Dogged Devotion

May 13, 2013

Monday

Dogged Devotion

Scripture:

John 15:9-11 King James Version (KJV)  

9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. 11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

Keywords:

Abide = to remain, to stay, to continue

commandments = an order, command, charge, precept, injunction

joy = gladness

(Blue Letter Bible)

Commentary:

The repeated phrase in this scripture is “abide in My love”

To abide in God’s love is to remain connected to Jesus, to obey God’s commandments which is God’s word, and stay tuned in to the Lord’s still small voice.  

The key to fruit bearing is found in abiding in Jesus. In John’s gospel, Jesus is never portrayed as independent from His Father; rather, the Father and Son are always cooperating with one another in every activity.  (Krell)  

If Jesus, being the Son of God, is always connected to the Father, how much more you and I need to be connected to or “abide” in Jesus?  

Can the branch survive if it was separated from the vine?

Can a believer be fruitful apart from Jesus?

When we abide in Christ, our prayers are effective, we glorify God in our fruit bearing, we demonstrate our discipleship, and our joy becomes full through experiencing Christ’s own joy within us.  (Hayford)

1 John 3:6,8   (NKJV)

6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. 8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

The phrases “abideth in Him” and “born of God” are equivalent.  Those born of God do not sin.  Only those who continue to abide in God is born of God.  This means that no one who is born of God continues to sin, practice sin, or keeps on sinning.  The emphasis here is that one truly born of God cannot make sin his way of life.  the life of God cannot co-exist with one who continues to practice sin.  

For a person to have God’s life in him or be born of God or born again, to continue to sin is a contradiction.   He who is born of God or abides in Him does not sin anymore because he has a new spirit, the spirit of God that lives in him.  The believer falls off the track time and time, but he is restored immediately by the conviction of the Holy Spirit.  This standard way of life is based upon the greatest commandment.  If a person truly loves the Lord with His whole heart, soul and might, this love will replace the desire to sin.  The seed which is the word of God is planted in his life and it continues to grow. We continue to abide in Him because He is the vine and we are the branches.   And with the indwelling of Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit,and  the written Word all bearing witness that the believer can live free and clear of sin, the believer cannot go on sinning against God.  So this contradiction of being born again and continuing in sin is of the devil and not of God.  Therefore, when  a person who habitually practices sin, claims to be a child of God having eternal life is a downright liar.  (Stamps)

All the false teachers, and false prophets work together to deceive even the elect.  We must check with the Holy Spirit, the written Word, the Christ in us and all three must bear witness with one another to confirm and verify the truth of the matter.

Conclusion:  Be sure to stay as you go. In other words, you and I must go and be Jesus’ disciples, but we must also stay in fellowship with Him at all times. (Krell)   To remain fruitful, we must abide in Christ always.   

Poem:

To abide in Christ is an awesome thing

as we pray, bear fruit, worship and sing

for to be apart from Jesus is to lose the joy,

the peace and all the blessings we enjoy

For there is nothing else that compare with Jesus

The peace, the joy, the love that He gives us

So I urge you to spend time with Christ

So you can experience the best in this life

Byword:  Know Christ, Know Joy. No Christ. No joy.

Work cited

Krell, Keith,  Moment by Moment, "http://bible.org/seriespage/moment-moment-john-151-11":

Hayford, Jack W., Spirit filled Life Bible NKJV, Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991.

Stamps, Donald C., The Full Life Study Bible King James Version, Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992.

 

Aldwin Naruse
The Body of Christ Jesus Fellowship
Makaha, HI USA