Abide

Happy 2019!! It's hard to believe another year as come and gone. Mostly it's gone by in a blink of an eye. Wow... 2019. It's going to take a while to get used to saying that.

Sometimes people choose a word of the year. I started thinking about it and I keep coming back to the word abide. I shared some about it in last week's post but I wanted to share some more about it.

Abide means to remain, stay, continue, dwell, reside, remain faithful and steadfast, or to continue in a relationship. Christ invites us to abide in Him.

What does scripture say about abiding in Christ?

John 15:4 (ESV), "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me."

We can abide in Jesus, and He in us. We can't do this on our own. We need Him.

John 15:9 (ESV), "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love."

Wow, abide in His love.

1 John 4:13(ESV), "By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit."

In Acts 1:8, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

John 14:26, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you."

The Holy Spirit dwells within us - abides in us.


I think that sometimes when we think about being best friends with God, or having Him as our Heavenly Father, or being co heirs with Christ our human minds get blown. I mean why should we, mere humans, be able to be friends with the King of kings?

But the Bible talks about something so much deeper than just friendship.

Abiding in Christ. What does that even mean?

Remaining in Jesus. Staying in Jesus. Dwelling in Him. Residing in Him. Remaining steadfast and faithful to Him. Continuing in a relationship with Him.

And the Bible also says that God abides in us.

God remains in you. He stays in you. He dwells in you. He resides in you. He remains steadfast and faithful. He continues in a love relationship with you.

Wow. That is so mind boggling to me.


The picture of abiding in God and He in us such a strange thing to think about. It's more personal, real, and vulnerable than any other relationship I could ever have.


This next year, 2019, let's strive to abide in Christ.

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Let's talk....

Do you have a word of the year? Do you have any goals for 2019? Are you looking forward to this next year?

Side note: I know that my blogging schedule has been a bit off these past few weeks, but I'm going to try to get back on track this Tuesday. :)