Tuesday: Abiding in Christ
A flourishing spiritual life is possible only by constantly depending on Christ. Jesus used the illustration of the vine to teach us how to accomplish this. I am the vine, you are the branches, said Jesus (John 15:5, NKJV). In the Old Testament, Israel was depicted as a vine that the Lord had planted (Isa. 5:1-7; Ps. 80:8-9; Jer. 2:21), but Jesus presents Himself as the true vine (John 15:1) and urges His followers to be united with Him just as the branches abide in the vine.
Image © Phil McKay from GoodSalt.com
What do these texts teach us about abiding continually in Christ? See John 15:4-10. A branch recently separated from the vine may appear alive for a while, but it will surely wither and die because it has been cut off from the source of life. By the same token, we can receive life only through our connection with Christ. But in order to be effective, this union must be maintained. Devotional time in the morning is essential, but our communion with the Lord has to continue throughout the day. Abiding in Christ means seeking Him constantly, asking for His guidance, praying for His strength to obey His will, and begging for His love to fill us. One of the most deceitful traps is to try to live the Christian life independently from the Lord. Without Me you can do nothing (John 15:5, NKJV). Without Him we cannot resist even one temptation, overcome one sin, or develop a character in His likeness. The new spiritual life can grow only by means of an uninterrupted communion with Christ. By reading the Word and meditating on it, we are nourished and strengthened. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life, said Jesus (John 6:63, NKJV). Treasured in our hearts and minds, these words will inspire our prayers in order to keep us in contact with the Lord. Though it’s easy to be distracted by the cares of this world (Mark 4:19, NKJV), we must make a concentrated effort to abide in Jesus. What are the greatest obstacles that prevent you from abiding constantly in Christ? What steps can you take in order to remove or overcome them?
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The sin that lives in us and that make us slaves to adultery,lovers of money etc all these make us to break away from the vine .We need to focus on the cross where our salvation comes from
Jesus is the vine and we, His children, are the branches. Let us keep holding on to the vine where sustaining life given power comes from, where the battle over good and evil is won, where there is joy and peace forever more.
the fact that branches cannot bear fruit when they are disconnected to the vine means that we are not fruitful as long as we are not attached to Jesus. we should accept that we are dependent on him in everything. We cannot resist temptation without him. By drawing far from him, we tend to wither like a branch that is not connected to the vine. Abiding in him means him (Christ) first place in everything in our lives.
It started a year ago when a pastor conducting a crusade in our area asked us to create prayer groups to pray every hour for the crusade as well as the presenters. I participated in a few of the hourly prayers and then got the idea to carry on the practice after the crusade ended. I now have an alarm on my phone that rings every hour during the day, then I say a prayer. Sometimes its a theme for the day and sometimes I will pray for the person I am with at that moment. It has enriched my walk with God and has been a blessing to me.
Abide or continue in Christ and the 'Word' and you will grow in strength, wisdom and bear spiritual fruit, you will have 'stars' in your crown. You will be blessed in order to bless others.
A vehicle will not move on its own unless propelled by something. In the same vain,we cannot survive on our own without Christ.He has our lives in his hand and there is nothing that we can do without this power who is Christ who propels us in life.Without him we are dead.
So true Hanziba. Many people try to live like golf carts by charging their own batteries in the morning (Bible Study and Prayer) and then run on their own power the rest of the day. That does not work because we are not golf carts. We are like trolley cars. A trolley car has to stay connected to the cable (God) all day long. It cannot move a single inch without being connected to the cable all day long.
This is so true. Every minute and every issue needs the power of God and the motivation of the Holy Spirit to continue into life eternal.
I see my life like that of a bulldozer. The blade and tracks and all the gear are like my body (it gets the physical work done). The engine is like my will (it motivates the body to work in a particular way). The driver is like the spirit (it provides basic motivation for the will). The driver is interchangeable between selfishness (natural motivation) and Love (motivation of the Holy Spirit). We must choose the Holy Spirit's motivation in every issue because it is not natural to us and God will not force His Spirit on us without our permission.
Scriptures admonish us to sin not, which seems an impossibility. How can we not sin when the very word tells us that we are born in sin and there is none righteous. Today's lesson tells us how: when we are connected to the vine then we obtain the power to be victorious over sin. It then means that we sin when something goes wrong with the connection. Let us strive to stay connected through study of the word, prayer and meditation.
i can remain constantly abiding with christ through daily renewal in faith by praying day by day