What does abide in The Lord mean?
The dictionary says that abide means to stay, but what does abide in THE LORD mean?
Lately The LORD has been speaking to my heart to stay. It’s funny because I truly feel like everything that I am working towards is to move me forward, but Holy Spirit’s voice is telling me to stay, and that’s exactly what abide means. When I stay in spite of my itch to leave then I am abiding in Christ. There are certain areas of my life where staying would definitely mean obedience and submission to people and even my circumstances.
They aren’t dangerous situations, they are just uncomfortable and my responses to them will be new and different; we all know how difficult “new” and “different” can be.
When I think of staying in an uncomfortable situation that I know is good for me I always think about when I go to get a massage. Whenever I go to get a massage there are painful moments because my muscles are so tight. My massage therapist knows that I need the deep tissue type of massage and we both know there is a lot of discomfort during the massage. But I don’t leave the room because the massage is getting uncomfortable. I stay on the table and endure until the end of the massage because I know it’s good for my health and will eventually help me to feel better. But the detoxing doesn’t end at the massage table, in fact the massage is just the beginning. My body always goes through a detox after a massage because my massage therapist is the best in the world (she’s my sister) and because that’s what my body does!
Abiding in Christ is going to be uncomfortable sometimes and it’s going to prune and detox our heart, and our life. We need to remember that when we abide in Christ our branches will grow and produce fruit. Of course, Jesus also promises that our branches will also be pruned so that they may bear even more fruit. So even when we are abiding we are growing and detoxing, just like when I get my massage!
Sometimes we search for the meaning and purpose God has for our life when in reality, if we are abiding in Him, God always reveals to us our purpose through pruning our life and by the fruit our life bears. Even when we are abiding and staying we are still spreading out our reach even if it feels like we could do more, be more, give more, more…more…more.
Often I need to examine my own heart in order to determine why I can’t be content with abiding in Christ and allowing myself to stay and be pruned.
[inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]When we are abiding we are being pruned for the fruit that is to come.[/inlinetweet]
Going to college is not easy. Right now I have a mock therapy video presentation I have to do in order to pass the class and it needs to be done with a classmate. Sometimes I think about how wonderful it would be to just drop the class so I don’t have to do the project, but this is one situation where I am going to want to abide and stay. God has opened the doors for me to attend college and that means for me that I need to endure these projects that I would rather not do.
Even when we abide our life does not get stagnant as long as we are actively living out our life and enduring through the uncomfortable, painful, and often pruning or detoxing moments of life.
I have been blogging for over 12 years now and there have been many times that I’ve either quit, or thought about quitting something that I’ve created or started on. I have went searching for so much MORE that I thought would bring satisfaction. I’ve wondered if anyone else in the world would ever consider my writing successful, or if it was ever worth it to continue writing on my blog and in my books.
But the longer I abide in what God has already given me, and I quit trying to run away from it, I find that it most certainly does produce more fruit. Over the years I have learned a lot about blogging and self-publishing books, and yet I feel like I have so much more to learn. I have deleted blogs, or sold blogs, and I have regretted making those moves. I have started new endeavors only to realize I didn’t count the cost before I started them. Or sometimes walking away from something I’ve started has been just the pruning that I needed in order to make room for the NEW that God was making a path for.
But as I move closer to God and abiding in Him as I approach every area of my life, including writing, I have realized that writing is a lifestyle and so is abiding in Christ. It’s difficult being a writer when it’s just a hobby, and it is difficult being a Christian if we are only building a relationship with God when we feel like it or only when we have time.
We need to remember what John 15:14 says, that apart from Christ we will not bear any fruit. Abiding in Christ means to stay faithful and committed. Abiding means to stay, and staying means finding the strength to be committed to something until the very end. It’s also trusting the process that whatever falls away, or whatever seems like a failure, is simply a pruning moment in our life and in the end we will bear much fruit if we just keep abiding in Christ.
P.S. HAPPY SPRING! My special gift to you this week is a free 4×6 digital print of the verse John 15:4. This scripture print is great for placing around your home and to help you memorize this scripture. Just click this link to download: John 15:4 Scripture Card - Abide in the Lord
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John 15:1-5 is one of my favorite passages in the Bible. Thanks for providing some thoughts on your experience of learning to abide.
Yes, it is such a beautiful verse! Thank you for stopping by!
This is beautiful! You’ve given me a new perspective on abiding.
Thank you, Tiffany! I am glad it spoke to you in some way. 🙂
I find this so comforting–thanks for sharing!
Thank you for stopping by, Cecilia! I am glad you found comfort in the blog post. 🙂
I love your insights on abiding and writing. I’m experiencing many detoxing moments lately. The outcome is so worth the effort.
Yes, Ginger, it is definitely worth the effort for sure! Thank you for stopping by!
Abide is such a great word. This was a great reminder for me…what it means to abide in Christ. I’m blessed to be your neighbor over at Testimony Tuesday today.
Thank you, Tara! Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment. 🙂
Heather – I just love this post so much! It the peaks and valleys of life that grow us and mature us in our walk with Him. Personally, I know I’m about to walk into a valley, but I know that He is with me, so in times of struggle, this is such a good reminder to stay and abide in Him.
I’m so glad you linked up for I DIYed that – this is beautiful encouragement we all need to hear!
Amen, Jen! Praying for you as approach the valley and for God’s strength to sustain you. Thank you so much for stopping by!
Abide, commit, submit…words that scared me when I was a new Christian. Now I find them to be words directly from the Lord Whom I adore and want to be near. They are still hard words at times, but no longer scary. Thanks for the beautiful and clear teaching here on abide.
Yes, they scared me, too! Yes, still difficult words to live out, but praise God this walk with Jesus is a journey and He is patient with us. It’s always so great to see your comments here, thank you for stopping by!
Can’t help but smile with your words back to me, Heather! I, too, am so very grateful that Jesus is near and walks with us, if not carrying us, along this journey. Praise God.
Hi, Heather.
In college I memorized parts of John 15, and the imagery stays with me, particularly now that I spend hours in the garden. Thankful to have my roots sunk deep in Christ!
Amen, it is always good to have deep roots for sure! Always great to see your comments here, thank you for stopping by!
Heather, it’s so lovely to “meet you” today! Thanks for unpacking this passage in John for us — it’s one of my favorites and actually one that God impressed on my heart in a fresh way when I decided to get married. I can’t nourish any relationship unless i am first gaining sustenance from the Vine.
It’s great to “meet” you, too! Amen, so true about gaining sustenance from the vine! Thank you so much for stopping by!
So excited to see you at #FaithOnFire this week! Welcome 🙂
Dwell/abide are my twin words for the year. I love how you compare staying with Him even in the uncomfortable times to staying on the massage table. Our spirits will definitely feel better after the detox even as our bodies do the same.
Another interesting thing that I’ve considered about staying is that dwelling/staying in Him does not necessarily mean staying in one place, since God is neither bound by time nor space. When we dwell in Him, we do like the children of Israel did in the wilderness in relation to the pillar of cloud/fire; we move when He moves, and we stay put when He stays put.
Keep up the good abiding!! 🙂
That is such a good word, and so very true! Thank you so much for stopping by!
As I was reading this, Philippians 4:13 came to mind “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” It’s an important thing to remember when you are in those uncomfortable situations.
Thanks for sharing!
#Fridayfavorites
Very true! Thank you for reminding me of that verse and for stopping by!
This is right on time for me. Such words of wisdom. So happy to find this post at Bloggers Pit Stop today. Happy Saturday!
What a lovely post and pretty printable! Thank you for sharing this at Tuesdays with a Twist! -Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures
This is a very good reminder that wee need to listen to what the Lord wants. When I started my first blog I felt the Lords prompting to share some of the things that I know and do. I was happy with it but I wanted a little more so I started a new blog and went a little different at first but it didn’t feel right so I am going back to what I was doing and it just seems like a better fit. Thanks for linking up with Literacy Musing Mondays hop! Hope to see you next week. And have a great week,
Connie
Hey, honey I can relate to a lot you have said because I have been online awhile myself. I have made blogs, deleted, moved them to WordPress, etc. I know the feeling. There are time that we go though what we think is not making any progress. However, the Lord knows the right time and place for all things. I love every thought you have here, and yes your writing is wonderful, and yes you have the right spirit, right choices, and he will lead you to that final place that he has for you. Keep going and keep praying….my mom used to say; “pray, pray, pray.”
Thank you for these words. I have several blogs and I will leave my Christian Blog URL below this time.
Great article Heather – I am studying this right now so it’s rather timely for me!
Congrats on being our Friend Of The Week at Friendship Friday at Create With Joy! 🙂
Yes, post-secondary school has a way of forcing us out of our comfort zones! I have my teaching degree and in University, I had to take a course on how to teach music – I can’t sing – I can’t play an instrument – BUT I had to sing in front of my prof and other classmates in order to pass…I couldn’t get through it without crying. I was completely OUT of my comfort zone! That was 15 years ago.
Thanks for sharing on Grace and Truth.
Thank you for sharing this and linking up at the Friday at the Fire Station Link-up! So cool you are also a Fire Fighter wife. 🙂
Heather,
This post was a timely dose of encouragement for me. So many layers you have left here for us to leaf through and think on and many of them have significant truth for me. Abide… always in Him it is a necessary thing for us to do, isn’t it. The whole blogging thing…. though… friend,you are speaking right to my heart. I needed to read that. Praying for you as you continue to abide. Thanks for sharing this refreshment at the #GraceMoments Link Up.
Blessings,
Dawn