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This meditation was previously published in July 2020 under the title ‘Abide With Me’. This version has been edited and updated.
John 14:15-18
If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
[NKJV]
[NKJV]
Jesus promised that He would send a helper, a ‘comforter’, the Holy Spirit of Truth, who would abide with us ... and will be in us!
‘Abide’ is an amazing word with an amazing number of synonyms*. It describes a state of being with The Lord which none of these other words begin to express adequately. It is inclusive and intimate, and transcends time and place. It is an unconditionally unlimited way to live.
One of the greatest of the Psalms, Psalm 91 is a favourite for many and beautifully and poetically captures what it means to ‘be one with Christ’.
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.”
Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence.
He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, not of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
[Psalm 91:1-6 NKJV]
Our Father gives and gives and gives selflessly and we are deeply comforted; but behind the words is the father’s heart, which gently reminds us that ‘abiding’ is not just about us. The focus of our abiding is Him; the selflessness is a two-presence relationship. Unless we concern ourselves fully on Him, we are not “he who dwells in the secret place of the Most High”
*Abide is menō (μένω; a primary verb) and means to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy): — abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry (for), to remain.
Abide in reference to place: to sojourn, tarry, not to depart, to continue, to be present, to be held, kept, continually.
Abide in reference to time: to continue to be, not to perish, to last, endure of persons, to survive, live.
Abide in reference to state or condition: to remain as one, not to become another or different, to wait for, await one
‘Abide’ is an amazing word with an amazing number of synonyms*. It describes a state of being with The Lord which none of these other words begin to express adequately. It is inclusive and intimate, and transcends time and place. It is an unconditionally unlimited way to live.
One of the greatest of the Psalms, Psalm 91 is a favourite for many and beautifully and poetically captures what it means to ‘be one with Christ’.
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.”
Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence.
He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, not of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
[Psalm 91:1-6 NKJV]
Our Father gives and gives and gives selflessly and we are deeply comforted; but behind the words is the father’s heart, which gently reminds us that ‘abiding’ is not just about us. The focus of our abiding is Him; the selflessness is a two-presence relationship. Unless we concern ourselves fully on Him, we are not “he who dwells in the secret place of the Most High”
*Abide is menō (μένω; a primary verb) and means to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy): — abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry (for), to remain.
Abide in reference to place: to sojourn, tarry, not to depart, to continue, to be present, to be held, kept, continually.
Abide in reference to time: to continue to be, not to perish, to last, endure of persons, to survive, live.
Abide in reference to state or condition: to remain as one, not to become another or different, to wait for, await one
‘Meditate on these things’
1 CORINTHIANS 4:18-21 NKJV
Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you. But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power. For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?
Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you. But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power. For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?
“Come Unto Me” — Booth Brothers
A HOLY COMMAND: Oswald Chambers on LOVE
— Love with all your STRENGTH --
The realisation that my strength is always a hindrance to God’s supply of life is a great eye-opener. A man who has genius is apt to rely on his genius rather than on God. A man who has money is apt to rely on money instead of God. So many of us trust in what we have got in the way of possessions instead of entirely in God.
All these sources of strength are sources of double weakness. But when we realise that our true life is “hid with Christ in God,” that we are “complete in Him,” then His strength is radiantly manifested in our mortal flesh, and His light and life and love shine more and more unto the perfect day.
[from ‘God’s Workmanship’]
All these sources of strength are sources of double weakness. But when we realise that our true life is “hid with Christ in God,” that we are “complete in Him,” then His strength is radiantly manifested in our mortal flesh, and His light and life and love shine more and more unto the perfect day.
[from ‘God’s Workmanship’]
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