Abiding In Him

by Christine Dawson

God has been putting on my heart in recent weeks, many thoughts about abiding in Him. One day recently, when I was driving down the road, I saw quite a few downed tree branches, and even large parts of trees whose leaves all turned brown because they were not connected to the tree anymore and had died. God said to me, “That’s what happens to My people when they do not abide in Me”.

When branches do not stay attached to the vine or to the tree where they belong, they whither and die, due to lack of water and nutrients. Just the same, when we disconnect ourselves from the Source of Life, we wither and die spiritually. John 15:6 says, “If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” God is telling us to abide in Him for our own spiritual good.

Abiding in Him also produces fruit.

John 15:4 -5 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

When we stay close to Him, He will produce fruit in us. We will be speaking His Word and helping others. We’ll be bringing people into the Kingdom. We’ll be ministering to those who need a word of encouragement.

Andrew Murray says this: “Abiding in Jesus is nothing but the giving up of oneself to be ruled and taught and led, and so resting in the arms of everlasting love.” In a word, abiding in Christ means “surrender”….surrender of all that we are, all that we have, all that we desire, to all that He is, all that He has and all that He desires. It has to be by faith in Him, or we can’t do it. We have to believe that He will do what He says He will do.

We tend to think that we have to DO something, in order to abide in Him. But according to Mr. Murray, we don’t. “The safety and the fruitfulness of the branch depend upon the strength of the vine….He really will be to you all that a vine can be – holding you firmly, nourishing you, and making Himself every moment responsible for your growth and your fruit….A soul filled with large thoughts of the vine will be a strong branch and will abide confidently in Him. Be much occupied with Jesus, and believe much in Him, as the true vine.”

That is abiding. It’s not what we do, but what God Himself does. When we learn this, we’ll see what a source of strength and assurance and blessing it is – not just to us, but to those around us. Abiding is staying close to Him by fellowshipping with Him and being in His Word daily.

God desires that we would not look at ourselves and see our weaknesses and past failures, as if He has called us to do something that we are not prepared to do. He wants us to believe Him, trust Him, and accept the revelation that He, in His uniting us with Christ, has made Himself responsible for our spiritual growth and fruitfulness.

I’ve heard Joyce Meyer give the illustration of a branch of a fruit tree trying to bear fruit. She says that the branch does not grunt and groan and work hard to bear the fruit that it is purposed to bear. All it does is abide – it stays close and attached - and the tree itself does the work of bearing the fruit on the branch. It is the same with us. When we abide in Christ (stay close to Him), He will do the work in and through us. And in that abiding, the fruit we are meant to bear, will come forth in the time and season it is meant to.

Article submitted Sunday, September 25, 2011 & read 25 times.

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