Abide in His Word to be His Disciples

John 8:31--Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, [then] are ye my disciples indeed;
32--And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Jesus tells His believers to 'continue in My Word.'  The word 'continue' is the same Greek word in John 15 that Jesus uses to tell us to 'abide' in Him, His Word and His love.  It virtually means to--remain--abide--not to depart.  In my last blog, we talked a little about 'abiding' in the Word.  Abiding means---that's where I have chosen to live, this is what I have chosen to do.  We all have a physical place that we call home.  It is where we eat, sleep, and enjoy.  We think about our home a lot, what we will do to it, how we will mow the grass, how we will do this and how we do that.  It is our home. we take no other thought about being in any place else.  It is 'ours' to enjoy.

Jesus means for His Word to be the same way.  His Promises are our place to be, live, enjoy, rest, eat, sleep and think about.  Yes, I do realize that we have times when our faith grasps the word of God and like the seed sown on the stony ground we 'spring up' with joy but fade away when we see that it doesn't come to pass as speedily as WE think that it should.  Abraham believed God for 25 years before God miraculously gave him and Sarah a son.  Abraham believed his heirs would be as numerous as the stars but died after only seeing Isaac, Esau and Jacob.  According to John 8:56, Jesus told the 'religious folk' that their father Abraham 'saw' Jesus' day and rejoiced about it.  Of course, Abraham did not see it with his physical eye, he saw it with his heart.  He saw it because it was a promise of God and that was where Abraham had chosen to 'abide.'  He did so not because it made sense or looked like it, but because it was what God said.

Look at John 8:31 again.  Jesus said that if you 'live, remain, abide in His Word' then you will become His disciples 'indeed' or 'in reality' according to the Greek.  Listen to what He said.  If you make His Word the only place you live; if you believe what He said instead of what you see around you, and if you refuse to be 'moved' from your faith in Him and His Word-----then you have just started to learn.  He only calls people His disciples when they believe 'every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.  And, indeed, you will ONLY START to learn FROM THE LORD when you choose to make His Word your dwelling place and not just where you go visit when it's convenient.  That make a lot of difference, doesn't it.?

We go to church and hear powerful and flowery sermons.  The choir  or worship team stirs us to tears and/or shouts and we live in the glory for a short time.  By Tuesday it is all gone and we are back in the same old drudgery year in and year out.  We are nothing bettered but rather the ravages of an extremely unfair world seem to take their toll on our lives and our fortunes.  In essence, you can go to church 5 times a week and still not know how to be a successful Christian and be heirs of the promise.  Revival never comes.  The lost are not saved and no victories are won.  Why?

The reason is simple.  We have not held on to the promises of God long enough for HIM to teach us anything.  Sit under the greatest Bible scholars all you want.  But, until you live IN COMMUNION with Jesus Christ  and His Word ON A DAILY BASIS, you will only live the life of a nominal Christian.  If you desire growth by leaps and bounds; if you desire revival for your household and neighborhood; ABIDE IN HIM AND LET HIS WORD ABIDE IN YOU.  Spending 15-30 minutes a day in HIS presence will bring you into a lifetime of blessings instead of cursings.  I did not say spend time 'telling' Him stuff He already knows and crying and carrying on.  Spend time in HIS presence until you know that you know that you know you have touched HIM. 

Then, get ready to learn something.  Get ready to come away with more than you came to Him with.  Get ready to undergo a metamorphosis that will amaze you and your family and friends.  And get ready for an encounter of a God kind.  Jesus said in John 8, stick with the Word and learn something.  Stick with my Word and let ME teach you something worth learning.  Let ME teach you how to be MY disciple.

More tomorrow.