Who has never asked themselves that question before? For me, it is usually when I’m a half mile away from the house wondering if I closed the garage door, or unplugged the iron, or left…whatever…opened or unlocked, etc.
I made mention of James’s warning yesterday about being careful to not just be a ‘hearer’ only of the word and not a ‘doer’. The latter leads us down the patch of deception.
Do we do that…or just think…we do that? Scripture admonishes us to test ourselves, to examine our hearts, to meet regularly with other like-minded believers exhorting one another, spurring one another on…encouraging each other in the faith, lest we fall away or depart from the faith in following God, being hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. (Heb 3:12) (2 Cor. 13:5)
Self-examination can be good. Granted, some become overly obsessed with it to the detriment of their own emotional/mental health. But I think there are plenty more who probably need to do more of it. And it usually includes asking questions of one’s self.
I believe that church folks who profess to be followers of Christ get hung up on the wrong question though;- you know, the one about being ‘saved’. Am I saved? Am I still saved? Was I ‘not saved’ last week when I did ‘such and such’? Can I ever become ‘unsaved’ after being saved? Perhaps we should table that question for a season and ask the better question and one more easily identifiable and easier to answer.
This question would be:
“Am I abiding in Christ?”
THAT. is really the most important question to be addressed. Because IF you are truly abiding in Him, everything else is good and will remain good, provided you continue to abide in Him.
Which takes me back to that notion where we ‘think’ we are abiding in Him, but…are we really?
So what is it and what does it look like? Abiding, that is.
Recently, another word dawned on me that helped me understand ‘abiding’ better. And it had to do with ‘awareness’. Being aware or conscious of Him and of His presence. Did Jesus not promise His followers before He left that He would be with us always? (Matt 28:20)
IF you are Not abiding in/with Him, then it’s less likely that you are aware of His presence. But if/when you are aware and you are abiding, there will be evidence of it. It’s called fruit. But before we dive off in to what it looks like and what it is…and how we do it, let’s examine first why you might want to sit up and take notes on this one as we discuss the urgent need and importance of abiding in Him.
The past few days I’ve been addressing the topic of storms and floods and God’s wrath that is on the earth. I know…not a pleasurable topic. Especially if you are the one caught in the storm. But while that all sounds like bad news, there is some good news. It’s called the ‘Gospel’ and God has provided a shelter from that storm that He has unleashed on the earth. A storm, I might add, that is being carried out by the powers of darkness (enemy).
When Jesus was looking over the city of Jerusalem, He obviously knew what was coming down the pipe, so to speak, and the destruction that would come in 70 A.D. He cried out: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” (Matt 23:37)
Is that not remarkable? So much in that one verse. Do you know when a mother hen is likely to spread her wings to gather her chicks? When she senses danger or a storm coming. And those chicks RUN to her protective covering.
No doubt you are familiar with Psalm 91. That is probably the most clearly stated description as to what ‘abiding’ is all about. “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress’ My God, in Him I will trust.” (1-2)
It goes on to talk of how God will ‘cover you with His feathers and under His wings you shall take refuge” (4) And why is this protection so needed?
Because of the ‘terror of night and the arrow that flies by day and the pestilence that walks in darkness and the destruction that lays waste at noonday.’ (5-6)
“And though a thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; it shall not come near you” (7)
Why is that? “Because you have made the Lord who is your refuge, even the Most High, your DWELLING place. No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling, For He shall give His angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways.” (9-11)
You made God your ‘dwelling place’. Not ‘visiting place’, but ‘dwelling’. That means you STAY or REMAIN there. Too many people, I fear, think of God as being a ‘storm shelter’ with a false sense of security that they ‘have one in the yard they can always run to, but just never use it. Oh, they look out there from time to time, maybe even stick their head in weekly.
When a military operation is about to be carried out, perhaps a bombing raid, you do know that the troops on the ground are given advance notice to ‘take shelter now’. That does not mean you continue on with ‘business as usual’. It means you better get under cover or else you will suffer the fallout of the coming bombing raid.
“Surely the Lord God does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.” (Amos 5:7) His Word is FULL of warnings.
I don’t know what ‘napalm smells like in the morning’ (old line from war movie) but Daniel was told of a refining fire that was coming at the end of the age and in the process, there would be those who are being ‘refined and made pure’ where others would be burned up in the fire. He also said that the wicked would be clueless, but the wise would understand clearly. (Dan 12:10) (1 Cor. 3:13)(Mal. 3:2-3)
And for the record, every generation has its own “end of the age”, does it not?
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble, And the day which is coming shall burn them up.” Says the Lord of Host. That will leave them neither root nor branch. But to you who fear My name, the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings.” (Mal. 4:1-2) Might go revisit Matt. 13:39-43 as well.
So let’s head towards the ‘abiding chapter’ found in John 15. Look at what Jesus said in verse 6: “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 fires and they are burned.”
The reason for abiding is two-fold. It is how we are conformed to His image (Rom 8:29) and how we learn to ‘walk just as He walked’ (1 John 2:6). Being aware of His constant presence (IF we are abiding) is how He purifies our hearts, or sanctifies us’. You become more aware of things in your heart that need removing. And if you have a love for the truth, you will ‘come to the light’ (John 3:20) and will ‘abide in the light (1 John 1:7) so that these things will be exposed and dealt with.
But if you love the darkness more, you will avoid coming to His light because you love the darkness and your evil deeds more than Him. (John 3:19) It really does boil down to that. It always…goes back…to the heart. Either we love Him with ALL our heart, soul, mind, and strength….or we will be destroyed in the fire of His wrath.
Which is what ‘salvation’ really is all about – being saved from the wrath of God. (Rom 5:9)
Are you saved? I don’t know. Are you abiding in Him? IF you are, you are no longer practicing sin. ( 1 John 3:6; 1 Pet 4:1) And Paul warns those who count themselves as believers: “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience”. (Eph 5:6) Now some might be quick to say they are indeed NOT a ‘son of disobedience’, but of God. But Romans 8:14 tells you clearly that the children/sons of God are the ones who are being ‘led by His spirit’.
It’s one thing to ‘think’ you are abiding in Him. It’s another thing to actually be doing it.
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