Abide (Week 3 Devotional)

Author:  David & Shoshanna Pucci

Monday, October 19, 2009

1 Corinthians 3:16 “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?”

One of the distinct differences between the Christian Faith and other religions is that we believe that God lives and dwells in us when we accept him in to our hearts.  He is not a distant or far off God.  God’s presence was housed in the Ark of the Covenant throughout the Old Testament, residing in tents, being carried into battles, and ultimately, in the Temple built by David and Solomon.  Yet God chose to send his only Son, Jesus, to the earth as the living tabernacle of God.  Jesus displayed the glory of God everywhere He went!  The same spirit that descended on Jesus in the Jordan River lives in you!  The same Spirit that fell upon those in the upper room lives in you!  What does it look like to create a habitation for the Holy Spirit?

Take a look at your life, your heart, and your thoughts. Is there room for the Holy Spirit?  Do you clean your house only when you need something from God, or do you routinely clean your temple?  Keith Green’s song Rushing Wind starts, “Rushing wind blow through this temple, Blowing out the dust within, Come and breathe your breath upon me, I've been born again.”

Let that be your prayer today, that the Wind of the Spirit would blow the dust from your temple and clean you from the inside out.  Examine your temple for rooms that are off limits to God, and start opening those rooms one by one to Him.  Let the Spirit of God breathe upon you, giving hope, peace and life.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

If the purpose of living is fruit bearing and the power to produce fruit flows from an abiding life then, "How can I abide in Jesus?" Over the course of this week we will look at four ways you can abide in Jesus and experience the resulting fruit and power from that daily devotional life. First, Jesus says your fruitful life is not produced by acquiring things: material wealth, power, position, or popularity. The fruitful and productive life is a life of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). Fruitful life is produced in your relationships. Those fruits are the result of your personal relationship with Jesus. They’re the result of Jesus Himself coming into your life and living in you. You see, the indispensable heart of your life as a Christian is not that your character has been reformed or renewed. No, it’s an entirely new character, the character of your Lord alive and working in your life! Your fruitful life is produced by “remaining” in Jesus and His love.

Remaining in Jesus means staying in a vital, ongoing, living connection with Him and His love for you. Not once a week, not even every other day of the week. It’s every day, continually. In verse five Jesus says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.” Disconnecting, cutting yourself off from Jesus is like cutting a branch off of a vine. As soon as that occurs, the branch stops producing fruit.

“Lord, today I choose to remain in You, I choose to continually think on You, submit to You, and be led by Your Spirit. I desire to display the fruits of the Spirit. I give you permission to purge my character and give me an entirely new character. Make me fruitful on the job, on the bus, at home, and in my alone time. I choose to decrease so that you may increase in my life and display Your Glory in me.”

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Living a devotional life unto the Lord will look different for each person. However, there are two constants that should be evident in all believers as we all strive to abide in Him; Prayer and Worship. A fruitful life produces a powerful prayer life. John 15: 7 is pretty self-explanatory. Jesus says, “If you remain in Me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given to you.” Do you want to see answers to your prayers? Do you want to see change take place, change for the better? Jesus says to remain vitally connected to Him and watch what happens! One reason why prayer plays an important part in our worship is that as we’ve received the love of Jesus and as we live it, we expect God to empower our prayers in a mighty, life-changing way as He answers them, as He glorifies Himself through our prayers.

When we pray we are demonstrating that we are depending on no one else! Somehow prayer has got to be moved from our last resort to our first response.

Today in your prayers choose Jesus over your flesh, choose His Spirit over your carnal thoughts, and choose His will over your rights. Lean on Jesus in your prayers, fully dependent and yielded to Him. Let it be engrained in your thought process that prayer is your first response and not your last resort.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

The second constant of a devotional abiding life is worship. Many people will automatically think of singing songs on Sunday morning. This is certainly a form of worship because it involves giving praise, thanksgiving, and adoration to our Risen King. However, worship is far deeper than just this experience. Worship that produces a fruitful life is a yielded spirit; surrender with a heart of thanksgiving and praise. What does surrendered worship look like? Rick Warren in Purpose Driven Life says, “The deepest level of worship is praising God in spite of pain, thanking God during a trial, trusting Him when tempted, surrendering while suffering, and loving Him when He seems distant.”

We worship Him with a surrendered life, with words, actions, and songs because of one thing and one thing alone: He is WORTHY! He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and he died to set you free; free from being a slave to sin and beholden to the things of this world. Free to live a fruitful life full of love, joy, and peace. A devotional life results in you falling more and more in love with your Savior and King. A heart swelled with love resulting from a saturated life of intimacy cannot help but worship.

Examine your life for a minute. What or whom do you worship? If it is not Jesus, then confess it. Allow the Lord to be your all in all. Surrender to him today. That surrender will not result in disappointment, but in life, a life that bears much fruit.

Friday October 23, 2009

This series may make you feel inadequate. You may be saying to yourself, “I am not that good a prayer,” or “I get distracted trying to worship God.” It may seem like leading a yielded life is just too hard. You may feel like there is just too much in the way of your ability to lead a devotional life. The good news is that the Lord does not seek after your ability but after your AVAILABILITY! Psalm 147:10-11 says ”His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor His delight in the legs of a man; the Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love.”

One thing God does not need is our skills and abilities. However, He does give us the privilege to exercise our gifts and abilities for His service. The psalmist tells us that His pleasure is not in our strength and ability, but His pleasure is in the attitude of the heart. It is what we find in the heart that helps determine whether ability is translated into availability. You see, God is looking to and fro throughout the earth for a man or woman who is fully committed to Him. A man or woman who is committed to fearing the Lord and placing his hope in His unfailing love is the person God seeks to support. "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him" (2 Chron. 16:9a). When our agenda becomes His agenda, we can expect God to fully support all that we do.

Today the Lord is knocking on the doors of your heart and inviting you into a walk with him that is rewarding and fulfilling. He has removed the barrier and cleared the way. He is a jealous lover that desires your heart, your time and your thoughts. By making yourself available to the Lord, walking in obedience, and spending time in His presence, you will notice that fear leaves your life. Temptations and sin patterns are easier to deal with. As you live your life unto the Lord, you will become more and more like Him-displaying His glory more and more. His presence will literally dwell in you. He will abide in you as you abide in him. Jesus is the ultimate example of this. He housed the presence of God and displayed the Father’s Glory everywhere he went. The result: the sick were healed, the dead were raised, demons cast out, and the poor were fed. This is your inheritance.

Lord, today let me know the fullness of your presence. I choose to abide in you, thinking, meditating, and reflecting on you. I say, ”Thank You Jesus, you are my all in all, I have all I need in you, you are my everything.” I choose to walk in obedience, listening to Your Spirit, and obeying your will. Let me know peace and joy in my life. Let me bear fruit for you.