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

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

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 2^nd 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,

Obedience

It’s not a word many of us like to hear, perhaps it takes us back to our childhood where we had to obey our parents and teachers and seemed to have no choice but to be obedient.

Lately however, I’ve been thinking about our obedience to God’s Word. There are so many scriptures that give us direction, for our benefit, and some are commands that God expects us to follow.

It all comes down to our willingness and of course our choice but more importantly, it comes down to our faith.

It takes faith to be obedient when the cares or fears of this world are heavy, and we want to give into our feelings and old instant responses. It also takes courage because let’s face it, most of us get away with enough faith to believe there is a God and that He gave us salvation for our eternity!

Sadly though, that’s where most of us Christians stop and continue on as they’ve been doing all along.

I say ‘sadly’ because we miss out on some of the richest blessings when we challenge our fears, pride, self-reliance and our selfish desires and choose to be obedient to the Word of God.

I call that easy faith, and it profits us little, but the hard truth is, we will not live life as an overcomer with easy faith. We will not live a life of joy or peace when the storms of life roll over us. We will be angry, frustrated, bitter and living a joyless life.

Following are some Bible verses that will challenge our faith. It behooves us to read them often, get them into our minds, memorize them so like Jesus when He was tempted by satan, when we are likewise tempted to give in, or react badly, we can fight back with the Word of God.

Hey, if it was Jesus first response when tempted, shouldn’t it be ours?

James 1: 2,3 – Consider it all joy my brethren when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result so that you may be perfect & complete, lacking nothing.

Joy when one trial after another rolls over us, threatening to take us down? Whew!!

Phil 4:13 – I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.

Shall we challenge our fears with that one? What is your biggest fear?

1 Thess 5:18 – In everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

It’s God’s will, it’s not a suggestion, but a command.

Prov 3:5 – trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding

This is a big one when we’re so used to doing things our own way, trusting our own ‘wisdom’ and ‘reasoning’ to do things. Is our wisdom or are our thoughts better than Gods? I’m reminded of Isaiah 55:9, For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Guess that puts us in our place! So much for pride in our own thoughts!!

Phil 4:6 – be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Again, this is not a suggestion.

2 Cor 10:5 – . . . and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

There are so many more; the Beatitudes, the One-Anothers, and let’s consider >

1 Cor 13

4: Love is patient, kind, not jealous, does not brag and is not proud

5: Love does not act unbecomingly, does not seek it’s own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered

6: Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with truth

7: Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things & endures all things

8: Love never fails.

A whole blog could be written on these verses alone. Maybe one day!

Those are tough to be obedient to, but our obedience, though a difficult choice to make, always reaps multiple benefits from God. He rewards us in so many ways when we obey Him.

As James 1:3,4 says, ‘knowing that the testing your (our) faith produces endurance, and let endurance have its perfect result so that you (we) may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Trusting in God in the hard times, being anxious for nothing, giving thanks no matter the circumstance, taking every thought captive and trusting in the LORD rather than ourselves when things go sideways, those are all difficult but . . . . we can do all these things because Christ in us strengthens us.

We must choose. It’s our choice to make but the outcome of being obedient far outweighs the difficulty of choosing to obey God.

Of course, we first must become familiar to the Word of God to know what it says and to what we must obey.

So let us read His Word and choose God’s way over our own way, and we won’t be disappointed.

Baruch Adonai,

Journey Girl, on her way to a more obedient life in God.

What does it mean?

We often hear the Christian saying, ‘only what’s done for Christ will last’. It comes from 2 Corinthians 4:18; So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

I get that, it’s the only stuff that counts because the temporary, the things of this life will be gone. What we do that doesn’t have any impact on the spiritual lives of others won’t last. Those things that are spiritual in nature, that lead others to the gift of salvation and an eternal life in heaven, that’s what counts right?

Well, I have not been an evangelist. Oh sure, I’ve shared Christ with some here and there, but done little with children in Sunday school or youth groups. I haven’t been involved in feeding kids at schools, nor worked in homeless shelters, or food banks. I’ve not given scads of money to missions and truth be told, I always felt ‘less than’ in comparison to those who work tirelessly for the cause of Christ.

But the other day I had a thought that changed my ‘less than’ comparisons. (It’s never good to compare ourselves with anyone but still we do it ya?)

As a Christian, when I forgive someone who has hurt me, when I let go of some angst or another, when I turn anger around and pray for them or do good to those who treat me badly, and whenever I follow biblical principles and choose obedience to Christ over doing what I want to do, that’s done for Christ right?

When I decide to not swear when I really want to let loose, when I choose God’s way over the world’s way, that is what I’ve done for Christ and it will last, because when I meet God the Father face to face, I will hear Him say, ‘well done, my faithful child’ and making all those tough choices, they will all be worthwhile.

It doesn’t have to be an out-in-the-open big ministry to be counted, choosing obedience counts. We do it for Christ, end of story.

I hope you are encouraged by this little bit of insight and that it makes choosing to follow Christ in all the little ways easier and leads to a more joyful walk with God.

Baruch Adonai, Brenda

A Bad Day? Really?

Lately I’ve been challenged by the verse in Rom 12:2 which says, And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

This morning I’m looking outside, and I thought this is a good day; it’s cloudy and cold and the weather network is predicting a rain/snow mixture by noon today.

So what makes this a good day? The birds are feeding at the feeder, flitting about the woods and their bird houses. I get to go out to spend time with a bunch of lovely ladies to study God’s Word. I have groceries to stop and pick up afterwards, then come home to my two sweet (my daughter calls them weirdos) little chihuahua pups who love me totally and unconditionally.

Not everyone would call this a good day. People who suffer with barometric headaches, or other debilitating physical issues, people with chronic pain, perhaps they just broke an arm or leg and are in terrible pain. Perhaps someone lost a loved one through death or the death of their marriage in divorce. There are all manner of ways people are suffering the world over. Terrible suffering, I have no idea about.

They would say they are having a bad day. As a child of God, I want to challenge that thought.

In Gen 1:4-5: it says, And God saw the light, that [it was] good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

First off, in God there is no evil, no shiftiness, no ‘bad’ness, so I don’t believe He can create something bad.

If you look down to verse 31, it says, And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, [it was] very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

So the challenge is to align our thoughts with the bible, God’s Word. This is just one small area, trust me there are so many more ways in which we conform to the world! But in this one instance, how about we start to think that our circumstances are bad or are a challenge, are painful physically or emotionally difficult rather than naming the whole day ‘bad’. I believe we speak against God’s Word by declaring ‘this is a bad day when God Himself declared it to be very good.

I know it can sound like I’m splitting hairs, or being very simplistic and that there may be more important things to consider how we are conforming to this world, but I point this out as just one small way to not conform to the world.

One last bible verse to consider is [2Co 10:5b, and [we are] taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

After all Christ has done for me, this is one small way I can align myself with Him and His word, to be obedient.

Bless you as you face the challenges of not conforming to this world. We are each on our own journey, I just share one small piece of my own journey.

I was thinking …..

It’s exciting to see another Fall season coming. So many things to look forward to. It’s harvest time, canning, freezing and splitting perennials to thin out the plants. I confess, I had allowed my plants to spread too big and now had one huge job on hand to split and replant them. No worries, it gives me more gorgeous plants to replant elsewhere and share with other perennial lovers.

But the thing I love about Fall the most, is cozying up inside with a hot cup of coffee or chicory, and if it’s cool/cold enough, cuddle up under a blanket with pups laying on or beside me.

This year I decided to try Pumpkin Spice coffee. My son-in-law brought me a Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks and while I liked the flavour, it was too sweet, and the price!! So I decided to buy some of that flavouring from the grocery store. I drink the Silk brand of milk so naturally I tried the smaller size of their Pumpkin Spice coffee creamer.

I was not disappointed. It was really delicious. I added it in every cup of coffee/chicory I drank. It was my Fall treat!

To my surprise though, by the last cup, I noticed an after taste that wasn’t so delicious. It had lost it’s appeal and that’s when I realized, how much like falling into sin it was. Not the creamer, but sin in general.

It starts with thoughts of how everyone else is doing it and how good it would be if you did also. Then it goes on to anticipation and follow through. And, O boy, it’s as good as you thought it would be.

But, in regards to sin, to a child of God, you feel a bit of unease and gradually, distaste and finally you realize the disappointment and that you have lost all enjoyment of it.

Giving it up, getting back to where you were before giving in to any sin, repenting and returning to being obedient to God, peace once again fills you with deep contentment.

What I have found over the years, when you live an obedient life as a child of God, as much as possible, eventually you discover that the peace and joy is more valuable than the sin you once considered so enjoyable. Even when temptation arises, you can more easily turn your back on it and stay in the peace and contentment of God, desire for those prior things has lost it’s appeal, and all I can say in those situations is Thank God and Hallelujah!