Jesus gave us these words in John 15:4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me." Though these words are very clear and obvious to most, you could even imply simple, it would seem abiding in Christ is far from the hearts and minds of many church goers today.
Today, like most in the world, the body of Christ or the church is so busy keeping up with their neighbours, building their fancy homes and visiting their best restaurants that we no longer have our Lord at the forefront of our hearts and minds. We have become entrapped by the splendour of the age and all it has to offer that understanding that we have been "called out" from the world is a foreign concept for most believers today. The church has become "rich" in the eyes of the world and as a result wants for nothing. And though Jesus promised us in Psalm 23 that He would provide all for us there are very few that can say they identify with Christ in His sufferings.
What then remains for the church? Firstly we must remember who we are and what we are called to in Him. Recently the Lord has been bringing new revelation to my heart and what it means to abide or remain in Him. The simple yet powerful truth of learning to BE is what the Lord has placed on my heart. It is this I wish to reflect upon more...
BE...As believers it is imperative to understand what it means to be believers and followers of our Lord Jesus, not just something we DO on a Sunday or other day throughout the week but that our lives are caught up in Him and are in every facet connected to Him and all He did upon the cross. There must be a sense of BElonging, knowing that we are in Him and as Ephesians points out been "raised up with him and seated in heavenly places". This shines a new light on what we DO, for what we do as believers should be a reflection of who we are and not the reverse of it. The word BELONG is an interesting one, made up of two words BE and LONG indicates that we belong when we firstly long to be, that is be with Him in His presence and have that intimate and close relationship that He so longs to have with us.
When we understand what it is to Be then we may go on from there to gain insight what it is he has called us to Do. But it must always begin with longing to BE with him. Christ must be our only and true desire for this life we live. When we allow other desires to interfere with Him then He is no longer our desire. When he takes second place to work, recreation, friends, even family then He i no longer our priority. This in many ways describes the Church today.
Yet the Church or Body of Christ remains to be the hope for the world today. The body of Christ is still the arms, legs, hands, feet and even the heart of Jesus in the world today. As believers in Christ, we may be the only Jesus that others may see not only today but perhaps even their whole lives.
We must learn to BE in Him, so that He may be seen in all we do!
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