Honey From The Rock

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Honey From The Rock
Psalm 81:16

"Sweet Stuff From God's Word"

A daily Bible study with Victor Knowles
Copyright 2007

"ABIDE IN ME"

This entry was posted on 10-02-2008 and is filed under uncategorized.

"Abide in Me..." (John 15:4). Millions of words have been written as commentary on these three words: "Abide in Me." The word "abide" appears 8 times in the text: v. 4 (3x), v. 5, v. 6, v. 7 (2x), v. 10. A similar word ("continue") is found in v. 9 and "remain" is seen in verses 11 and 16. So, what does it mean to abide in Christ? I like The Message here: "Make your home in me." The living Christ (remember, He is the living Vine) wants us to live with Him, to make our home with Him. "Dwell in Me" is the rendering of the New English Bible. Alexander Cruden gives us 7 definitions of this word "abide."

1. To stay (see Gen. 22:5)
2. To dwell/live in a place
3. To bear/endure
4. To continue
5. To wait for
6. To rest
7. To stand firm

Albert Barnes says, "Remain united to Me by a living faith...Live a life of dependence upon Me, obey My commands, imitate My example, constantly exercise faith in Me." Here is the bottom line: If we abide in faithfulness, we will abound in fruitfulness. The branch that does not abide in the Vine cannot possibly hope to be a fruitful branch. But note too that we must abide IN Christ. God puts us IN Christ. In a parallel passage, Paul says that we were "grafted in" (Rom. 11:17). This is how were placed in the Vine. Andrew Murray notes, "When a new graft is placed in a vine...there is a two-fold process that takes place. The first is in the wood. The graft shoots its little roots and fibers down into the stem, and the stem grows up into the graft, and...union is effected. The graft abides and becomes one with the vine. Then there is a second process, in which the sap of the vine enters the new structure, and uses it as a passage through which sap can flow up to show itself in the new shoots and leaves and fruit. Here is the vital union."

Everything we need for life and godliness is IN Christ. God placed us IN Christ. He invites us to abide IN Him. A good branch will. A bad branch won't. Abide in Christ. Dwell in Him. Make your home with Him. Stay with Him. Remain in Him. Rest in Him. Make Christ your "Home, Sweet Home." We cannot abound in fruitfulness if we do not abide in faithfulness.

Poem:
"Dost thou ask how I abide?
How this life I can maintain?
I am bound to the Vine by life's strong band,
And I only need remain."
(Freda Hanbury)