Abiding in Him

"Abide in me, and I in you. 

As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine;
no more can you; except you abide in me. 
I am the vine, you are the branches. 

He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit;

for without me you can do nothing." 

John 15:5, 6

 

 

Abide - the dictionary defines it as - "to remain; stay; to dwell."  Remain in me; stay in me; dwell in me......except we remain, stay, dwell in Him, we can bear no fruit.  Hmmmmm......  So, then, how do we abide, remain, stay, dwell in Him? 

In my quest to be more aware of the Lord's presence in my life every moment of every day, I am discovering that in having my eyes open to receive every thing in that day as a gift from Him, I begin to sense His presence in all things.  To open my eyes to His presence and recognize Him in the small things of my day - the blue of the sky, the smell of chicken soup simmering on the stove, the green light, the sun breaking through to make shadows on a cloudy day, manna from His Word, the wind blowing in my hair, clean dishes in the sink, I am dwelling in Him.  Sound crazy?? 

Recognizing His gifts in EVERYTHING is seeing His hand extended to me in love; it's recognizing Him in every moment of my day.  Those things that delight my heart?  The sound of crunching leaves, the taste of peanut butter on hot toast, a flower peeking out of a pile of dead leaves, a face on a tree - these things that delight my heart?  These are gifts from Him, wooing me into a love relationship with Him.  As I recognize these as the gifts they are, my heart fills with thankfulness and joy ---- joy in the fact that He is speaking to me personally with those things that He knows delight my heart.

 

When that joy (a fruit of the Spirit - Galatians 5:22) overflows in my heart, it can't help but affect all aspects of my life and overflow into my relationships with others.  Joy comes from seeing Him in all things, thanking Him for all things and receiving this day and all it holds for me as a gift.  This, then, is abiding, staying with Him in the moment, each moment of my day.

Am I always successful at this?  No, I am not.  But I am practicing.  I am practicing slowing down, looking for Him, living in the moment, seeing the Giver behind all the gifts and beholding His heart's desire for me.  I desire to be fruitful in my life, producing fruit that will remain and the Word tells me I can only do that if I abide in Him.

Fruit even in the midst of decay and rotting leaves.  Lots of fruit, good fruit, quenching fruit!!  Lord, abide in me that I may abide in you - daily, moment by moment.  Create in me an awareness of you in ALL things!  May my joy be full!!

 

"These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you,

and that your joy might be full." 

John 15:11

 

"...in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore." 

Psalm 16:11