Category Archives: Abide in Christ

Jesus — The Word

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Today let’s read John 17:6-19. 

““I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.”

‭‭John‬ ‭17‬:‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus came to reveal the Father to us. He did this through His Word. The Greek word “Logos” is used for “word”. Logos is the Divine Expression of God. 

For you and me, our words show what is in our hearts. What we speak to one another reveals how we feel, what we think, who we are. 

Jesus said that He “gave them the words” His Heavenly Father gave Him. Jesus spoke and lived out the divine expression of God — what our Heavenly Father feels, thinks and who He is. He expressed or revealed God to us! 

This is so very important to us today! Jesus is the Word of God (Divine Expression) of God. The Word and Jesus are one. The Holy Scripture (Our Bible) is the Word of God. The Word continues to reveal and express who God is to us! The Word is how we KNOW God! We cannot truly KNOW our God if we do not know His Word. 

Understanding this has been life changing to me. I have lived a lot of my life knowing that as a Christian, I needed to read my Bible. It’s kind of the thing a Christian does… BUT just reading the Bible is not the aim. KNOWing the Word or as Jesus put it “accepting the word.” (Verse 8) is what we need! Accepting is receiving what we are reading and taking it in; Obeying what we are reading; (verse 6); Letting His Word “sanctify” us (Verse 17-18), or purify us, change us into God’s image. 

Do I engage with the Word when I read my Bible or am I just reading it to “check off a box”? Do I take the Word in and let it work inside of me, changing me so that I reflect God to those around me? Am I experiencing God when I come to Him daily? 

This is God’s desire for us! 

Our time we spend with the Word is priceless!

Abide In His Love

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““As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” ‭‭John‬ ‭15‬:‭9‬-‭11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

You and I are dearly loved by God! In fact, God is love. We were born out of Divine Love, by Divine Love and for Divine Love!  We will never experience what we were meant for if we do not experience God’s Divine Love every moment of every day. This is not a one time spiritual experience. We “remain in {His} love…”  or we ABIDE in it. We are to Abide/ Dwell In Him!  

Jesus talked about being the vine and us being the branches. There is connection between the two. They are one! His Divine Love is similar to the sap that goes between the vine and the branches. It flows in and out of every fiber. If that sap — LOVE — does not flow the branch dies. 

You and I need to live connected to Jesus in a vibrant relationship. This is how we remain in His love!  This relationship is characterized by total obedience to His Word, total submission to His will, and total dependence on Him for everything we need or ABIDING in Christ! 

Am I living connected to Jesus? Am I remaining/ abiding in His love?

 

My Father is the Vinedresser

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Today let’s read John 15:1-8. 

“I am the true vine and my Father is the vinedresser.” (John 15:1 BSB)

It’s that time of the year again, Spring. I have this rose bush that I love. I was looking at it the other day as I walked by and was reminded that I need to tend to it, if I want it to produce the beautiful flowers it produces in a few months. I can see signs of life, but before it really grows and becomes what it was meant to be it needs to be pruned. Sometimes when I am finished cutting off the dead branches, it looks like there is almost nothing left. But give it time. It will be beautiful again this year! 

Jesus tells us that He is the true vine. We are the branches connected to Him. Our Heavenly Father is the vinedresser. The Heavenly Father loves His vine! He wants what is best for it that it will bear much fruit. He cares for it. He cuts off the dead branches and tends to the vines needs insuring its growth and productivity. He is invested in His Vine (Jesus) and the connected branches (Us)!  

Our lives are meant to be lived connected to the “True Vine”. As we are connected, our Heavenly Vinedresser will care for us. He will insure we are watered, watched over, and pruned. The things that are dead in us (sin) need to be cut off and removed for us to really grow and be the beautiful branch He intends for us to be. Our role is to live connected to the “True Vine” and allow the Heavenly Vinedresser to do His work in our lives. 

If my rosebush could resist my pruning and demand to hold onto the dead branches it would not be able to be what it was created to be, a beautiful and productive bush. If we resist God and demand to hold onto the sin in our own lives, we will not ever produce and bear His fruit. Nor will we reflect His beauty. 

Am I allowing my Heavenly Father, the Vinedresser, to do His work in my life? 

Am I submitted to His tender care? Or do I demand to hold onto my own dead ways…(sin) ? 

Am I connected to my source of life — the True Vine? Or am I living independent from Jesus? 

Obedience

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Today let’s read John 14:15-23.

“Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”” ‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Our one true purpose is to KNOW God! Jesus tells His disciples how to fulfill that purpose. He told them that it is the  one  who “keeps” His commands that truly loves Him. It is the one who truly loves Jesus who Jesus shows Himself to or makes Himself KNOWN. 

Jesus said that if we love Him, we will OBEY His teachings and His Father will love us and they will come and make their home with us, or dwell with us. (John 14:23-24) 

Obedience to what God says gives us a close and intimate relationship. Disobedience (sin) put’s God at a distance. It separates us from Him. 

We need to remember that all that God commands us in the Bible is for our good. What He tells us He requires is meant to keep us from harm and to help us walk close to Him. When we are truly in love with Jesus, we will want to do what He says because we will want to please Him and be close to Him.

The problem is when we are not truly living our lives close to Jesus we want our way… when we want it and how we want it… THEN “obedience” seems like it is a “dirty word.”  We do not consider what God wants. If we live our lives at a distance from Him, obedience will seem like a task and a burden. 

Here’s the kicker….We can’t come to God on our own terms… If we live our lives chasing our ways with no consideration of what He has told us, we need to take a look at what is in our spiritual hearts. 

Jesus said the greatest command is this: 

 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your souls and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37) 

If you and I are truly loving God, we will do what He says in His Word. Which means we need to know His Word so we can obey it. 

How is my love life with God? 

Do I desire to KNOW Him and His Word so I can obey Him and then live my life connected to Him in an intimate relationship? 

Or does the word “obey” feel like a dirty word to me? Does it make me recoil at the thought of it?

ONE — A Life Connected to God

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Today let’s read John 14:9-14.

“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭12‬-‭14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus came to show us the Father. Everything that Jesus did was what His Heavenly Father did. Jesus told His disciples repeatedly that He and His Father were one. He wanted them to understand something that is VERY important to us today. We are invited to participate in that relationship of being one with Him.

Jesus said:

“On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.”

‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

We were created for this very purpose — to live connected to our God, united to Him — one. As we live connected to Him — one with Him, we will do the things He does — His works. We will demonstrate and reflect God to everyone around us. So essentially Jesus was saying in the verses above, I’ve been doing God’s works and displaying who He is to this world. Now I am going back to my Father… Tag you’re it! 

When we come to Jesus our life is no longer our own. Our purpose is no longer to do what we want, when and how we want to. We are here to “do the works {Jesus} had been doing, … and greater things…” 

When we accept Jesus into our lives His Holy Spirit comes to live in us. He is in us and we are in Him. We now are empowered to do the works that the Father had prepared in advance for us to do.(Ephesians 2:10) 

Am I living my life connected to God in a deep and intimate relationship? 

Are His plans my plans?

Are His desires my desires? 

Am I doing His works? 

Am I living one with Him? 

Where I Am You May Also Be

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Today let’s read John 14:1-14.

The story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden was a story of living with God in a close relationship. They had everything! they experienced God fully — walking and talking with Him. 

When they chose to sin, separation came i.e. death. It is hard for us to understand anything different. It is all we have known. God is perfectly holy — sin cannot exist in Him. Sin has separated us from Him. 

Jesus came to restore the relationship lost. His desire is for us to live connected to Him now and to one day be with Him in heaven. 

““Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God ; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” ‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

He wants us to be with Him, where He is! What was lost in the Garden was restored on the Cross! When we accept Jesus we live our lives no longer separated by sin! 

Where Jesus is, we may also be! 

Am I experiencing the relationship that Jesus died to restore me to? Am I walking and talking with God every moment of every day? Or is sin keeping me at a distance from my God?

Leaving 2025 Behind — All Things New!

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““Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭43‬:‭18‬-‭21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus always makes all things new! What was dead always comes to life at the sound of His beautiful voice!

Today marks the last day of 2025. A New Year is a time of eager expectation of a new beginning. However, we do not have to experience newness just once a year! We can live our lives with each new morning as a new beginning as we pursue a relationship with God!

“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23 NIV

In Jesus, our past is complete. Whatever happened there can be forgiven, restored, and healed. In Jesus, our present is full and alive. He never leaves us alone or forsakes us. He fills each moment with Himself— the true and abundant LIFE. In Jesus, our future is secure! We have nothing to fear of what is to come!

In Jesus, we can forget the troubling, former things of 2025. We don’t have to dwell in the could have’s, should have’s, would have’s… God is more than willing to do a new thing when we surrender our lives to Him! He has a way of turning things around. What was a dry deserted land inside of our spiritual hearts becomes a beautiful oasis with His living water flowing strong! Whatever was a wasteland and a total loss becomes NEW!

Walk with Jesus every moment of 2026 in the present! Spend time with Him in His Word and in prayer. Then on December 31, 2026 you will be amazed to see all the transformation (making all things new) He has done!

Leave 2025 in the past! Jesus is ever present in our now, and the hope (confident expectation) of what is to come!

A Happy New Year is found in Jesus alone!

The Romans Challenge: Established!

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“Now to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past…to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭16‬:‭25,27‬ ‭NIV‬‬
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Life can feel like a whirlwind. Spiritual, emotional and even physical storms blow and shake us. They try to cause our lives to fall into shambles.

BUT there is one who establishes us, Jesus! As we come to Him and dwell connected to Him, we do not need to fear the storms! Jesus is the Rock upon which we build our lives. He is our Firm Foundation.

Paul finishes his letter to the Romans giving glory to the One who establishes us. 

“to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭16‬:‭27‬ ‭NIV‬‬

God’s wisdom, His perfectly applied knowledge, in our lives keeps us secure. His Word will establish us, strengthening us. He will give us victory in our daily struggles!

Praise Him and give Him glory! He is all that we need to live secure and established!

The Romans Challenge: Prayer

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“I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭15‬:‭30‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“All we can do now is pray…” I don’t know how many times I have heard this said. What a sad reflection of the unbelief in a person’s heart. It’s as if we say, “I’ve tried everything on my own to fix it… now I’ll ask God to help.” How we undervalue our greatest privilege! How we doubt the God who not only listens to us when we pray, but answers us!

Paul was fighting a spiritual battle. He urged the Romans to join him in his battle. He didn’t ask them to battle by talking to each other about how big the problems were. He didn’t ask them to send positive thoughts towards him. He URGED them to join him in his struggle by praying!

Prayer is not our “all we can do now…” options. Prayer is our “we get to” option. WE GET TO talk to the God who holds all power, is in control, has our best interest in His heart towards us, complete in love, complete in wisdom, etc… the list goes on and on. We get to come to Him and tell Him about the struggle and the battle. We get to ask Him to help us in time of need. We get to ask Him to provide our every need. We get to do that for ourselves. We get to pray for each other.

Do you and I value our connection to God in prayer? It is my prayer that we do! The truth is we cannot do anything on our own. Our very breath is a gift from God. Why would we think that we should turn to Him only at a moment of desperate need? We need Him every moment of every day!

The people God has surrounded us with, who we are doing life with need us to join them in their battles with our prayer! God hears us when we pray to Him. He loves to answer us when we pray!

“Join me in my struggle by praying to God for me!”

The Romans Challenge: We Get to Participate!

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“I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.”
Romans‬ ‭15‬:‭18‬-29 NIV‬‬

We live in exciting times! God is working His plan out that He established before the creation of the world.

I know that these statements fly in the face of what the news reports present to us… shootings, turmoil, disunity, disease, wars, etc. It is very dark, but light shines the brightest in the darkness. People are looking for something real. They are spiritually ill, and as believers in Jesus, we have the Truth! We have the cure!

The Apostle Paul lived in a very dark time of history as well. Everywhere he went he shined the light of hope in Jesus Christ. In fact, he made it his “ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known…” (Romans 15:20) God used him in his words and actions to make Jesus known.

This is God’s desire for us today. We were created to know God and make Him known! God wants to use what we say and what we do to reach the broken, hurting, and lost. He wants us to shine His light. He wants to work through us. He will do this, if we will simply yield ourselves to Him, listen to what He says, and obey.

When God works, He works “signs and wonders.” He does things we cannot do on our own. His ways are miraculous. He does what only He can do through the power of the Holy Spirit. Christ accomplishes great things through us. We get to participate!

May we live our lives fully surrendered to God. May we totally obey Him. May we depend on Him for everything we do. Living this way will be exciting. Because God will use us when we are entirely, completely, and totally devoted to Him! We will see Him do great things in us and through us as we participate with Him!