A few explainations...

Tomorrow I will start on the book "Abide With Me" by David Rosage, and my insights and meditations on the scriptures found in it. This is my personal journey. God speaks to each of us differently. It is the same message for all of us, but comes alive when we understand it from our own life. What I write is what God is saying to me. Feel free to disagree. He may say something entirely different to you. That is the beauty of the "living" Word of God! Scripture that is alive and meets us where we are on the journey towards our Father. We have guides...."Send forth your Light and your Truth, let them guild me, let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell." (Psalm 43:3) The Light of the World and the Spirit of Truth will guide us into God's presence.

My only real reference on this journey is the Bible, even though I am using a daily devotional book to assign me a scripture each day. I like the general plan of this devotional book. He divides the year by months and assigns a theme for each month. I'll list those as they come up. January's theme is: Trinitarian Love. It will explore the love of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through scriptures for each. I find that sometimes they overlap.

I developed a habit of using several translations of the Bible for my study. I list the same verse in as many of these translations as I choose to meditate on, or found meaning in. It always amazes me what different meanings and thoughts come to me through the different wording. To me this is the beauty of Pentecost in action! The Holy Spirit manifested himself on Pentecost by having the disciples speak in all the languages needed to make the message heard and understood by all. This is what different translations do for me.....they give me the "language" that is meant to speak to me in a particular verse. The author of the devotional uses the New American Bible, so the first listing is always from the NAB and then I try to label any others I use below that. I put a key for the translations on the right hand side of my blog page.

I try to spell check and catch grammar errors and I have some "quirks" of writing that aren't probably correct, but work for me. I don't really write with the idea of others reading it.....just me and God.

Sometimes a particular verse inspired me to poetry and I probably will include those. Keep in mind the main theme of abiding.....God and his word in us, us in God and his word.

He-who-does-the-will-of-God

One of the longest passages in the New Testament about abiding is John 15:4-11. The word "abide" is used 10 times in these verses! This is Jesus' discourse on "I am the Vine..." It's too long for me to try to pick it apart here, but it is worth study and reflecting on.

There are passages on abiding in the Epistles, too. 1 John 2:17 says: "And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever."

Heavenly Father,

These are two phrases that give some of us a lot of trouble...."the will of God"....."forever." Most Christians struggle with knowing what "the will of God", means, especially in an individual sense for them. What is your will for us, LORD? How do we find it? How do we obey it? What must we "do"? Somehow that brings us back to the law and earning our salvation again, and we know that is not the truth of scripture. Our salvation is found in Jesus Christ alone through faith. So instead of just looking at this from our own standpoint as a puzzle to understand or a command to follow, what if we look at it as a "title" for Jesus Christ...."He-Who-Does-The-Will-Of-God". We know this is true. Jesus is the only one who can truly be called by that name. He made it clear over and over in scripture that his only reason to live was to "do the will of my Father". Christ came to show us his Father. He came to show us who you are and what a perfect relationship with you can be like. He came to make it possible for us to achieve that relationship despite our own failings.

Back to this verse....The statement there is that "he who does the will of God abides forever." With our thought of this as Jesus Christ, we have "Jesus Christ abides forever." We know that is true! Now trying to apply that to ourselves is the problem. Obviously the only way we can abide forever is to take on Jesus Christ in our own being. We can do that! He made that possible by dying for us and taking our sins and washing us clean and sending the Holy Spirit to take up residence inside us. Right now today we can rest in this promise..."He-Who-Does-The-Will-Of-God will abide forever" and we will abide with him forever when we accept his gift of grace and atonement and let him reside in us.

"Forever" is a term that many of us struggle with. How long is forever? What is forever like? We are accustomed to living in worldly time where there is a definite beginning and end to everything and everybody. "Forever" is God. Forever is no beginning and end. Forever is measured in on-going time, that spot on the horizon that you approach and never reach. Endless. It should be a word of great hope when used in this verse. We never have to worry about "He-Who-Does-The-Will-Of-God" being gone. Jesus Christ is forever, so we too are able to abide in God's presence forever with him. His atonement, his redemption, his salvation, his protection, his forgiveness, his love, his mercy , his grace will never end and never stop being applied to us as long as we accept him in our lives. Wow! Who cares if "the world is passing away"? We've got "forever"! We've got Jesus Christ!

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for sending us the key to "forever"....He-Who-Does-The-Will-Of-God. Through him we can draw close into your presence and abide! amen

Turning on the Light....

Most of the passages on abiding are in the New Testament.

It says in John 12:46 "I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness."


Heavenly Father,

This verse is a verse of great hope for all mankind! Light! No one likes the darkness. No one likes the helpless feeling of not being able to see. Sight is one of our most precious gifts and even though many live without sight, few would choose to live in darkness. I have been blessed with sight and know the joy of seeing the colors, the complexity, the blessedness of the variety of this world. Darkness must be a horrible dungeon for anyone who has first experienced sight....to remember the colors and shapes, but never see them again. Once you have experienced something wonderful you know what you would be missing if it was gone. We take our sight for granted. But if we had sight but lived in a world with no light, we would be just as blind as someone who has no sight. Light is necessary to see. It isn't our sight that makes the colors and the shapes and the world what we see it as. ....it is the light that illuminates it. Jesus came to "turn on the light" in a world of sin. He came to illuminate the love and hope and peace and glory of God, the Father. We can continue to live in the cave of darkness....sin, death....or we can come out and see what lies beyond the darkness in the light. We can allow Jesus to turn on the light. We can allow Jesus to show us the good things found in him. We have a choice...to live in darkness or to live in light. Light is not something to be afraid of or avoid. Light takes away fear and disorientation. Light takes away hopelessness and replaces it with opportunity. Light can make a landscape of grayness turn into a landscape of color and definition. Light usually brings warmth with it. A glow of heat that makes us feel good.


Heavenly Father, I know that you do not want me to abide in darkness. You have lifted the veil that made me blind and blocked my vision of you. You have given me every opportunity to see all that can be seen and to dwell in your presence where light shines always. Help me to always walk forward into the Light, Jesus Christ, and to rejoice in the love, grace, and peace that he brings me. Help me to become light as you are light, and to shine forth to others who are still cowering in the cave of sin and darkness. Give me the boldness that is necessary to help bring light into the world of darkness. Teach me how to shine forth to all I meet and show them the Light of the World, Jesus Christ. amen

Dwell in the secret place.....Abide in his shadow

Psalm 91:1 "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."

Heavenly Father, So many words to understand for abiding! The Hebrews had a language rich with meaning when I seek to understand it. Here the word for "dwell" can mean...."to settle, to marry, to abide, to continue, to endure, to establish, to remain, to inhabitat, to haunt, to keep house, to luck, to return, to settle down, to sit, to take a place, to tarry." What a lot of meanings!

It certainly makes one thing clear about what it means to "dwell in the secret place of the Most High".......this is not a casual arrangement. This is a permanent attachment and commitment. Some of the words....lurk, return, tarry....show a definite "pull" to keep coming to this place, even when we might have strayed. This is home! Something in us always knows that! This is our marriage. This is an enduring, established relationship.

The word for "secret place" refers to a "hiding place, a private, protected place." This place must be sought and found. This place will hide us once we do find it. This adds to the security and safety that we feel there, in your presence. The verse then shifts to the word "abide." This word for abiding means...."to stay permanently, to be obstinate, to continue, to dwell, to endure, to grudge, to be left, to lie all night, to lodge, to remain, to tarry." All night is stressed in several meanings. For those of us in this world, "night" is the darkness of sin and death. It is the absence of light, the Light of the World. Night also denotes the passing of a day. We wish to lodge in this place of Your presence throughout our days and nights. We will return. We will be drawn back there. We will continually seek this habitation, this hiding place, this place in the shadow of You, the Almighty One!

One of my favorite prayers from scripture, is Psalm 43:3 "Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me, let them bring me to your holy mountain to the place where you dwell."

Show me this abiding place of your presence, where you dwell, O God! May your Light and your Truth bring me there, so that I might "dwell in the secret place of the Most High and abide under the shadow of the Almighty!" amen

Abiding.....what does it mean?

I won't start the "Abide In Me" book until January 1st, so I have several days here to fill in with something! When I was doing research on the word "Abide" in scripture, I found a lot of verses......I don't have an exact count....it varies with the translation you use. I started by looking at the meaning of the Hebrew words used in the Old Testament scriptures. I'm not a Hebrew or Greek scholar and go strictly by what I find in the Greek/Hebrew dictionary on my computer. I do not know the grammar or anything technical. If you want that....you will have to go find someone else with more knowledge. I don't think that God expects us all to be great scholars in order to find meaning in his word. He wants us to understand on a level personal to us, and will give us the insights that we are ready for through his Holy Spirit.

The first word I found for abide in Hebrew was "shakan"....which is the idea of "lodging, residing, permanently staying, to continue, dwell, have habitation, inhabit, lay, remain, rest." Wow! No wonder I want to know how to "abide". It sounds very peaceful and perfect.....I need that at all times and in all circumstances. I especially like the ideas of "lodging, permanently staying, inhabiting, resting". Each is a bit different.

Lodging....there are two meanings here that apply. If something is "lodged", it is stuck and can't be shaken loose. Lodging also means living or dwelling both as a verb and a noun. It's both a place and a resting within that place. "Permanently staying" means never moving from that place. "Inhabiting" is another way to say the same thing, however, we usually choose our habitation....where we want to live......so I feel this word gives the sense of choice. We choose to abide, to inhabit a place. We move in and remain and take up residence by our own free will. "Resting" may be my favorite definition! Once we choose our residence, and become a permanent resident and are "lodged" there, we find rest. We are peacefully placed......in one sense you can't rest without a feeling of peace. Abiding in Christ is meant to bring us peace.

Another word for "abide" in the Old Testament, is "guwr"..meaning to "turn aside from the road, to sojourn as a guest."

This is used in Psalm 61:4 "I will abide in your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of your wings."

Heavenly Father,

If this is the abiding relationship that I truly seek, then I must begin with trust. In order to turn aside from my journey in this world, I must make a conscious effort and choice. I must see a better place, a place of rest that I want to stop at. I must see a safe haven where I will be sheltered and protected. I must sense that this is "it"...the right place, the right choice. The Psalmist says very boldly, "I will ....abide in your tabernacle forever." His choice is made. His confidence is secure. His journey has ended in your tabernacle. The word here for trust also means "to flee for protection", "to have hope", to "make refuge". When we put our trust in You, we flee to the only true protection that is available in his world or any world! We have the hope that is available nowhere else. We make our refuge under "the shelter of Your wings." The image here is of outspread wings that we run underneath to escape the storms of life and the predators all around us!

Help me "abide in your tabernacle forever and to trust in the shelter of your wings!" In the name of Jesus Christ who provides the means for me to abide and trust, now and always, amen.

Journeying on......

The journey to Bethlehem is over, but the journey continues onward as we follow Jesus Christ. Bethlehem is just the beginning. Just as His life began there, so did our faith journey. Now we must leave the Christ Child and follow Christ the Man. 

Faith is always a continuing journey. We may pause here and there, but we are still following......still headed for a goal.......still seeking. Jesus didn't come to stay in the stable, he was always journeying towards the cross. He didn't come to bring us a holiday, he came to bring us new life. He came to show us the Way.....the path to follow to our Father in heaven.

Every year, I try to find a daily devotional book of some sort that will help guide me on the journey. Of course the Bible is the best guide, but sometimes other reading together with the Bible can help us in our seeking. Several years ago I discovered an author I like, David Rosage. The first book I ever used of his, taught me about "praying scripture" and that is where I developed the style of study that I still use.......praying back the words from the scripture, as I meditate on what it says. 

He has a series of three books: "Follow Me", "Abide in Me", and "Rejoice in Me" which I happened to discover in reverse order.....I assume that was God's plan :-) I used "Rejoice in Me" in 2006, which is a book based on the Psalms with New Testament readings that connect with them. In 2007 I did "Abide in Me". This coming year, I will use "Follow Me" for my own personal study. His books basically choose only one or two verses of scripture to read per day, but I've found that I learn a lot from small bites of scripture "digested" slowly. He usually groups them in some sort of theme each month that fits the overall theme for the book.

The concept of abiding is something that I've been seeking for some time. I did some earlier searching in the Bible for scriptures on abiding to get some insight as to what I thought it means to abide in Christ. So this book was just what I was looking for to continue this part of my journey. It has been an interesting journey this past year and I was amazed at how often it happened to coincided in some way with the sermons and teachings of my church.....again.....it seemed to be God's plan for me. I will use my insights from that book as the basis for this continuing journey starting in January. Going back over my thoughts is helpful to me, and reinforces whatever I may have learned.

Feel free to journey along with me......or begin a journey of your own. But keep moving forward and following Jesus Christ, whatever you do! The journey isn't over until we get to heaven!