ABIDING IN GOD'S PRESENCE
For those who belong to Jesus Christ, the Presence of the Lord is a holy given by the promise of the Lord, Himself. He has become life within us by His grace. That is the reality for all who belong to Jesus Christ by grace through faith. His Presence with us is His Life is in us. His Presence that never leaves or forsakes us.
That eternal reality can never be altered by our circumstances nor our emotional state. Romans 8:35-39 "Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Because He is Life within us, unhindered, He is able to do far above and beyond what we could ever ask or even imagine by His Power NOW at work within us. That is the Power of the Holy Spirit living out in us the resurrection Life of Jesus Christ. The Lord has united us to Himself.
That is why we "abide in Him and He in us" because HE has united us to Himself. Abiding in Christ Jesus is not due to human effort. It is because He has united us to Himself. A branch never grafts itself into a vine. A vintner does that. The Father has united us to the Son by grace through faith. The Father and the Son have come and made their home (abiding) in us. The life flowing through a branch is nothing less than the Life flowing from the Vine.
HE bears the fruit of His own Nature in us as His Life is lived out in and through us. It is His Life being lived out in us that changes us. He transforms us, renews our minds, causing us to overflow into the world around us. "Out of your innermost being shall flow rivers of living water." This is not some insipid trickle of Heaven's goodness. This is an artesian spring welling up and overflowing.
Trust that what the Lord has declared is fixed in eternity, fixed in you and He is eternally committed to finish in us what He has begun. We will know the fullness of His salvation. That is His promise. He has centered your life in His own Life. New creations are just that. Old things have passed away and, behold, all things have become new. This is the work of God. He has reconciled us to Himself by the blood of Jesus Christ. In Christ Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, you are becoming more daily whom God has made you to be. Were that not eternal truth, we would have no living hope. Truth is, Jesus Christ is our living hope!
When the devil whispers that you are not abiding in the Lord, remember, the devil is a liar. What God has done, nothing in ALL creation can separate us from. Rely on Him, not your presence set of circumstances nor you present emotional state. Surrender it ALL to the Lord who has made you His own.
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