Abide in Me I've been noticing something so precious about some of my favorite words of Jesus when He was on earth. I love these words, "Follow Me." (Matt. 4:19) Isn't it great to know today that we don't have to lead ourselves, our Lord leads and we choose to follow. What joy to follow Him, because He only is the Way, the Truth and the Life! Then I notice another invitation in Matt 11:28. Jesus says, "Come to Me." Our Lord, who loves us with and everlasting love, beckons us to come. He beckons us still to come, and find rest. Come receive His love, His joy, His peace, His wisdom, His rest. As His beloved ones, we can freely come to Him. Oh you can just hear His love for you, His desire for you, His understanding of you in these three words, "Come to Me." I think He whispers tenderly, stop striving, stop worrying, stop running around being so busy, stop going to every other person in your life trying to find fulfillment, stop struggling.....COME TO ME!!!!!!!! He is not a far away God. He is wanting intimate relationship. But as always, we choose. It's good to think about what we are choosing! Let's respond to His call to come. He wants to make us partakers of the joy of His presence and love, experience the blessing of forgiveness and freedom and be transformed by His Word.
But here is the most important thing I want to say today. He never meant for us to come and leave. He wants us to come and stay. Think about the last words Jesus speaks to His disciples before He left the planet John 15, my favorite chapter of the Bible. "Abide in Me."His desire is unbroken, intimate communion with us. Oh that we would learn the lesson of the branch and the vine. He in us, us in Him. He wants us to be one with Him. He wants His Word to abide in us. To abide is to experience continual, unbroken connection. That branch is connected to the vine, receives its life from the vine, bears fruit because it is connected to the vine. Everything that the vine possesses belongs to the branch as long as the branch stays connected. The branch does not struggle to get connected to the vine! Meditate on John 15:1-12 today. Especially, "Abide in Me, and I in you." The Holy Spirit will teach us. It's so awesome isn't it?
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