I love starting my mornings with a cup of coffee and God's word. There always is something profound in them, that pertains to my situation. When that happens, I write it down, even if it is one sentence or scripture and I carry it throughout my day. Since God's words are always full of wisdom, I try to make them part of my heart. And I pray that whatever He wants me to see, that somehow it will sink deep in my soul.
Is this abiding? It is very hard to capture each thought and to give it up to Christ. I find that life in general distracts me! I am very focused at my desk surrounded by Him, and my devotion books and Bible, but once I get up to leave... my "to do" list for the day starts running through my head. So how do I abide from moment ot moment? Is it being thankful? Is it realizing my blessings? Is it loving those around me?
In 1 John 4:12 it says: "If we love one another God abides in us and His love is perfected in us." And how hard is it to love others when we are treated unfairly and sometimes it's even hard to love myself!
I still struggle with this concept of abiding with Him - it tends to be a conflict between my body and my soul. I know with my mind what it means, but can I truly feel it? I try to "take hold" of my Savior, but with problems mounting up, He slips away. I see this abiding as an hour to hour quest, and a day to day challenge. All of which I fail miserably at!! As Paul says in Phillipians 3:12 "Not that I have already reached the goal or am already fully mature, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus!" And so my soul is willing...
Jesus said in John 15:4 "Remain in me, and I will remain in you." I wonder how the disciples understood this? I love my Savior with all my heart and I know He has taken up residence there because my deep thoughts, feelings, always come back to Him. I feel the most centered, anchored really, when I am fully focused on Him. My craving for Him and all that He is continues, as I continue my daily walk in this world.
So I think that to truly abide you have to take it from a passive role to and active role. I was raised with "action speaks louder than words". But my actions don't always reflect abiding. The beauty in that is my Savior's grace is there for me, even in my most imperfect state of being. From my perspective then, to truly abide means that I stand at the throne of grace in my most humble state ready to serve at my Savior's request.
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