Have you ever stopped to wonder just how transformation
occurs? I have spoken often as of late
the transformation that God desires to accomplish in each one of us.
Here are some recent thoughts on this subject:
God is faithful and God is loving, but how can I be faithful
and loving too? It is through abiding in
Christ that these things occur. Jesus
said: “abide in Me, and I in you.” ( See
John15:4) To abide in Christ is more
than just our Christian duty or responsibility, but also, it is our privilege! We must be careful also that we do not fall
into a trap of misunderstanding this word Abide. The idea has been often misunderstood, as
thought it is a mystical or indefinable experience. Jesus goes to great lengths in John to make
clear that Abiding involves a number of concrete realities.
As you abide in Him you become faithful! God is loving, and as you abide in him: Love becomes a part of who you are and what
you do!
The fruit of the spirit is not your attributes, it is not
something you have manufactured or produced.
But rather, it is something God
has generated in you!
These and others are His attributes living in you because HE
is there within you! How does this happen? ONLY By faith! By believing!
By faith, He dwells in our lives
and makes His presence known through His likeness manifesting itself within our
thoughts, attitudes, actions and behavior.
We must never forget that this abiding is made possible by
His grace. Faith itself is rooted in
the activity of God. God the divine, who crafted us, called us and
grafted us into Christ, cleansed us by His word, and fit us into his family!
All that has happened to me
is not by me, but rather by the sovereign act of God! All that I have and experience is because of
His active grace in my life!
Learning to abide in Him means that this union is not only
divinely initiate, but it is also divinely sustained. Abiding involves our
response to the teaching of Jesus Christ through obedience.
Look up:
·
John 15:7
·
Colossians 3:16
·
Ephesians 5:18
To keep it simple, abiding in Christ means allowing His Word
to transform our minds, direct our wills, and impact our affections. Our relationship to Christ should be so
intimately connected to what we read in our Bibles, truly becomes a marching order for our life.
