Learning to Abide in Him...

In my church, I am proud and humbled to lead a fantastic group of people each Sunday morning in Bible study. We gather together to see what God has in store as we open His Word and share what we glean as we pour over the Scriptures and our other printed materials. In the past few months we have been studying the book entitled, The Secrets of the Vine, by Dr. Bruce Wilkerson.

What we have studied cannot be condensed in a few short sentences, but as promised in yesterday's blog, I wanted you to return to find the "secret" for trusting in God...and it comes from the 15th chapter of John, verse 5 which reads, " I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me."  And there you have it....the secret to trusting God is to abide in Him; in other words, truly get to know Him; what He is and is not; what He can and will or will not do; truly get to know the awesome God you serve.

Getting to know God has several principles that we must adhere to if we are serious about trusting  Him with our heart and our life. The first principle is really quite simple; it is one that we can and do apply in our other life relationships that have meaning and are important to us...

To break through to abiding,  you must deepen the quality of the devoted time you spend with God. If you are married, think about the time you spent courting your spouse; getting ready to go on a date; talking into the wee hours of the night....all for one purpose....to get to know more intimately the one with whom you were falling in love. The same is true for our "love affair" with Jesus...we need to spend quality as well as quantity time with our Lord...and to do that we must adopt principle #2....

Set apart the kind of time that will build relationship. I know a number of folks like to read their Bible right before bedtime, then slip under the covers and fall asleep; however, I don't know of anyone who has deepened their relationship with their Heavenly Father by reading a few verses of Scriptures, mumbling a few words in prayer and then going to sleep. To really get to know God, you must set aside a significant time and a private place where you and God can commune without interruption. When you courted your spouse, you set aside time to be alone together, away from the cares and distractions of the world so that you could get to know each other and deepen the love that was growing in your heart...the same is true if you really want to abide in Him that gave His life to demonstrate His love for you.

The 3rd principle is really pretty simple...Savor God's words to you. When you read God's word, pour over what you have read and give the Holy Spirit time to do his work with you and in you as you ingest the Holy Scriptures...treat it like food for your soul that without it, you would perish and die...for most of us that is a new way to think of reading our Bibles.

Principle 4 tells us to....Talk and listen to a Person....Yes, God is HOLY, MAGNIFICENT, OMNIPRESENT and a host of other superlatives that we could use to describe HIM....but He is more than all those things. He is your FATHER and He cares for you...so talk to him as you would your earthly father and tell him your hopes, your fears, your cares, your disappointments and then be prepared to be still and listen for His answers. He is willing and able to share His insights; so if you plan to seek Him, don't stop until you find Him.

The last principle is one that many of us(including myself) struggle with...Keep a written record of what God is doing in your life. This should be a spiritual journal of your journey with God, not a daily list of the highs or lows that you may have encountered. Be as intimate in sharing your feelings with your Heavenly Father as you can be; after all, He knows your every thought anyway!

Remember this, principles or disciplines are only as good as the amount of practice one puts in to them...so if you truly want to know God more and be able to trust Him in ALL THINGS, these principles take devotion and work...but the rewards far outweigh the effort!

Get to know the ONE that gave His life for you and as you grow in grace and devotion, you will see God do incredible things in your life and in the lives that you come in contact with on a daily basis...stay in Him...ABIDE IN HIM TO BE MORE LIKE HIM and see the world change right before your eyes.

Blessed Beyond Measure....Abiding in Him,

WPQ