In the last couple months of 2011 the book of 1 John became my rock and my inspiration. I could not get out of that book for the life of me, it was the glue that made my life and my hearts desires make sense. But this one word I would always get stuck on... abide. It appeared over and over again, but I could never fully grasp it. However, if I knew one thing, it was that I wanted to and in some ways, even needed to.
Abide became more then just some word, it became my hearts longing. To remain in God, to find all of my worth and value in Him. To be engulfed and drenched in the presence of God so much that abiding in God became a natural occurrence. It wasn't forced, it was just inherently there.
This part year I have seen how abiding in God is the way in which we produce the fruits of the Spirit in our life. I have seen how the goal of producing those fruits is to bless others and connect us in community. I have seen how abiding in God is less and less about our own benefit, but increasingly more about benefiting the Kingdom and other people around us. However, I have seen how much abiding in Jesus blesses our lives exponentially.
To abide in God is to seek His face, seek His guidance, and find worth and value in Him alone. To look to Him when most people would look to the world or to other people. To value Him above all else. To abide in God is to saturate yourself in the Word so that the Word comes to life and becomes more then just text written by humans on a page, it becomes real. To abide in God is to pray without ceasing, to keep our hearts and minds aligned with Him and His heart. To abide in God is possible. Because after all, the Holy Spirit truly does want to be intimate with Jesus, I think abiding in Him is the way those two come back together again in supernatural ways.
To abide in God is to become part of God's story in a way that we can't even understand as human beings. To abide in God is to be one with God. To reach unity and a mutual inseparability.
By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
1 John 2:5-6
And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.
1 John 2:28-29
