5 Tips for Abiding in Christ

As the semester winds to a close, I got to thinking about the importance of abiding or remaining in Christ. This has historically been one of the areas of my Christian life that I struggle with, yet God is always so faithful to remind me of its importance. A lot of times, I find myself relying on my own strength, personality, and ability. Here are 5 practical ways that I have found helpful to remain in Christ throughout the day. This list isn't exhaustive but just a few thoughts...

"I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." 

John 15:5-7

1. Recognize your need for Jesus

This is where it all starts for me. If I wake up aware of my own sin, brokenness, imperfection and need for Jesus, my day is already off in the right direction. The days when I am unaware of my need for Jesus are the days when I struggle most with abiding in Him. How / why can we abide or remain in Someone we don't desperately need?

2. Pray

Prayer is so crucial in maintaining a vibrancy and intimacy in our relationship with the Lord. There is a really good chance that on the days when I have spent set aside time in prayer, abiding comes easier. Prayer helps merge and fuse together our hearts and desires with God's. It allows us to see the world not through our own eyes but with fresh eyes of faith as we commune with the Creator of the Universe. If we are abiding, our prayers will be for 'Your Kingdom to come, Your will to be done on earth as it is in heaven' (Matthew 6:10).

3. Read the Bible!

'For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart' (Heb 4:12). Pretty simply, on any given day, my mind is either being influenced and shaped by the culture or by God's Word. Being immersed in the Scriptures is so critical to abide in Him. How do we know who this Jesus is that we follow until He reveals Himself to us through God's Word? I have been amazed in the past 2-3 years by certain passages of Scripture. It is shocking, profound, and we must see it for ourselves rather than have someone else constantly feed us from it.

4. Obey 

Sin breaks fellowship with God. If we read our Bibles and know them backward and forward that is great... but James makes it clear that we must, 'be doers of the word, and not hears only deceiving yourselves' (James 1:22).

5. Preach the Gospel to ourselves all the time

The reality is we will not be able to measure up to God's perfect standard. When we fail, we must continually remind ourselves of the truth of God's Word. Cling to some verses like, "but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom 5:8) or "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). In the words of John Bunyan:

Run, John, run, the law commands 
But gives us neither feet nor hands, 
Far better news the gospel brings:

It bids us fly and gives us wings

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

Stege Wheeler

Living Missionally

Believing the Gospel

How thankful I am that we have a God who doesn't leave us where we are and continually fights for us and for our sanctification (making us more into Christ's likeness). Recently, I have had the humbling but wonderful opportunity to be reminded of this the hard way. This past weekend, I was made very aware of sin in my life that I had become numb to and okay with. From my speech to my conduct to my thought life, I had let my flesh and thoughts from the enemy lead me instead of being filled with the Spirit. We so easily look to this world and even our Christian friends as a standard as to how we should live instead of our perfect standard, Christ. As believers we are called to live above reproach. This means how we should be speaking and acting is clear in God's Word. Correction from the Holy Spirit, along with my sweet husband, helped me realize how the past few months I have slowly let my relationship with The Lord become a lesser priority in my life. It's so easy to let other things, even good things like serving The Lord through leading small groups, or attending worship services, take precedence over spending time sitting at Jesus’ feet. He tells us what is better in the story of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-32): sitting at his feet. The God of the whole universe wants to know us personally and deeply before anything else! How amazing is that? Yet we can busy ourselves to the point where we don't even have to reflect on our spiritual status. 

Having my sin made blatantly aware to me made me realize how I had stopped seeing the Gospel as good news and more like old news. I had slowly let myself get distracted and Satan ran with any opportunity he could get to add to this. I gradually let intentional time with The Lord turn to reading some verses and saying a quick prayer to mark it off my to do list. As this sin had manifested, my heart broke seeing how I had strayed, and I came running back to my Father, repentant and incredibly thankful. The gospel is GREAT news. We must preach it to ourselves daily. Our Lord paid an incredible price so that we can live in freedom and without condemnation. It is only by His mercy and grace that we are forgiven. It's easy to let guilt and shame creep in, but I see my deep need to accept forgiveness, repent, and believe that Jesus has paid for it all. It humbles me to see myself stumble, but it points me continually back to my need for the Cross and the fact that I cannot do it on my own. 

So I pray this encourages you in times of stumbling, in times of apathy, and maybe even causes you to pray and look inward and ask The Lord to show you any offensive way in you (Psalm 139:23-24). I pray for you to experience the Gospel in a real and deep way today and everyday, and encourage you to pray daily for the Holy Spirit to fill you, to experience His grace anew each day, and to turn and run from sin. He will answer and always provide immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine.

-Allison Granger

A few things the Lord has been teaching me lately...

             I hope this blog-post finds you doing well. We are full-swing into this fast-flying Spring semester, and I am humbled and excited to share with you some of what the Lord has been doing in my heart thus far. As I reflect on some of these things, I am continually reminded of the Lord’s continual faithfulness to his people in and out of season. Whether we sense it or feel it, or whether we don’t feel it or understand it at all, the Lord is faithful to all of his promises, and I have been continually reminded of that throughout the past few months.

This season the Lord has been teaching me through his Word and through many circumstances that his love for me is beyond my comprehension. As I read and study through the book of Joshua, I am continually reminded that God not only inspires us and protects us, but that he also provides for us and even fights for us. Seeing the story of Joshua and even into the story of the Judges, we see a continual cycle of God’s people sinning, worshiping idols, being punished, crying out to God for help, being rescued through a person sent by God, obeying for a while, then falling back into idolatry all over again. And in so many ways as I see this theme of God’s people’s faithlessness and God’s continual mercy and faithfulness, I am reminded of my own life. This is the story of my life. However, my prayer is that in continually seeing God’s faithfulness, I will continue to grow in my faith and trust in Him; that those idols and distractions would progressively lose their power and temptation in my life that I might experience the fullness of fellowship with God through Christ and His Holy Spirit. However, though, I am by no means where Christ longs for me to be, I am humbled and overjoyed at the growth I have experienced in my love for Him. It truly is a miracle to look back over the last 5-6 years of my life in college up until now and see what the Lord has done in my life.  And in all these things, I know and trust that God is at work in more ways than I can see not only in my life but also in the lives of the students that I am pursuing and discipling.

Also, in some new news… I am saddened but also very excited to share with you some things the Lord has been putting on my heart concerning my future. As I conclude my 2^nd intern year with CRU, the Lord has been putting many desires/thoughts/feelings on my heart about where he is calling me for this next year. Through the Lord’s leading and much wise counsel, I have decided to pursue some work opportunities outside of full-time ministry in the business world. And in so many ways, this transition will not be that easy for me especially leaving Auburn and this amazing staff team community; however, the Lord, once again, is so faithful, and I know he has an amazing plan to use me in powerful ways in a new place as I continue to depend on him. I look forward to keeping you posted on specifically where I will be and what I will be doing as well as sharing more of my thoughts behind the vision I have for pursuing the Lord and having a ministry in the workplace!

In Him,

Jay Edwards