Abide in God

               Abide in God

“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.  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 15:5-6  

I am fascinated by the word ‘Abide’.  What does the word ‘abide’ mean: to obey, observe, follow, conform to and stand by? Isn’t that what we all want in our own personal relationships?  In a way it is like a marriage covenant between the bride and groom.  I am aware the wording of that has changed because women don’t want the word, “obey” in their ceremony. Biblically speaking, anyone who changes or removes the word obey is going against God’s plan.

If both husband and wife are Christians and are ‘abiding’ in God, there should be no problem with the word ‘obey’, because we would both be in agreement!  Now hold on, is this being realistic?  Not in today’s world, but in God’s plan the answer is yes. Did anyone tell you before you were married, that it’s a two-way street?  You both may have your own opinions and yet you need to come together in the middle and end up in agreement.  So many arguments over needless things end up in divorce because neither wants to give in to the other. 

I John 4:13 gives you so much insight on obeying God. “By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.”  Wow!  If we have the Spirit of God in us, there should be no question that we are abiding with him; we are agreeing with God and his plan for our lives.  It even goes on to say (vs. 15) “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.”   The fact of the matter is, if you are saved and filled with the Holy Spirit, you are ‘abiding’ in God and He in you and that means you must obey God!

Now that we understand what ‘abiding’ in God the Father means, we can see that it’s not a choice if we are saved and filled with His Spirit.  He is already abiding in us.  Do we always obey what He tells us to do? No, because we are humans and as humans we err.  Therefore we must add another part of his meaning to this and that word is ‘Forgiveness’.  When we make mistakes in ways that are offensive to God and to the Holy Spirit, there is but one thing to do and that is to ask God’s forgiveness. 

God will not forgive our sinful ways if we don’t ask him.  If we ask for forgiveness, he’s ready right then to forgive you because He abides in you.  Who can know how wonderful his love is?  Whom of us would take our son or daughter and hand them over to be killed because we are sorry for someone else.  I know I wouldn’t do it.   However, God loved you so much he sacrificed his only Son so you could have the opportunity to ‘abide’ in him and have eternal life.

If we hold true to him until our time on earth is finished, we will spend eternity in heaven.  I John 2:28 tells us this: “And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.”  This is what we all should be striving for and building our confidence to be prepared for.  Jesus may be returning to this earth sooner than we think so considering your soul, be prepared to meet him when he comes.  Abide, abide, abide in God!