ListenDaily - 22 May 2009: Abiding forever
"Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?” Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. ” John 8:31-3653-58 NKJV (find any passage at www.Biblegateway.org)
We have talked at length about a portion of these verses, but since the 'abiding' thought is used repeatedly I would like to take another look at this passage as a whole, from the 'abiding' perspective.
"Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him..."
This message was for those who had already come to Christ. This, then, is not an evangelism message, but one of discipleship, knowledge, and freedom.
“If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
We have talked about these particular verses at length, but again, abiding in His Word is the key to discipleship, knowledge, and freedom.
They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”
We see that these people, already believers, still failed to recognize the bondage in which they were held captive. They believed in Jesus, yet still believed Satan's lies. Should we not examine ourselves to see if weare in the same predicament? For Jesus went on to say:
Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.
So all of them, and all of us, have been enslaved. The question we must ask ourselves is this; have we begun the freedom process by abiding in His Word?
And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.
This is Good News! We are not freed then turned out on our own; No! We are taken in as children of the King, to live with Him forever!
Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. ”
This freedom does not come about by our doing. The only thing we can do is abide...abide...abide in His Word and let Him in to free us -- and praise God He will!
"Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
This is Good News! Taking part in Him leads us to eternity with Him.
"For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. Abiding brings us to oneness with Christ, and therefore oneness with all who abide.
Oh, Spirit still my soul that I may abide;
Jesus let me abide in you, and, please Lord, come abide in me.
Father, thank you for welcoming me as through Your Son and Spirit I come to abide with you...forever.
Amen.
Abide.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Questions:
1. What does 'abiding' mean to you? 2. How does 'abiding by' compare to 'abiding in'? 3. Do you have any questions?
INTERESTING THOUGHTS:
"But the soul renounced shall abide in
the boundlessness of God's life.
This is liberty, this is prosperity.
The more we lose, the more we gain."
Watchman Nee
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