🌻Beauties,
What hard and holy things are you trying to do? Love your enemy? Seek forgiveness? Forgive? Serve? Boldly share your faith? Be a better friend? Honor your parents? Stop medicating? Let go?
Stay with it, Sweet Sister!! You CAN.
Abide in Him
ABIDE in Him - that means stay in, stay connected to, be dependent on God, stay in communion/relationship with Him. Abiding in Jesus is the only way we produce fruit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.) It's also the only way we will look and love like Him.
I studied John 15:4 today. "Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain."
It's fascinating to me to dig deeper into the meaning of a verse. Again, BibleHub.com is a great tool. 😊
Think about how dependent a grape is on the branch staying connected to the vine. Just like the vine is dependent on the Vinedresser to nurture and prune it, the grape relies on the branch staying connected to the vine. So like God with us. If the branch doesn't remain connected to the vine, it withers and dies. I believe the same happens to us in different ways when we allow life or people or tragedy to interrupt our walk with God.
I read this morning that our passion and desire decline when we allow our faith exercise (how we connect and have a relationship with Jesus) to be interrupted or stopped.
Maybe we stop going to church. We stop having quiet time. We're too busy to get into the Word every day. The guy we're with doesn't get the Jesus thing. Maybe we feel judged and persecuted by people supposed to love us.
Whatever the reason for us walking away... we slowly change. We don't desire God like we did. Maybe we even doubt. Old behaviors, addictions, and bondage creep back in. The world starts to look pretty enticing. Old comforts feel familiar and easy.
I know because I've been there.
Don't keep walking away. Don't fall for the enemies lies in what will fulfill you or make you happy. Don't allow him to twist God's Words. You know the famous lie, "Did God really say....?" (Genesis 3)
Why, YES, yes, He did say. God’s Word is very clear. But, you have to read the Bible to know what He says. You have to ask Him, by His Spirit, to reveal what He wants you to take from the Word you're reading. He will!!
ABIDE. I love that word.
Abiding = Relationship
It's a relationship. Intimacy with God. Staying with Him.
A good relationship is hard work. It takes communication. It takes letting our guard down. It takes understanding that person's character. It takes trust and commitment. It takes staying when things get hard. It's often love as a verb and not a feeling. It takes honor and respect, and devotion. It takes time.
The same goes for our relationship with Jesus. While He is perfect and knows everything there is to know about us... we still need to invest in a relationship with Him. We need to know His character. We need to know what HE desires and asks of us. We need to know His heart.
You CAN do hard and holy things
Beautiful One, you CAN do holy and hard things, but it will only be when you are genuinely connected to God. Don't let the pleasures or distractions of this world pull you away from your relationship with Him. Instead, invest the time, the energy, and the heart you would if you were in a brand-new relationship with someone you believed to be "the one."
He is.
I mean Jesus of course. He is THE ONE.
Focus on the hard and holy things today. The next right step or the next right thing. Ask God to set your steps before you and make your way clear. 💛
XXOO!! 🌻Kim
P.S. In case you want to linger. https://youtu.be/AY3EGQvyl5M
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