If I abide in Christ and His words abide in me, I shall ask whatever I wish and it shall be done for me. John 15:7
Abide. That means to remain. Christ wants us to remain in Him.
Our instruction could have been to go to church, tithe, don't use foul language, be nice and put a fish sticker our cars.
Do you know why it instead is to abide in Christ, to remain in Christ?
Because He wants a relationship with us far more than He wants our rituals. He wants our actions to arise out of our love for Him, not our fear of Him.
Bill Perkins, author of Six Rules Every Man Must Break, says that if His words are to abide in us, that means the more we read them, the more they shape our thinking. The more they shape our thinking, the more they shape our emotions. The more they shape our emotions, the more they direct our behavior.
What are your thoughts about abiding in Christ?
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my thoughts are this: I'm having much more fun and freedom in having Christ abide or live in me than just going through the motions and doing the rituals. Keep in mind, rituals are important; however, having a RELATIONSHIP is more important because without the relationship, everything else means absolutely nothing. In my study Bible notes the phrase, "my words remain in you," mean that it is impossible to pray correctlyt apart from knowing and believing the teachings of Christ. My goals daily is to live out Philippians 3:10. I don't want to just read and memorize his teachings, I want to LIVE it out! Abiding in Christ is a cool thing and I want to do that more than anything else consistently, constantly, and daily. That's my take on abiding, living and remaining in Christ.
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