"He who abides in Me and I in him will bear much fruit. For apart from Me, you can do nothing." John 15:5....."Come unto Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:30...."And you do not have His message in your hearts because you do not believe Me, the One He sent to you." John 5:38............"The yoke are His Words." Steven Scott
"We have lost the art of abiding in Him." Steven Scott.....The above scriptures may not seem related, but I think they are. The quotes by Steven Scott certainly are. As for the scriptures, they are familiar to most who would profess a long relationship with Him. We've likely done Bible studies and heard sermons where those scriptures were taught, preached, even memorized. The question for us is, are they being lived out in our lives? Do we abide in, live in His Words? Or is our reality that we live apart from the power and life of those words? Is our reality that our day to day lives show forth the unrest of all our labor and heavy burdens? In a devotional written by Scott, he uses this scripture to say, "Others want to weigh you down. Christ wants to carry your load." He carries that load by our walking in His Word. It is His Living Word, alive in our lives that carries the weight the enemy, our flesh, and the challenges and dangers of life seek to place upon us. He who was sent by the Father has given us a message. We may have believed that message in our minds, but does it abide in our hearts, and do our hearts then abide in Him....and His Word?
I wrote the other day of the testimonies that our lives are to speak. Too often the testimony of our life is that we live in ways little different than the world. We are weary, worn out, burnt out, and discouraged. We are held captive by the same things the world is. We live in fear, anxiety, and hopelessness. His Presence seems as far off to us as it is to those who are without Him. We read John 5:38 and feel it applies only to those who have completely rejected Him. Do we dare to ask to what extent it's also true of us? We may know His "message" intellectually, but do we know and live it out in our hearts and spirits? Are we vessels of that message to both a world and church that is desperate to hear and receive it? When we tell people that Jesus saves, can they see in our lives what it is that He saves us from? What He gives us victory in and over? Has His message been written upon our hearts.....for all to see? Or do we more resemble parrots, who can speak words, but have no understanding as to what they mean?
Scott says that we have lost the art of abiding in Him. What say we to that? Do our lives and witness prove him wrong, or right? Saving grace places us in Christ, but it is our moment by moment choice as to whether we will live there. This will require us spending real time in His Presence, soaking spiritually in His Word. Listening more than speaking. Learning to lay aside every distraction. Learning to discern His voice. Learning to abide in Him. Then the "art" that has been lost is rediscovered. And we are now those who have believed, received and live in the power of His message. We know what it is to abide.
Blessings,
I wrote the other day of the testimonies that our lives are to speak. Too often the testimony of our life is that we live in ways little different than the world. We are weary, worn out, burnt out, and discouraged. We are held captive by the same things the world is. We live in fear, anxiety, and hopelessness. His Presence seems as far off to us as it is to those who are without Him. We read John 5:38 and feel it applies only to those who have completely rejected Him. Do we dare to ask to what extent it's also true of us? We may know His "message" intellectually, but do we know and live it out in our hearts and spirits? Are we vessels of that message to both a world and church that is desperate to hear and receive it? When we tell people that Jesus saves, can they see in our lives what it is that He saves us from? What He gives us victory in and over? Has His message been written upon our hearts.....for all to see? Or do we more resemble parrots, who can speak words, but have no understanding as to what they mean?
Scott says that we have lost the art of abiding in Him. What say we to that? Do our lives and witness prove him wrong, or right? Saving grace places us in Christ, but it is our moment by moment choice as to whether we will live there. This will require us spending real time in His Presence, soaking spiritually in His Word. Listening more than speaking. Learning to lay aside every distraction. Learning to discern His voice. Learning to abide in Him. Then the "art" that has been lost is rediscovered. And we are now those who have believed, received and live in the power of His message. We know what it is to abide.
Blessings,
Pastor O
No comments:
Post a Comment