Abiding in Christ Wrap-Up

 

 What a wonderful opportunity to look at what it means to Abide in Christ! I have been well and thoroughly blessed and I hope you have too. As I look over this study today, I want to share with you those highlights that I will take with me into the future. I also need to revisit the subject I promised to, scripture memorization. I am sad to report that I was unable to memorize the entire passage, though the first few verses are loosely cemented in my mind. I printed and posted this passage in my kitchen and bathroom so that I would be able to look at and work on it several times a day. I did so, but, as I mentioned before, each time I looked at the verse I was working on, it seemed like the first time I had read it! It was so frustrating 🥹. I think for the next study, I will pick ONE verse to work on. I will print it and post it in the same places and work on it for the whole eight weeks (six weeks of study + break weeks). We’ll see if THAT works!

 The first week of this study, we looked at “Trusting the Gardener’s Work.” Initially, Jesus establishes that He is the True Vine in John 15:1. Next, in verse 2, we look at how God, the Vinedresser, prunes us so that we will bear even more fruit. This reminded me of the year I learned about pruning my tomatoes and “Pinching Those Suckers Out!” When I looked at the idea of working out our salvation, I was reminded of the process of raising my children and the different stages of parenting. Likewise, I feel that I have gone through a process with God parenting me and that for the rest of my life I will be working out my salvation. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to write on the verse that inspired the title of my blog, Salty Zebra, so the next day I made sure to remember for myself, and remind others, to Stay Salty! God calls us to be salt and light in the world, and we need to be careful to let our light shine and not hide it under anything. Then, at the end of the week, I considered my relationships, both with people and with God. I have a lot to learn and a long way to grow, but thankfully, God sticks with me through it all as we walk in relationship.



 At the beginning of the second week, I finally got around to looking into what exactly Abiding in Christ means. I was surprised to learn that much of this is actually God’s work and responsibility and our part is primarily to submit and join Him. That’s why it takes two to abide. But what does it look like to abide, or remain, in Jesus? God impressed upon me the concept of grafting, and reminded me that we, as Gentiles, were grafted into the family of God through Jesus. With grafting, the vascular tissues of each plant, the graft and the rootstock, must stay in constant contact. Likewise, we must keep our hearts and minds, the vascular tissues of our soul, grafted into Jesus. In the middle of this week I wrote The Most Important Post You’ll Ever Read. What makes it so important? Well, you should read it! Seriously though, I wrote on the importance of being sure of your salvation. Have you heard the phrase “Garbage in, Garbage out”? I can’t help but wonder if the root of that phrase is Psalm 1:1-3. What we choose to allow into our lives, who we spend our time with, what we ruminate on, will shape who we are. We see what we expect to see. As we wrapped up our week studying Bearing Lasting Fruit, I was reminded that it is God’s fruit evident in me, not my own, and that it takes time. 

 Week three started in a hard way. I was confronted with a verse that I have struggled with for as long as I can remember – John 15:7. Here Jesus promises that we can ask whatever we wish and it will be done for us. That just hasn’t been my experience, and I don’t know how to understand this. So, rather than sweeping it under the rug and moving on, I shared my sense of being lost in the wilderness. Thankfully, the next day we looked into something I could sink my teeth into more easily, freedom from sin and death. You see, in Jesus we know the truth, and the truth will set us free! This truth, God’s Word given to us, gives us the Basic Instructions we need Before we Leave Earth (BIBLE). Continuing the week with Psalm 119:15-16 I looked at how the more I know God, the easier it is to see His guidance, to discern the right path as I consider His ways. And then, while I started the week out in the murky brambles of uncertainty, I ended it chuckling along with one of my favorite comedians, Tim Hawkins, as he pointed out how there are some rather strange verses in the Bible, and sometimes we might wonder how He is going to use that!

 Week four kicks off our study of Abiding in Jesus through Obedience with John 15:9-10 through which God showed me that obedience isn’t a burden but a blessing, showing us a better way to live. With God, just as with my husband, I need to love, honor and obey. On Tuesday I confronted my failing as a forgetful listener, one who looks in the mirror and then walks away and forgets what I look like. But I found hope in that while I may not retain the information for long I can keep coming back to God’s Word over and over and over again. We are told that the proof of our sealed relationship with Jesus is the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, but how can we know that He is there? By the good that He brings into our lives of course! The next day was a flash back to when my kids were little. Our verses, Matthew 7:24-25 talked about the wise man who built his house on the rock and the foolish man who built his on sand. This immediately brought two mind another story about building houses, three of them actually, the story of the three little pigs. I thought through the correlation and posed the question, what is your house made of? Coming full circle from the beginning of the week, on Friday the discussion of obedience in John 14:23-24 made me think once again of marriage. Through this, God showed me how He loves me, how I am to love Him, and how He makes His home with me as I obey Him with all my heart.

 I woke up on the Monday of Week 5 feeling a lot of something, but it wasn’t joy! God took the opportunity to open my eyes to why that might be and helped me share with you how to wake up on the right side of the bed. The next day I was challenged to look at how I was laying down my life for my friends as John 15:13-14 encourages us to do. Wednesday I simply felt loved, but then on Thursday God challenged me to share that love with my enemies! Then finally, on Friday, we wrapped up a week of studying Abiding in Jesus through Love with Romans 12:9-13’s roadmap to abiding in Christ.

To wrap up our study of John 15 we looked in Week 6 at how we are Chosen and Commissioned by Christ to Bear Fruit. On Monday we looked at what it meant to be called a friend of Jesus. I was so blessed the next day to learn about how we are appointed, or placed right where God wants us so that we can bloom where we’re planted. Then, on Wednesday, God used my love for fiber arts to teach me about doing the thing in front of me, the good works that He has prepared in advance for me to do. Thursday’s lesson wasn’t on marriage, as much of the previous week had been, but on the adoption of my daughter. Using that example, God taught me about how we’ve got to just keep on keeping on because in His perfect time it will all work out! Finally, after weeks of thinking on what Abiding in Christ means we finally examined what it looks like. Turns out Abiding in Jesus looks like Him, loving God and loving others.

Here's the Thing: Abiding in Jesus is not a mystery, it is very simple. But simple is not always easy! 

 I almost couldn't believe it when the Sunday after this study finished our Pastor's Father, who is also a pastor, got up to speak and he taught on Abiding in Christ, John 15:1-8. It was so cool that God put this one more thing in my path, and I'd like to share it with you as well. Have a listen while you're driving or folding laundry or whatever:

Abiding in Jesus

  1. Week 1: Trusting the Gardener's Work
    1. John 15:1 - Seven Things Jesus Is
    2. John 15:2 - Pinch Those Suckers Out!
    3. Philippians 2:12-13 - Working Out My Salvation
    4. Matthew 5:16 - Stay Salty!
    5. 1 John 1:6 - Walking in Relationship
  2. Week 2: Bearing Lasting Fruit
    1. John 15:3-4 - It Takes Two to Abide
    2. John 15:5 - Grafted In
    3. John 15:6 - The Most Important Post You'll Ever Read
    4. Psalm 1:1-3 - What We Expect to See
    5. Galatians 5:22 - The Fruit of the Spirit's Not a Coconut!
  3. Week 3: Abiding in Jesus Through His Word
    1. John 15:7-8 - Lost in the Wilderness
    2. John 8:31-32 - The Truth Shall Set You Free
    3. Psalm 119:9-11 - Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth
    4. Psalm 119:15-16 - Considering His Ways
    5. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 - How is He Going to Use THAT?!?
  4. Week 4: Abiding in Jesus Through Obedience
    1. John 15:9-10 - Love, Honor and Obey
    2. James 1:22 - The Forgetful Listener
    3. 1 John 3:24 - How Can I Know if I Have the Holy Spirit in Me?
    4. Matthew 7:24-25 - What's Your House Made Of?
    5. John 14:23-24 - Obeying with All My Heart
  5. Week 5: Abiding in Jesus Through Love
    1. John 15:11-12 - Waking Up on the Right Side of the Bed
    2. John 15:13-14 - Laying Down Your Life
    3. 1 John 4:10 - In This is Love
    4. 1 John 4:11-12 - Loving our Enemies
    5. Romans 12:9-13 - Roadmap to Abiding in Christ
  6. Week 6: Chosen and Commissioned by Christ to Bear Fruit
    1. John 15:15 - A Friend that Sticks Closer than a Brother
    2. John 15:16 - Bloom Where You’re Planted
    3. Ephesians 2:10 - Do the Thing in Front of You
    4. Galatians 6:9 - We Must Not Grow Weary in Doing Good
    5. John 15:17 - What Does Abiding in Christ Look Like?





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