Abiding in the Vine

John 15:7

7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. (KJV)

Put that verse along side James 1:5

James 1:5

5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. (KJV)

Do you see a connection here?

If you abide in Jesus and His words abide in you, you can ask for wisdom and God will give it. For the person abiding in the vine does get what he asks for. Why? Because, God’s will is foremost in that person’s life. They are willing to go God’s way and not their own. God delights to give us His will. And we need to delight in doing it.

But what is involved in abiding? If you notice from John 15:10 below-

John 15:10

10 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. (KJV)

Abiding includes obedience. Notice Jesus did start the sentence with "if". If you keep His commandments, you will abide in His love. You will live in His love. Your obedience opens the door for His love to flow in you, and through you. Your obedience opens the way for His will to be worked in you and in the lives of others.

Stop and think about this. Remember when Peter walked on the water? He and the others saw Jesus and Jesus told them not to be afraid, as it was Him, and not some ghost. Well Peter wanted some proof of that and so said, "If it is you, Lord, tell me to come out and walk on the water too." Jesus said, "Come on." And Peter steps out and starts walking on the water. He steps out of the boat because of faith and an obedient spirit. What messed him up that he started sinking? He started doubting, didn’t he? Remember what James said in James 1:6

James 1:6

6 But let him ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. (NAS)

Well, Peter certainly started getting tossed. Cause he looked at the wind and the waves-the water was quite rough-and he started doubting, possibly thinking that he couldn’t really be doing that, people can’t walk on water, this was impossible, and of course Peter starts sinking immediately as these thoughts start getting entertained in his mind. He starts doubting, and walah! starts to sink. Fortunately, he had enough faith to realize Jesus could rescue him and calls out for His help, and Jesus grabs him by the wrist or hand and pulls him back up out of the water and they go on to the boat together. Can you imagine how bombed Peter’s mind was with this event. His mind probably was reeling the whole finish of the trip across the water in that boat.

Back to abiding-when we are obedient, we are abiding in Jesus. Not only that, but when we are focused on knowing Him and His will and His ways and His character and His love, we are abiding in Him.

How do we learn to be obedient? We step out by faith, in faith, and then see God’s amazing ability to do things. How do we continue to gain faith? By obedience. For obedience also builds faith. Obedience gives you the experience of what happens after you have obeyed.

Mind you, when you are praying for wisdom as I said in the past, you have to be willing to accept His wisdom, whether it is a pleasure to you or not. If it is not a pleasure to you, it is because it is not a pleasure to your flesh nature. But God’s wisdom and understanding always builds and strengthens the spirit of a person, strengthens their soul. As a result, God not only gets the glory but others are built up and strengthened and cleansed and saved.

When Jesus says for us to abide in Him, He is not giving us an option. He is giving us a command.

John 8:31-32

31 Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you abide in My word, {then} you are truly disciples of Mine;

32 and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. "(NAS)

Let’s reword what Jesus said just a bit to fit Jesus said in John 15:10

‘If you abide in (obey my commands), then you are truly disciples of mine’ See a disciple learns from his teacher and the teacher gives assignments and the disciples do those assignments. He learns how to do things from his teacher, learns how to do things the way the teacher does them. And what is so great about the results is made evident in verse 31- You will know the truth and the truth will set you free. Do you want to be free from bondages in your life? Obey Jesus, Believe Jesus. Trust Jesus. He is your salvation, your deliverer, your very own freedom fighter who releases you from captivity to self and sin. Pretty wonderful results I would say.

Think about all this this week. And remember what Jesus said in John 15:10

10 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. (KJV)

That’s it for this weekend, folks. Have a great one. The Good News Lady