Abide In Me ~

Hello friends!

In the early part of the spring my husband and I

took some time to really clean out the dead branches 

of the pussy willows and a few pine trees in our beautiful creek

nestled right next to our home.

This was a task that I had been wanting to accomplish for years,

but if you do not attend to it early in the spring before the run off
then the creek begins to rush with the high waters and you just as well wait another year.

Once the run off begins it becomes difficult in trying to clean out the branches.

Our spring was long, cold and snowy making the task even more dreadful,

but the results that we have seen throughout the summer have been worth it all.

I have been studying the book of John in my morning time with the Lord,

and when I came to chapter 15:1-11 where it speaks of

Jesus as the True Vine, I couldn't help but think of the many

branches that we purged from the creek and hauled away

leaving room for new growth and the bearing of more fruit to take place,

the fruit being fresh new fuzzy pussy willows.
While working away on those cold, wet snowy days
my mind was busy thinking of the pruning process
 that sometimes takes place in the believers life. 
The Heavenly Father is never nearer to us than when He is pruning us.
 Sometimes He cuts away the dead wood that might cause trouble; 
but often He cuts off the living tissue that may be robbing us of spiritual vigor.
Some of the branches we had to cut off were living
and it hurt me to think that we were taking what was good;
but I was reminded that pruning does not simply mean
spiritual surgery that removes what is bad.
It can also mean cutting away the good and the better 
so that we might enjoy the best.
Yes, pruning hurts, but it also helps. We may not enjoy it, but we need it.

During the life of Jesus on earth, the word He used when speaking

of the relations of the disciples to Himself was; "Follow Me."

When about to leave for heaven, He gave them a new word, 

in which their more intimate and spiritual union with Himself

in glory should be expressed. 

That chosen word was: "Abide in Me."

~ Andrew Murray ~ 

~

It needs time to grow into Jesus the Vine; do not expect

to abide in Him unless you will give Him that time...

Come, my brethren, and let us day by day set ourselves

at His feet, and meditate on this word of His, with an 

eye fixed on Him alone. 

Let us set ourselves in quiet trust

before Him, waiting to hear His holy voice~the still

small voice that is mightier than the storm that rends the

rocks~breathing its quickening spirit within us, as He

speaks: "Abide in Me."

~ Andrew Murray ~

I appreciated the words of Andrew Murray;
"Come, my brethren, and let us day by day set ourselves
at His feet, and meditate on this word of His, with an 
eye fixed on Him alone."
"Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him,
If ye continue in my word, then ye are my disciples indeed."
(John 8:31)
This verse refers to the state of continuing to live
by the Word of God. 
"He that saith he abideth in him ought himself
also to walk, even as he walked."
(1 John2:6)
We are to be imitators of Christ, walking in the Light. 
Jesus wants His followers to abide in Him,
to dwell, to remain, to stay and to be obedient. 
"Abiding, (or remaining) in Christ" indicates
an intimate spiritual relationship with Christ on the part of the believer.
So day by day we need to set ourselves at the feet of Jesus,
read His Word, and wait in quiet trust
before Him in order to be made more and more like Him.
~

True believers obey the Lord's command ~ 
Jesus set the model by His perfect obedience to the Father,
which we are to use as the pattern for our obedience to Him.

If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love;

even as I have kept my Father's commandments, 

and abide in His love." 

(John 15:10) 
~

True believers submit to His Word ~

"He that hath my commandments , and keepeth them,

he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall

be loved of my Father, and I will love him,

and will manifest myself to him." 

(John 14:21)
~

Because of the believers commitment to God's Word, 

they are devoted to His will, thus their prayers are fruitful,

which puts God's glory on display as He hears and answers.

"And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do,

that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it."

(John 14:13-14)
~
Believers who are obedient to the Father's commandments
will experience joy, just as Jesus maintained that His obedience
to the Father was the basis of His joy.
"These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy
might remain in you, and that your joy might be full."
(John15:11)
 ~
There is only one relationship that matters, and that is
your relationship to a personal Redeemer and Lord.
Let everything else go, but maintain that at all costs,
and God will fulfill His purpose through your life.
~ Oswald Chambers ~
How very true this is!

~

Precious Heavenly Father,
we know that as the knot of the branch abides in the vine,
and the sap of the vine abides in the branch,
there is a constant communication between them.
Draw us ever so close to Thy precious side,
as we faithfully abide in Thee.
Amen.

Be Fruitful!
~ Debbie ~