“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me” –John 15:4.
Abide in Me—remaining in perfect oneness, holding white-knuckled fast no matter what happens, staying attached and rooted. Webster defines abide this way: to remain stable or fixed in a state. God has been holding up this command to abide before me, turning it like a kaleidoscope. Abiding in Him will look the same, yet different from past seasons.God has been exposing the extent of our powerlessness. Making clear our great need for Him, now, more than ever; is that even possible?
In Ecclesiastes 3:1-2, King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, reminds his reader that all life is cyclical. “There’s a season for everything and a time for every matter under the heavens: a time for giving birth and a time for dying, a time for planting and a time for uprooting what was planted.”
Everyone and everything under heaven has set times embedded within them. Every tombstone makes it blatantly clear. Even the leaves are attesting to this truth. What was once a tender bud in March turned into a rich green swatch in April—then onto a lush, green canopy. A shelter made possible by summer’s warm embrace. Now, these same leaves are changing yet again. Fiery, burnished reds and rich golds now.
Season following season, divine order, it’s how our God decided all creation would best work. One thing relies on another, with every-thing reliant on Him. Hence, today’s verse.
All of life, an ebb and flow, a holding on and a letting go of. Except that is where our relationship with God is concerned. That must be fixed, deeply rooted, unshakable. Listen to how King David describes those who abide, remain in, hold fast to God. “And he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season, And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers” –Psalm 1:3.
In this, our most sacred, most significant relationship, there must never be a letting go. Unless that is, Jesus asks it of us.
And even then, our letting go isn’t of God; it’s of things. Of places, people, habits, jobs, relationships, thought patterns, or our worn-out, tattered way of doing things. When God impresses within us, when we get that knowing in our gut that God is asking us to let go of, move away from, change, or rid ourselves of something or someone, that is the only time a Blood-bought believer ought to let go of something which God has used to bless them. Until such time, we are to stand still. Remember, Beloved, you are no longer our own. You’ve been bought with the very highest price, Christ’s own spotless Blood.
Oh, sure, you can make decisions for yourself. You’ve been afforded that choice. You can, at will, change cities, homes, jobs, and relationships. But here’s the thing, if it’s not God’s will for you, His timing, His “thing,” do you really want it?
My answer? Nope. No thanks. Been there, done that, and it was a total disaster!
God alone gives and takes away in every season—nothing is random. There are no accidents with God, only things we simply do not understand—yet. Job teaches us this lesson. God always, always, always has a plan. And it’s always good. “And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” –Job 1:21. So we either trust God or decide to rebel to take over God’s role in our lives? Thinking we somehow know better than He, what’s best for us, our lives, ministries, family life, relationships, etc. Judas did this. And we can read how it eventually ended for him in Matthew’s Gospel, Chapter 24.
Today, so many are walking through a season of change and challenges. For some of you, just holding on to your faith in this present darkness is taking its toll on you. Yet just as change and changes are happening all around us in the natural, so too in the spiritual. God is up to something in that unseen realm—beyond the veil. We can feel it. We know it. God is moving, preparing, putting the finishing touches on, if you will, the place He’s gone ahead to prepare for us, his beloved children—His Bride. He’s finalizing his plans. God is removing, shaking loose, and making room for the fulfillment of His promises—every last one, the final turn of the kaleidoscope. So hold on for just a bit longer, Beloved. Trust God. He has promised to complete what He started in you. Besides, His strength, not your own, will bring you safely through these winds of change.
And so, weary one, I join my prayers to our Lords, the Apostle Paul’s, and to that great crowd of witnesses who have gone before you, having finished their race. Hang on! To your faith, your God, determinedly. Abide in Him. “So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong” –Hebrews 12:12-13.
What does that look like? Well, it’s more than just staying close. Abiding is obedience to Truth. And Jesus Christ is Truth.Abiding is oneness with God. Being bound to, united with, dependent on Him and His Holy Spirit for every-thing. Abiding is the embodiment of our covenant relationship with God.
I’ll end where I began, with a reminder—an S.O.S.
God is up to something in that unseen realm—beyond the veil. We can feel it. We know it. God is moving, preparing, putting the finishing touches on, if you will, the place He’s gone ahead to prepare for us, his beloved children—His Bride. He’s finalizing his plans. God is removing, shaking loose, and making room for the fulfillment of His promises—every last one, the final turn of His kaleidoscope.
Yet there is hope, friend. There’s always hope, so long as there is breath in your lungs. But this hope is found in Jesus alone. He is the only Way to the Father. The thief on the cross is your proof. “We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise” –Luke 23:41-43.
So, if you’re His, I encourage you to abide in Him. But if you’ve yet to ask Christ into your heart, know this, the winds of change are blowing. You don’t need to be a Christian to recognize this. Turn on the news, read the front-page headlines, buy a gallon of gas or milk. Take a look outside your window, friend. Creation attests to the fact that everything is about to change. So please, turn to Christ today. “…if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved” –Romans 10:9.
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