(I’m interested in writing a series of blog posts on the topic of Abiding with Christ. Here is the first one :))

There’s a really great story from when I was a toddler in Tennessee with my parents. My parents came to America so that my dad could get a Master’s in Theology. At the time of this story I was around two or three years old. One day my parents were looking for the house key and they had no idea where they had placed it. I was playing with my toys on the ground. The story goes that my dad looked at me and then asked my mom “Do you think Larissa took the key?” My mom said of course not. My dad looked at me and asked “Larissa, did you take the key?” Story goes that I looked up at him with a blank expression “fazendo de sonsa” (as we say in Portuguese,) which means playing dumb, and went right back to playing with my toys. Then my dad noticed me putting toys inside a hole in the wall. I still don’t understand how he had the boldness to do what he did next. He broke the wall.

When my dad broke the wall not only did he find a plethora of toys that I had been storing in there, but he also found the house key. I had actually taken the house key and hidden it inside of the wall. Now looking back at this story I see it as a little prophetic. Because the key that we all need to make sure that we don’t lose as Christians is to daily abide in the Lord. To abide means to dwell. And if you consider that the Holy Spirit lives in you, and that Christ lives in you, then you can even consider this your house key. But what does it mean to abide?

Abiding is staying connected to Jesus. It’s spending time with him in the secret place. For me it looks like praying to him, talking to him throughout the day, digging deep into my bible studies with him, and acknowledging him in everything that I do. It’s keeping my emotions real with God, and to actively do life with him, and seek to live out his will for my life.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6 So in other words he will give you the necessary direction. Matthew 6 talks about not worrying about your life, and many places in the bible remind us that God doesn’t call us to walk in fear for he is with us. “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”Isaiah 41:10 We don’t have to worry because so long as we’re staying connected to God, we understand we are not doing anything alone, and not doing anything by our own strength. He goes before us and will help us and protect us, and he has a plan for us. Therefore there is no room for anxiety. Philippians 4:6-7 teaches us to not walk anxiously, but that when anxiety hits, be quick to bring it before God, to start with thanksgiving before the Lord, and then to make our requests known to him. “Then the peace that surpasses all understanding will guard our hearts and minds (mental health) IN Christ Jesus.” 

It’s as we are IN Jesus. Jesus says “I have said these things so that IN me you may have peace.” John 16:33 He also says “I have told you this so that my joy may be IN you, and that your joy may be complete.” John 15:11 John writes “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life IN his name.” John 20:31 To have life we need to be in him. For “He is the way, the truth and the life.” John 14:6 And he has said “I have come so that in me they may have life and have it in abundance.” John 10:10 An abundant life will be one where we walk in freedom, and in confidence to live out everything that the Lord has for us. But this joy, peace, abundant life, starts with intentionally abiding in Christ.

In Matthew 6 we also learn the importance of prioritizing God. Matthew 6:33 teaches“Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and everything else will be added as well.” As we prioritize relationship with the Lord, and delighting ourselves in him, he then gives us direction on what to do with all the rest. And then we also have our mental health in check by keeping what is most important as our first priority: our relationship with God. He created us for a purpose, and as we seek him first, everything else will flow from our relationship with him. That’s why he says we can’t truly accomplish anything of eternal impact apart from him. But with him, as we abide in him, and grow in relationship with him, we actually have the promise of bearing much fruit. And when we do anything out of our striving and strength, we won’t get far, and we’ll be exhausted. But when we work out of love for God, and out of the overflow of our relationship with him, we can get far, without it feeling exhausting, without striving in our flesh. And so relationship with God is the key.

I was reminded of this story again on Outreach with YWAM in Vietnam. I did a Discipleship School with YWAM in Chiang Mai. The first three months are the lecture phase and the last two months is Outreach (so evangelism and ministry support phase.) The first month we were abroad in Vietnam and for the second we’re back in Thailand. And It was our last day in Vinh city, before we headed to Hai Duong next. My host (the leader that connects us to ministry work,) had a word to give to me. He said: “Lala God has given you the key. But he doesn’t want you to keep it for yourself. He wants you to share it.” And that has been my story. How many times have the insight
I gained from the Lord in bible studies become stories I share on instagram, or prayer become testimony videos, or even just telling friends and family of the precious experiences I’ve had with the Lord. How many people can be impacted from you sharing your stories/testimonies of what God has done for you in your life?This is the fruit. This is the overflow of relationships with the vine. So stay connected to Jesus, and pretty soon you’ll see him use you in mighty ways for his Kingdom, and in the spirit, it will be effortless, because it’ll be from his strength.

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me. 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