Abide

I have several words in the Word that brings comfort & joy to my heart. “Holy” is one of those words. The very second we use the word “holy” in any song, I spiritually feel the weight of what I'm called to be. Holy is something we will never understand but yet are called to as such.

Abide is a very comforting & soothing word as well for me personally. Behind the comfort stands the strong and precious Cross. The very strength that provides freedom for my very soul if I only trust and believe in the saving power of my first Love.

In my life, I have proven the need for a Savior. For within my own self, I can never depend on my own strength. My dependence lies solely on the One who provides me with an everlasting love accompanied by His joy and peace everlasting. The promise of Him abiding in my life fulfills His promise of 'I in Him and Him in me'.

Once He abides in one of His chosen elect, no amount of human persuasion can ever remove them from the protection of the Father. When He abides, it’s everlasting. Just as the groom is promised to the bride on their wedding day till death do them part. The difference between our earthly groom and our heavenly bridegroom is death does not separate the two.

While abiding in me, I have taken the Spirit of Christ into places that One as holy and pure as He should never see or experience. I didn’t take Him there to share His goodness with those in great need of His saving grace but to seek to destroy the very saint that harbors that grace. Yet, for the sake of love and His Great Name, He remained. When He abides, it’s forever without end. There is no shadow of turning with Him. Every good and perfect gift is from the Father who doesn’t change with shifting sands. He never stops reaching to pull me back. Jehovah Nissi, my Victory. This Name reminds me that even when I may step away from Him, my Jehovah Nissi still abides.

He is unshakeable. The king tried to hunt Him down as a baby. The Pharisees tried to discredit His teaching and called Him a heretic. The Jews were quite offended by Him because He claimed to be the Messiah that they had waited so long for, the chosen One who would deliver them. How could He be a Redeemer they cried? He speaks of poor in spirit, peacemakers, meekness and humility. What warrior talks about such things? They tried to capture Him to stone Him. They delivered Him over to be tortured, spit on, tried and beaten. They found Him guilty of what? Guilty of loving them. The ones He called His friends delivered Him over to be tortured and tried and then killed. Still, through it all, the only thing shakable was the earth beneath their feet as He gave up His Spirit. The curtain ripped that separated the Most Holy Place. The tombs opened while the dead walked from city to city. Three days later, He returned  to the very world that hated Him so that once again, He can abide.

Everything He offers is at the foot of that very cross and at the opening of that empty tomb. His desire is for me to partake of His body and His blood which allows me to meet in the precious abiding place of mutual love – to experience Him with every waking breath. He is an ever-present God and is always where I am – ALWAYS.

Everything that He is, I strive to become. His very heart flows through my veins.

Take a minute, relax, take a deep breath and just bask in the pleasure of His company. Allow the cares of this life to fade into His care and love. His love is whispering “Come And Abide”.

Abiding in Him doesn’t mean I won’t fail. The motive of my heart is to always abide in Him, to fall in His arms when my strength is gone. He will do all it takes to keep me from falling and make my life into a complete reflection of all He has ever desired me to be. This is the beauty of marriage. I see it more of an engagement while I wait for my bridegroom to return to carry me across the threshold of the new mansion He has gone to prepare for me.

He will do whatever it takes to make sure I run the race and reach my goal.

Abiding is a two-way relationship. For a relationship to be, the two parties must know one another. Growth must occur for Him to be revealed. He already knows who I am and now I only desire to know everything about the Person who lives in me.

Always remember, He remains and never moves. He is always there. Those days you want to pull the blankets over your head and shut off that alarm clock, the days you don’t want to leave the house, the days you don’t want to even leave your chair, the days you feel no one understands, no one hears, no one cares – He says I REMAIN. When the prayers seem to bounce off of the walls, I REMAIN. When the pain is too incredible, I REMAIN. When a spouse dies, I REMAIN. When a child dies, I REMAIN. When a parent dies, I REMAIN. When a spouse is unfaithful, I REMAIN. When a child lives a life a life of regrets, I REMAIN.

When my prayer goes unheard, He hears. When I can’t feel Him, He’s holding me. When I cry, He knows every tear and stores them in bowls in heaven.

Oh how precious is His abiding. As I enter each new day, I pray that His abiding is apparent more and more to anyone who sees me. Who needs self-esteem when I am Christ-esteemed? Thank You Lord for choosing me to carry on Your Name in the very being of myself.

Hollywood, you have your stars; I have the Creator of ALL stars abiding in me.

What do you feel it means to abide in Him?

Yours In Christ

--Tammy