Who may abide…?

Lord , who may abide in Your tabernacle?

Who may dwell in Your holy hill?

He who walks uprightly,

And works righteousness,

And speaks the truth in his heart;

He who does not backbite with his tongue,

Nor does evil to his neighbor,

Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend;

In whose eyes a vile person is despised,

But he honors those who fear the Lord ;

He who swears to his own hurt and does not change;

He who does not put out his money at usury,

Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things shall never be moved.

Psalms 15:1‭-‬5 NKJV

I want to dwell with the Lord.

My heart wants to live with God each and every day.

And I can!

Through Jesus’s sacrifice, my salvation is secure.

The Holy Spirit resides in me, giving me my heart’s desire of dwelling with the Lord.

Of course I still long to be physically present with Him, but that time will come.

In the interim, I look to scripture daily as my guide and direction for the fruit of a life surrendered before Him.

Therefore, I love these verses.

Words of guidance: walk uprightly, work righteousness, speak truth in my heart, be careful of my words, be cautious with my speech.

Words of comfort: “He who does these things shall never be moved.”

My physical place of residence has changed many times, but my spiritual dwelling with the Lord is secure.

John 10:28 NKJV — “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.”

What comfort!

To know my soul is safe in the hand of Jesus.

Thus I dwell in today as His bondservant, dead to my personal short-sighted dreams and alive in Christ and His plans for me.

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank You so much for Your Word. How great and wonderful it is to live daily for You and with You in my life! How great a comfort and assurance there is from knowing nothing on this earth can snatch my life from Your hand. Lord, I am Your humble servant, do with me as You see fit. My life was nothing before You and I know it is only through Your sacrifice that I find salvation and safety. This day is Yours. Please help me to walk in Your ways, keeping Your Word, living unto You in all things. Lord, please put a guard on my lips, that I might not sin against You. Please place a hedge of protection around my mind, that my thoughts might be only truth. Thank You, Lord. Amen.

Abide

“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalm 91:1 NKJV

“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.’” John 8:31 NKJV

“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 NKJV

Strong’s definition for the word abide used in John 15:4 as copied from https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G3306&t=NKJV

“μένω ménō, men’-o; a primary verb; to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy):—abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry (for)”

The other definitions of the word abide in John 8:31 and Psalm 91:1 all are similar.

The idea is to remain, live, permanently stay.

To abide is to choose to continue in something.

He said it Himself, this abiding means to be in the Word, living it.

“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” John 15:9-10 NKJV

“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” John 15:7 NKJV

If our hearts’ desire is to follow God’s commandments, to love God more than anything and to love others as ourselves, then He will give us the desires of our heats.

He will teach us how to love.

He will hold us in His paths and guide us in His truths.

His Word will become more and more a part of our every day and more a part of who we are.

Just like the branch of a vine must be connected to the main vine to have life so we, as Christ followers, must be connected to Christ Jesus.

It is a beautiful picture.

The branch can do nothing apart from the vine.

We can do nothing apart from Christ.

It is not a list of rules which need to be checked off daily.

It is a flow of love, communion, and conversation between Jesus and each of us.

Out of that, fruit is born.

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank You for these verses. Thank You for encouraging us to abide in You. Lord thank You for the wonderful truths we see throughout scripture, that You never intended us to simply “try harder” to earn Your love or Your forgiveness. Instead it is a free gift and with that comes the opportunity to live in You. To walk and be who You created each of us to be before sin marred and stained it. Lord, we often forget to dwell in You. We get off plan and tread into dangerous areas, in those times, please bring us back. Let us not wander far, but bring us back quickly. Lord, we know that there are often things which happen that cause pain, suffering, and loss. In those times please remind us of these truths all the more. Help our hearts to dwell in You and to obey Your Word. Thank You. Amen.

To live is Christ…

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Philippians 1:21 NKJV

What does that look like?

“to live is Christ,”

Have you seen it?

Do you know what it means?

Can you point to a person in your life and say, “their lives speak clearly that for them to live is Christ”?

Praise God for those people!

Men and women who live daily as followers of Christ.

I want to be one.

Failure seems to riddle my efforts of Christ’s life in me.

Yet, I can see a difference from the person I am today and the one I was twenty years ago.

It’s encouraging to know Jesus, through His Word, and the Holy Spirit is making me more like Him.

It’s not an instant change.

Instead it’s a daily choice.

To live is Christ means suffering.

It means surrender.

It means walking in the every day with the best and greatest Companion, Guide, Comfort, and Hero anyone has ever had.

It means hope.

Confident expectation that there is so much more than this life.

Because…

…”to die is gain.”

That gain which no mortal can even truly comprehend.

Heaven.

Ever lasting life.

To live in God’s Holy presence for eternity.

Wow.

That’s definitely a major gain.

Paul put it very well, indeed.

To live is Christ and to die is gain.

Happy Sunday!