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By Donna Rotsch
So you think
everything is okay
between you and God?
What are you
basing that on?
Your
relationship with God
needs to be a great
deal more than
repeating the
sinner’s prayer, a
little Bible reading,
occasional visits to
church, and prayer for
a good parking space.
It’s even
more than a lot
of prayer, reading the
Bible through in a
year, and regular
church attendance.
It’s abiding
in the vine.
John 15:1-8
For many years
before I knew what it
meant, I was told,
“Just give it all to
Jesus.”
So I did my
best to give it all to
Jesus and waited for
Him to “fix”
things. That resulted in just spinning my wheels instead of
advancing.
Don’t you
love it when people
tell you to do
something but they
don’t tell you how
to do it?
Let’s talk
about just what it is
to abide in the vine
and the difference it
will make in your
life.
We as branches,
which are attached to
the vine who is Jesus,
were meant to get our
sustenance from Him.
But, when we
don’t know how to do
that, we shoot out our
tendrils in various
directions, sampling
other types of plant
food.
It’s no
wonder these
“other” things
don’t satisfy.
God created us
in His image to
partner with Him in
this life. 2 Corinthians 6:1 He even clothed us with His Glory.
Every morning
He waits to meet with
us and make plans for
the day.
Far too many of
us, just don’t show
up.
For a long time
I couldn’t do it
either.
I stayed up so
late at night that
getting out of bed was
the hardest thing I
did each day.
I’d never
personally known any
spiritual giants but
I’d heard that early
morning prayer and a
lot of time spent
reading the Bible was
what made them who
they were.
I was spurred
on again and again in
my futile attempts for
this dynamic
relationship with God
because I knew that it
was attainable by all
of His children.
(His children
being those who’ve
received Jesus Christ
as their personal
savior.)
I’d try
getting up an hour
before I had to get
ready for work, but
really I was hoping it
would only take
fifteen minutes or so
to hear from Him and
then I could sleep a
little more before
having to face the
day.
Well I slept
all right.
I slept right
through the time I
intended to pray.
I had to come
to the point where I
could no longer
tolerate my
predominately
one-sided relationship
with God, dashing into
His presence with a
problem and giving Him
five minutes to speak
to me.
Determined to
hear and be directed
by Him in all of the
affairs of my life, I
saw to it that I went
to bed when I needed
to and rose early each
morning until I had a
break through.
The break
through being that I
did hear from God and
I continue to hear
from Him, as I
continue to meet with
Him early each day.
He directs me
in everything I bring
to Him, everything
from decisions about
dental work to where
to live.
And by where to
live, I mean which
particular town on
what continent.
That kind of
relationship is worth
any sacrifice you have
to make.
God’s
blessings rest in the
place He calls you to.
Do you have any
doubts that you are where God
wants you to be, doing
what He wants you to
do?
The first
step then in
abiding in the vine is
two-way communication
with God.
We
speak.
He listens.
He speaks.
We listen.
We pray.
He Answers.
That
is divine/human
partnership. It isn’t that God so rarely speaks, it’s that we listen
so infrequently, and
have not trained
ourselves to hear Him.
“The eyes of
the Lord are toward
the righteous and His
ears are open to their
cry.”
Psalm 34:15 God
supplies the wisdom,
direction and power,
and we supply the body
and voice.
We can’t
do it without Him and
He won’t
do
it without us.
In a nutshell,
this is what I want
you to see.
Only two things
are required to live
successfully in this
life, Hear from
God and obey.
By staying
close to Him, abiding
in Him, you will hear
from Him. Staying close to Him, abiding in Him, will give you the willingness
and power to
obey.
If it’s sin
in your life He shows
you, sincerely ask
forgiveness and
determine not to go
back to it.
As you pray
daily and spend time
in the Word, (spend
time with Him) that
sin will just go away,
fears will disappear,
no weapon aimed at you
will hit it’s mark,
you will prosper in
everything you
attempt, you will be
healed and stay well,
you will have the mind
of Christ, and you
will go forth and
minister all of this
to those around you.
Trusting God
won’t happen over
night but it will take
less time to learn to
walk in faith than it
did for you to mess up
your life.
You need to
start today.
When the
missiles are flying
and the cancer is
raging, it’s hard to
start listening to a
still small voice.
God’s ways
are not our ways.
As we read the
Bible we see that God
has guided men to do
things we’d never
have thought of.
Things like
cutting down the size
of your troops to 300
to defeat an army of
thousands, dipping
seven times in a muddy
river to get rid of
Leprosy, striking a
rock to get drinking
water, giving the last
of your food so that
you’d never go
hungry again.
When you abide
in the vine, you will
have the faith to
follow God’s
directions.
So let’s roll
out of bed guys, gals,
and young people.
Get up and
praise Him!
A good way to
start would be to read
the psalms, sing
choruses and hymns.
God inhabits
the praises of His
people.
His presence
will fill the room.
Now ask Him to
show you any
unconfessed sin and
repent of it. After that ask Him to guide you in praying.
In that way,
you will speak forth
His desires about the
things that concern
you and He will tell
you of things on His
heart that He needs
you to pray about.
I’m
concerned about the
salvation of many
people.
God has a plan
for each of them and
He will guide me as to
how to pray for them.
I have to be
persistent and fervent
in prayer if it takes
days or weeks until I
hear from Him.
Once I have His
mind on the matter I
can pray as He guides
me and turn it over to
Him.
Mark 11:24
“Therefore I say
unto you, what things
so ever ye desire,
when ye pray believe
ye receive them, and
ye shall have them.”
When you are
asking for something
that is the revealed
will of God, it is
easy to believe for
it.
How much wiser
to live this way than
to drift through life
hoping that nothing
will happen that you
can’t handle.
Like no time
ever before in
history, you need to
walk with God today.
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