Pointing to Jesus

John 15:4 –11- Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch can not bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this, my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

There’s a song playing on Christian radio right now called Abide. It’s sung by Aaron Williams, and the last line of the chorus says, “Draw me close and teach me to abide.” I love this song. I love the words to all of it, but that last line of the chorus has stuck with me. I love that word – abide. It has a lot of meaning, and if we are Christians, we are commanded to abide in Christ, in His Word, and in His love.

Abide means to dwell, live, remain  stay, tarry, continue. As Christians, we are to abide in Christ just as He abides in us. Jesus lives in us when we accept Him and invite Him in, and He doesn’t leave us. He’s always there. We should live with that in mind.

There’s a phrase I’ve heard of that people will use when speaking of the place they live- “welcome to my humble abode.”  It’s their home. The place where they live. Home is the place where we are most comfortable. It’s the place where we know where everything is at. It’s the place where we rest. It’s the place where we we want to get back to after a long day at work. There’s no place like home. This is what it should be like with our relationship  with God.

We should be very familiar with God  and who He is. He’s the One we should want to be nearest to. He should be the One we talk to about everything and the One we should be most comfortable talking to. He’s the One we should be closest to. We should always be aware of His presence with us always.

We also need to abide in His Word and His love. We abide in His Word by reading it every day and following what it says. We need to love it,  be familiar with it, and stay close to it. We need to abide in His love. We should know the way He loves us and how He should love Him and others. If you want to learn more about this kind of love, please read my blog post entitled, “A Love of an Other Kind.”

According to John 15:4-11, we want to abide in Jesus so that we can bear much fruit (vs. 4-5) , receive what we ask for (vs.7), and so our joy is full (vs.11).

Please take a listen to the song Abide. Let it get in your spirit. Let it become a prayer of your heart.

Lord, draw us close and teach us to Abide.

Many blessings,

Desiree