Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Bitterness-Part 6

In Part 5 we talked over what it means to have Jesus be “The Way, The Truth, and The Life” in our lives.  We saw that Jesus is also “Our Shield, Our Glory, and the Lifter of our heads.” All beautiful titles given to Jesus, but words mean little unless we learn where to apply them in our lives.  Yesterday we discussed why each of these titles are helpful in our learning Who Jesus is and How to trust Him to heal us from the bitterness of our lives. 

Today, we will cover one of the most important ways to receive the needed fortification for our relationship with Jesus, abiding with Him. When we abide in Jesus, we are in a constant state of receivership from Jesus.  The importance of this is that our Focus remains on Him, not the pains of our past, or current frustrations.  In other words, we aren't leaving our “emotional” doors open and vulnerable to others.  When we are receiving from Jesus the nutrients we need in life, all other sources of nutrition seem to pale in comparison.

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit [a]of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5) I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. John 15:4-5 NASB

Abide-We are being encouraged by Jesus to stay/live with Him.  The most obvious question that comes to mind here is, how do we, humans, abide with Jesus?   Jesus desires to be the vital part of our daily lives.  Abiding with Jesus can take on many forms, I wish to cover only a few in order to help you understand how to apply such a powerful scripture to our lives. 

Abiding, what can that look like?

·         Prayer:
The more evident application of abiding would be that of prayer.  Most of us are familiar with prayer in some form or the other.  I will not offer an opinion on prayer other than to ask you this, when you pray…..do you let your heart show?  Do you come to Jesus with the barriers of your life down?  There is one person in life that you can take such an approach with and it is Jesus.  He IS that best friend you have needed. He IS the One who has known you since before you were formed in your mother’s womb. Jeremiah 1:5   He IS the One that offers Peace that passes all understanding. Philippians 4:7   He IS the love of your life, in whom you can place all your darkest secrets and pains.  He IS the ONE person you can truly surrender to in life.  James 4:7
There is no need to place a false pretense between you and Jesus.  He knows you, sees it all, and loves you RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE AT.  He has seen you bitter ridden and still loved you. Please, if you are not already doing it, see prayer as time with the one who already gave ALL to be with you. You weren't meant to try to deal with life all by yourself.  You were designed to be in a relationship with Jesus, and denying it will only prolong the pain in your life.  Please, let Him in.

·         Involvement:
Many will tell you, “Jesus is just too busy with the troubles of the world to fuss with the small messes of your life.”  I will allow others their opinions, as I am allowed mine.  I do not personally share in this opinion.  I believe if ANYONE needs to bother with my life, it is Jesus.  If ANYONE deserves to know the daily interests, stresses, joys, and hopes that I have for my day, it is my Jesus.  In turn, I involve Him in all aspects of my life.  Feeling that I could release “control” over my life enough to ask for the involvement has taken time. But, now when I am asking for His help to guide my day, I see it as a state of empowerment, not impotence.  The more you involve Jesus in your life, the greater the detail you present Him, the more He can help you with.  As you learn more what trusting Jesus looks like, this will become easier.

                Tomorrow we are will start learning the idea of quieting our spirits, as being a way to abide with Jesus.  I pray you are finding these articles a blessing in your life.  God’s peace and comfort be with you.  Pastor Daniella

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