Tag Archives: Abiding with God

Abiding with God

Eastertide

May 8, 2021

Scripture Reading: John 15:9-17

As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. John 15:9-11

After major surgery, I groggily awoke in the night to see an ebony arm extended from a crisp white sleeve as the hand patted my arm. A reassuring voice said, “You are all right, just go back to sleep. Everything is OK.” I experienced the deepest level of trust and peace. God’s emissary had come to care for me, and I went back to sleep. She was probably the night nurse checking my vitals, but her assurance came from God, and I abided in it.

We call on God to abide with us when we are most vulnerable, and that is good and right. However, Jesus instructed us to abide always in his love as he continuously abides in God’s love. Abide, translated from the Greek word meno* means to stay, wait with, or remain, suggesting an intimate level of connection. We must not confuse it with the English word having the connotation of putting up with something.

Abiding with God takes practice. I worked with a man who was born in another country. English was his second language. Even though he had lived in the USA for 40 years and spoke the language with an Oklahoma accent, he still translated English into his native tongue, prepared his response in that language, and finally expressed his answer in English.  He did it very quickly as it was not apparent in conversations that he was processing something before he spoke. I wonder how long it would take Christ-followers to screen our lives through Jesus’ lens so that we could feel more confident in our loving like Jesus all the time.

Prayer:
Abide with me, fast falls the eventide
The darkness deepens Lord, with me abide
When other helpers fail and comforts flee
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me*. Amen.

First verse of hymn Abide with Me by Henry Francis Lyte see at https://www.google.com/search?q=abide+with+me+lyrics&rlz=1C1CHZN_enUS922US922&oq=abide+with+me&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j46i433j0l3j46l2j0l2j46.6647j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Abide in Christ

 Eastertide
April 29, 2018

Scripture Reading: John 15:1-8

‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

 One year when I was a child on the farm, we grew the most beautiful potato plants. We had had a lot of rain and the plants grew tall with rich green leaves and lots of little flowers. My mother was not happy with these plants at all. Their job was to produce potatoes for us to eat that grow below the ground not create pretty, little bushes we could enjoy for a few days. She was right. When the time came for the harvest these plants either grew no potatoes or only produced small ones.

Identifying purpose is important. It helps establish where limited resources should be targeted, it saves precious time often wasted. What is our primary purpose as followers of Christ? Jesus gave us the answer by saying we are to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves. Those two tasks should keep us busy through eternity. God created us as interdependent beings. None of us can do everything; all of us can do something to contribute to a world ruled by love.

I never quite know how to understand the phrase ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. I am not sure everything I wish for is good for me or for anybody else. We cannot separate this phrase from the whole sentence which begins, If you abide in me, and my words abide in you. Relationship with Christ matters as does not only being a student of his words but living his words.

Prayer: God of All, care for me in any way necessary to help me bear fruit toward the coming of a world ruled by love. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Abide with Me

Living in the Spirit
July 19, 2017

Scripture Reading: Genesis 28:10-19a

Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!’ And he was afraid, and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’

 So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first. –Genesis 28:16-19a

Of course, God by nature is with us all the time; we are the ones who lose sight of God’s abiding presence. God surely desires our company on a regular basis, not just when something bad happens, we find ourself in trouble, or even when we are celebrating. I am a strong proponent of preventive health care. Eating right, exercising, getting adequate sleep, keeping my vaccinations current, and getting recommended tests and check ups. Can’t say I always practice what I preach regarding preventive health, but I do work at it. Continuously working at being at-one with God is preventive care for our souls.

There are numerous books describing spiritual disciplines that can help facilitate relationship growth with God. My favorite is Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth. The most important lessons I have learned over time is that there are as many ways of communing with God as there are people on the earth. We certainly can learn from each other, but we must search out the ones that are most meaningful to us. We benefit from attempting practices that are outside our comfort zones ways that are most meaningful to us. Journaling is oft recommended as a spiritual discipline. I love to write but when I tried journaling, what I wrote grew more and more morose. Putting my thoughts in writing in response to daily scripture reading has had the opposite impact. It helps me see myself more clearly and envision ways I can better serve God.

Another recommendation I discovered once was reading scripture, picking a character in the scripture, and putting myself in that character’s place imagining how I would react in the same circumstance. I must confess, I thought this was a somewhat bizarre idea, but when I tried it, I found it to be a most meaningful experience. What did it feel like to be in Mary Magdelene’s place when she encountered Jesus alive at the tomb?

The older I get, the more comfort I take from inviting the presence of God to just rest with me for a while, I am learning what the song Abide with Me teaches.

Prayer:
Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide;
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me. 

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see—
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

 I need Thy presence every passing hour;
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s pow’r?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me *. Amen

*First three verses of Abide with Me by Henry F. Lyte see at http://library.timelesstruths.org/music/Abide_with_Me/

All scriptures are quoted from the new Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.