Abiding in Him.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

Recently I was thinking about the prevalence and accessibility of worldly messages and it made me consider how often I make an effort to take in Godly messages. How much am I listening, paying attention to or taking in the things of God? How many times did I attend church this week? How many times did I open my bible to read His Word this week? How often this week did I have a prayer time? When I did pray, how many of my prayers were for others? Yet, how much T.V. did I watch this week? How many advertisements did I see? How many things came across my path that were disrespectful, or hurtful to others? How many crude jokes or inappropriate images did I see?

Worldly messages are prevalent throughout our culture and they are contrary to the Word of God. We are steadily hearing worldly messages all around us. To counter the messages we hear daily knowing the heart of God is crucial, and the heart of God is complex and profound. Therefore, it is important to realize that attending one hour of worship on Sunday is not enough to get to know God and hear His voice. Likewise, watching religious T.V. programs a couple of times a week is certainly not enough. Abiding with God daily is how we hear His word for us (John 15:5). If we don’t dwell with God more than one or two hours on Sunday morning it will be hard to recognize His voice. We can not have a relationship with Him, abide in Him, without reading the Bible, praying and attending church.

When we regularly listen to, or take in what is on the Internet, T.V., and radio that is what we are abiding in, whether or not it is a conscious choice on our part. It is so easy to ‘take in’ messages from the world around us. In the time it takes to watch one T.V. program or one movie we have seen and heard worldly messages repeatedly, but it takes our effort to take in God’s messages for us.

God doesn’t want us just to obey or abide with Him because He is God and He says so. He wants us to obey and abide with Him so He can bless us and so that our joy can be full (John 15:11)!

As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless. Ps. 18:30

Read More:
John 15:4-11

Plan of Action:
Find a devotional book that praises God and begin to have a short quiet time with Him as often as possible.

Prayer:
Father, thank you that you always reward our obedience with blessings!