Volume 9: Abiding in Jesus
Summary of Volume 9
For the early disciples, Jesus’ eventual departure was one that they all resisted. Nothing can prepare you for a loved one going away. However, for Jesus he knew that his leaving of the disciples would make space for the Holy Spirit to come and ignite the church. It was through the Holy Spirit’s arrival that God’s people were connected to Him in a new way. By the Holy Spirit, we all have access, and the privilege of abiding in God.
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.
I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
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. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.
John 15:4-11
Abiding is the source of our rest, strength, power, and identity as followers of Jesus. It is a lifelong process to abide in Jesus, but it must be a non-negotiable.
Topics
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Fasting is a spiritual discipline that makes us weak physically, and yet there is a strength that comes from it that is unseen. Jesus used this discipline in the 40 days in the wilderness, and in the midst of thetemptation from the enemy, we understand that Jesus was not in fact at His most vulnerable, but at his strongest during this time.
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Our culture is marked by abundance, excess, and extravagance. Yet, we are more anxious, depressed, and worried than ever. Is this really the “good life” that the world promises? Jesus offers a life of abundance, but it doesn’t come with more “stuff.” Jesus' Kingdom abounds with the life that is truly life. To experience that truth, we must release a few things along the way.
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Each one of us has been given a soul to steward in alignment with God’s heart. We see the indication of this reality as Jesus shares with us in Matthew 11 to come to Him with our sorrows, tiredness, burdens, essentially whatever we may be carrying. He alone can provide rest for our souls when we trust in the reality that we can bring these things to Him for He knows how to care for both us and what we hold. Jesus is presenting to us what might be a new perspective of how to take care of our souls. It’s actually got nothing to do with practical steps of how we can improve ourselves, but instead that we know who to go to. He gives us an never-ending, open invitation to come and abide in Him.
So, What does this reality look like & really mean for us? How does it impact our current understanding?
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We believe that Jesus has the best information on what it means to live a whole and abundant life: to love, laugh, celebrate, mourn, dream, have intimate and deep relationships, and to trust God the Father with his whole being. Even in suffering he led a radical and abundant life!
This means that we can entrust our whole lives to Jesus - and not just our "devotional lives". In fact, he invites each of us and empowers us, through the Holy Spirit, to be with him, to become like him in thought, deed and character—so that we might learn to live in his love and be useful as a gift to bless and care for God’s good world.
