Abiding in Him

Jesus asked us to abide in Him always. John 15: 1-6

“I am the true vine, and my Father
is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and
every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more
fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in
me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in
the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the
branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much
fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast
forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the
fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye
shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”



Whenever I heard the word “abide” I always felt: Labor, effort, struggle; and
that always left me with a sense of frustration and failure.

But the word “abide” doesn’t have all these meanings.



We’ll look at 4 ways to abide in Him.



1- Dwell and rest in Him:

The Strong Lexicon says that the word “abide” means {remain, dwell, continue,
and tarry}.

We are called not to struggle in abiding but to choose to dwell & rest in Him.

It’s a decision that we choose in spite of any circumstances & feelings that we
pass through .

The Tabernacle is built in 3 sections

- The Outer court: where there was the Alter of Sacrifice. A place of shedding
of blood. That’s the 1st phase in our prayers where we enter into God’s presence
through His blood shed for the cleansing of our sins & where we enjoy the
redemption & His acceptance; but in that place there is lots of noise & chaos.
We are not called only to that place because there is more in God for us.

- The Holy Place: where there is the Shew Bread table / the Golden Lamp stand &
the Alter of incense. This is the place where you enjoy being filled with the
bread of life Jesus. There was a loaf for each tribe[ for each child of Jacob]
that means for each on of us there is fullness in Christ &we can see that
through the work of the Holy Spirit [the golden Lamp stand] then we can really
be released in praise. But still there is more!!

- The Holy of Holies:

Where there is nothing but the Ark of the Covenant, here there is a strong
presence of God, where God dwells & speaks. It’s a quit place where there is no
noise & distraction. We are called to be in that place!!!

In that place all our struggles are
hushed & then He can speak His words of release & guidance. Heb 10:19

Abiding in Him means choosing to enter into the depths of His Presence in His
Holy of Holies & to remain in that place.

Distractions come but how do we deal with them?

Neh 13:15- 20 Nehemiah is protecting the Sabbath [a type of resting & sitting in
front of God] from any distractions by all his effort.



2- Moving with him:

There is a need not only to abide in Him but also to move with Him when He
moves.

Jesus is never static He is always moving John 9:4 & He wants us with Him taking
leaps of faith & obedience to higher grounds.

 In Mark 1:35- 38 the disciples wanted Him to remain in Capernaum but He was
led to move on to other villages.

If the vine moves & the branch refused to move it will be separated from the
vine.

 Deut 1: 6 He is calling the people to move from old experiences around the
mountain into new territory “Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount”.

But human nature doesn’t feel comfortable in change so they tend to move around
their old experiences; that’s why God had to say in Deut 2:3 “Ye have compassed
this mountain long enough”.

 The old manna can’t feed us today we have to move in Him & with Him.

 When the cloud over the tabernacle moved , the people had to move with it or
else they would be separated & loose their guidance.

To abide in Him we have to move with Him.



3- Fighting in Him:

Eph 6: 10- 13

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of
the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this
world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the
whole amour of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having
done all, to stand.”



There is a relation between resisting the enemy &standing firm [abiding] in God.

If we let the enemy steel from our lives & we don’t do anything about it we are
loosing our place with God.

The enemy steels our joy & focus in God; he tries to kill every new thing that
God is doing in our lives & we have to resist if we want to abide.



4- Being filled with His Spirit

2 Cor 1: 20-22 “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen,
unto the glory of God by us. Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and
hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the
Spirit in our hearts.” The fire of the Holy Spirit ignites our lives to abide
more in Christ. Jesus said in Luke 12:49 “It is fire that I have come to bring
upon the earth—how I could wish it were already ablaze!” [Phil. Bible] .

The Spirit came to set our hearts on fire for Christ & His work.

Lukewarmness is a sin of not abiding
close to that fire.

So let’s come closer. He is calling us!!!!