Jesus is Essential
John 15:4: 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.
We have come to the third word I want you to mark, which is abide. To abide in Christ means constant communion with Him all the time. We have just talked of the cleansing power of the Word of God. That is a part of abiding. We must be cleansed daily.
There is a story about Spurgeon who stopped in the middle of the street, removed his hat, and prayed. One of his deacons saw this and asked him about it. Mr. Spurgeon said that a cloud had come between him and his Lord and he wanted to remove it immediately; he had stopped to confess his sinful thought. We need to confess our sins to the Lord to abide in Him, to stay in constant communion with Him. 1
Walking with Jesus
If Jesus were to knock on your door tonight and ask to stay over for a week, would His request cause great panic in your heart and in your home? Or would you be able to say: “Welcome Jesus, we have been expecting You, come on in and make Yourself at home, because everything we have is from You.”
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Jude 20–21
To abide with Him is to make your heart His home, with no other worldly visitors.
Praying
Lord, thank You for wanting to be a welcomed guest in my life. Abide with me always!
1. McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: The Gospels (John 11-21) (electronic ed., Vol. 39). Nashville.
