{"id":21461,"date":"2017-09-19T00:10:34","date_gmt":"2017-09-19T07:10:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lccredding.com\/lcc\/?p=11650"},"modified":"2017-09-19T00:10:34","modified_gmt":"2017-09-19T07:10:34","slug":"september-19-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2017\/09\/19\/september-19-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"September 19, 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cI AM the Vine and you are the branches.\u00a0 He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing.\u201d<\/em> John 15:5<\/span><\/p>\n

Abiding<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

The definition of \u201cto abide\u201d is to accept or bear patiently, to remain or continue.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recently, a Walk His Way devotional about \u201cRoom for Jesus\u201d in our hearts awoke in me the daily need to open constant space for Jesus in my thoughts and actions. This preoccupation is always present and dominant, and should not be filled with my own selfish ambitions and thoughts. I struggle daily, because STAYING in that place of abiding in every thought and word and deed becomes overwhelming. I confess my inability without the Lord\u2019s help.<\/span><\/p>\n

The motivation for abiding is love. \u201cAs the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love\u201d<\/em> (John 15:9). This verse encourages us to stay in this place. I find it\u2019s always a choice and discipline to STOP that thought or the words flying out of my mouth that are unwholesome, and to think on things that are pure and excellent and honorable, and to share kindness.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Lord meets us in this place; it cannot happen without His Spirit\u2019s direction and reminders. In His constant love and grace for us, that same love and grace can be extended to others by actions that reflect our Lord. But when I don\u2019t extend His love and grace, I confess, repent, and ask for help again. My love is deeper because He is always there with a smile of encouragement and a way of escape from temptation or a word of blessing to others. Amazing!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cIn Him (we can) live and move and have our being\u201d<\/em> (Acts 17:28). There\u2019s no sweeter place than knowing I am pleasing My heavenly Father. In that place of fruit-bearing and being valuable to His Kingdom, a fresh sense of joy and fulfillment is released. It is experienced in no other place. This is contagious to the lost world around us as we see our hope in Him; resting in this place of abiding brings glory to Him because the outpouring of our hearts is from His love and to please Him.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the unexpected happens, or something off my agenda, I can stop and pray and give Him thanks for His presence, wisdom, and guidance, then proceed according to His direction. He always gives the next step\u2014sometimes it is to just be patient and do nothing. Remember, \u201cWithout Him we can do nothing.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Dear Lord, thank You for being our True Vine, our Life. You are always extending Your love. Help us to always have the desire to be pleasing to You, seeking You, staying in Your secret place You have for us in which we can bear fruit for Your Kingdom, abiding in the Vine. Glory to You, Lord Jesus! Amen.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI AM the Vine and you are the branches.\u00a0 He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-women"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p92wjD-5A9","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21461\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}