Abiding is an important concept in our relationship with the Lord. Jesus’ heart was for us to understand “abiding”, so he focused on this in John 15.
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
“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. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. John 15:4-8
The word “abide” according to Strong’s Concordance is (G3306), and it has several meaning: to remain, abide
in reference to place: to sojourn, tarry, not to depart, to continue to be present, to be held, kept, continually
in reference to state or condition: to remain as one, not to become another or different
in reference to time: to continue to be, not to perish, to last, endure, of persons, to survive, live
in to wait for, await one
The word, “abide” has vast meanings in the context of what Jesus spoke to us. I’ll break down the word “abide” based on its definition above.
In reference to a place/person
If we think about a tree and its branches, we know intuitively that in order for a branch to survive, it must remain connected to the vine or the tree. Life is not going to be possible without it, neither would fruitfulness be possible.
As believers, when we come to Christ, we get grafted into the vine who is Jesus. As Jesus states in the above Verse 5, “without me you can do nothing.” It means if we are looking to be changed we need to remain in Him. Our growth is only possible by abiding in Him, otherwise we will become weak. Our fruitfulness is completely dependent on our close relationship with Christ and abiding in His will.
We are utterly dependent on His work in us. We can never become so mature, or so knowledgeable that we start doing things independent of God. He may allow that to go on for a while, but sooner or later, it will derail us in our relationship with him. We will start living and ministering from a place of memory, familiarity, or rote, not fresh wisdom or revelation.
When we abide in Jesus, there are times that we are just walking with Him, listening to what He has to say. However, there are other times that “abiding” is pressing against Him in a more desperate and dependent way. This is not a casual abiding but a more serious, intense place.
As my children were growing up, there were times that they would just sit next to me. I could just caress their hair or hold their hand as a way of love and intimacy with them. There were other times that they had their head on my lap or they would lean on me to rest or nap. I particularly liked and cherished those moments because it showed their level of comfort, dependence, & trust with me. Those times of leaning into the Lord and abiding in Him more closely are pleasurable to the Lord as well as us.
It’s interesting how we fight our flesh to get to that kind of dependent place with God. However, once God leads us and we surrender our will to abide in Him, it is such a powerful and freeing place. It’s a place of peace and rest!
Lord, we desire to abide in you in a more intimate way today! We want to go there with you.
I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.