Abiding in Jesus is not something one ‘works at, trying to be better at doing...over time’. Either you are abiding in Christ, or you aren’t. And let’s not confuse the issue by either oversimplifying it or complicating ...what it means to abide in Him.

If your 16-year old who just acquired their new drivers license tells you they are having a hard time keeping the car in their lane and tend to swerve into oncoming traffic frequently, or find themselves drifting onto the shoulder and even off the road...is your response going to be a simple: “Don’t worry....you will get better over time!”? I don’t think any state in the union will issue a DL to a new driver if they can’t keep the car in their lane. Something is wrong here, I'm guessing?

The illustration I used yesterday, about ‘remaining’ in one’s seat after the pilot instructed the passengers to do as they flew through rough turbulence...if you get up to stretch your legs and the flight attendant asks why you are disregarding the pilots command, telling them you are ‘working at remaining’ in your seat sounds a bit...’off’.

So let me say it again...either you are...abiding in Christ, or you are not abiding in Him. Granted, when one first begins this walk of faith in ‘following’ Jesus, as opposed to just professing a faith in Him, you probably will have a few missteps and stumble. New ‘babes in Christ’ usually do. And when I say ‘stumbles’, I’m talking about sinning because of your carnal flesh nature. But you will learn quickly...that you don’t ‘do that one anymore’ when you are chastened by the Lord (Heb. 12:5-12) as you then quickly confess and ‘repent’ (turn from) of that sin. I mean really...if you have ever lived around ranches where they have ‘electric-hot fences’ set up...how many times to you have to touch one before you quickly learn NOT...to do that anymore?

Let me share with you what may be a helpful insight to better understanding what it means to abide in Jesus... You really can’t abide in Him if you have not truly ‘come to Jesus with all your heart’, and don’t love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. Allow me to explain...

Jesus said ‘IF...we love Him, we’ll do what He says (John 14:15); as in ‘keep His commandments’. Why bother calling Him ‘Lord, Lord’ if we are not going to do what He says? (Luke 6:46). John tells us in his first epistle that this is how we can tell if we are ‘in Him’...we will ‘keep His commandments’. In fact, he even adds that if we claim to ‘know Him....and do not keep His commandments,...we are a liar’. (1 John 2:3-6)

Oh, but you want to point out how ‘hard’ it is to keep the commandments of God? Would you please flip over to 1 John 5:3 and read that verse nice and slow. Which commandments do you find to be hard, or burdensome or grievous? Remember the story of the rich, young ruler who came to Jesus and wanted to inherit eternal life and become a follower? Jesus pointed out the one thing that was keeping him from being able to do this, and if he was just willing to lay it down...he could join them.

Then we read how this young man was ‘grieved’ and sorrowful and walked away. He wasn’t willing to lay down that one thing Jesus pointed out that he needed to repent of (coveting) so he walked away. People do that, you know. (Matt. 19:22; John 6:66). And what did Paul point out regarding Demas, and what he seemed to ‘love’ more than God in 2 Tim. 4:10?

You see...this ‘abiding’ thing means that Christ is also abiding in us, via His Spirit. Did you know that God’s Spirit actually ‘writes the law/commandments’ on our heart/mind? (Jer. 31:33; Heb. 10:16). So if/when we ‘mess up’ and ‘sin’, which means we break one of God’s commands (1 John 3:4), we will know it immediately. You lose your peace and joy as that ‘hedge’ comes down and the ‘enemy’ comes in like a flood with condemnation (or worse-John 5:14;10:10). You feel miserable and it’s not unusual, at first to begin questioning...’what did I do’? Why do you think Paul said to ‘give no place to the devil’ (Eph. 4:27) nor ‘make any provision for the flesh’ (Rom. 13:14).

Want to get out from experiencing ‘guilt and condemnation’? Get yourself ‘into the ark’ (In Christ) and begin walking according to the Spirit, and not the flesh, because those are the ones who are promised to no longer be under ‘condemnation’ (Rom. 8:1). And quit blaming your ‘old man’ or ‘flesh nature’ for rearing his ugly head all the time. IF...we are truly ‘in Christ’ and ‘being led by His Spirit’...guess what we are doing? Go read Rom. 8:13 and Gal. 5:16 & 24...again.

I should also warn you here to be on guard against wanting to make this all about: “But I’m still ‘saved’, right?” We fail to see at times what it is that Jesus came to ‘save’ us from- it was the ‘wrath of God’ (Rom. 5:9). God’s wrath still falls on ‘sin’, and let no one deceive you with empty words telling you otherwise (Eph. 5:5-6; John 5:14). IF...you are truly one of God’s ‘sheep’, not only do you ‘hear His voice’...but you ‘follow’ Him. (John 10:27; Rom. 8:14). He actually empowers us by His grace to ‘go and sin no more’...hence no longer being subject to the wrath, which is what the ‘law’ brings. Good time to go look at Gal. 5:18, and then 1 John 5:18.

Let me end here today with just one simple and personal experience that I had which helped me better understand what it means to ‘abide in Him’. Like most people, I had a tendency to want to gripe, grumble, or complain about ‘stuff’. My nature at times was to spice it up with a little ‘humor’ or sarcasm to take the edge off, but I was still complaining. And what is it about social media that invites and encourages us to make our gripes so public? Well it wasn’t long after my personal ‘awakening’ 5 years ago that I just had this heightened ‘awareness’ of all these things I found myself doing, saying, and yes, even ‘thinking’. And when God reminded me from His word how He feels about complaining...there was just this immediate response of wanting to confess it and then ‘turn’ from it...which means I wasn’t going to do that anymore, no matter how tempting it could be, and continues to be on any given day, even today, still. 'These things should not even be named among us!' (Eph. 5:3; 1 Cor. 10:10; James 5:9; Phil. 2:14). So I just don’t complain anymore. And it’s not ‘hard’ to obey God in this area. Truth be told, it’s not hard to obey God in any area...if we truly love Him with all our heart. (John 14:31) [read that last sentence one more time]

Jesus did tell us that ‘His way was easy’ (Matt. 11:30)...and that the ‘way of the transgressor is hard’ (Prov. 13:15). Honestly...I have so many of these ‘personal lessons’ that I have learned in recent years, and continue to learn. I just can’t believe it took me so long to get ‘here’ to experience this freedom.