with the remover to remove.

O no, it is an ever-fixèd mark that looks on tempests and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wand’ring bark whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.

Love’s not time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks within his bending sickle’s compass come.

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, but bears it out even to the edge of doom:

If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

And for me, that says it all, except for one more thing.

God doesn’t see or really care about our outward appearance. He sees us with love, the kind of love that never alters. His love is an ever-fixed mark.

God sees our heart. He created each one of us. He made us in His image, gave us a physical body that serves us while we live on earth. That’s all our bodies are for, to live on this earth, to do His will.

That’s all and we got it so, so wrong.

The world looks on the outside and cares little for the real inner person. We might be in the world but we are not to live as the world lives.

So, it’s a choice, do we spend time caring what others think of our hair, the clothing we wear, if we wear make-up, how skinny we are or are not; if we conform to the world’s standards?

Or do we look people in the eye and accept them as someone whom Jesus died for? Do we care what they are wearing, if they are homeless or if they are well-to-do? Or do we see the real person, the one who loves, laughs, weeps and mourns? The scared, and hopeless?

If it makes no difference to the One who loves perfectly, why then do we care?

Not sure about anyone who’s reading this but for me I’d like to ban mirrors everywhere!! I want to care more about the person on the inside and not give a fig for what they look like on the outside. That’s the way of the world, I want to live God’s way.

God’s way is to see with eyes of love, compassion and mercy. Jesus is the only One who can judge righteously so let us leave that to Him and focus on the loving bit.

Following are a few Scripture verses that likely say it way better than I can.

1 Samuel 16:7 is where Samuel is going to anoint the next king of Israel. He is directed by the LORD to go to the house of Jesse with this one caveat, “the LORD said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God does not see as man sees, since man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Luke 16:15; So He said to them, You are the ones who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is prized among men is detestable before God.

John 7:24; Stop judging by outward appearances and start judging justly.

Love that sees beyond the outer appearance to the person that desperately wants to be seen, that’s the kind of love I want to grow into. How about you?

Blessings to you on your own Journey of learning to ‘see’ and love as God does.

Baruch Adonai,

Brenda