June 6th, 2001: Fiery Trials

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The Staff and Sword Ministry

June 6, 2001

$ FIER PART VI

By Nancy-TONI

Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as {hough some strange thing has happened to you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christs sufferings; that, " when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. (Z Peter 4:12-13, "

" ABIDING IN CHRIsT" A few months ago we received a request for an article about "Abiding" and since this is connected to having a deeper walk in Christ which is key to coming through, overcoming and r having victory by the Spi it of God in spite of what may happen to us, it seemed a fitting subject for a "Fiery Trials" article. Since there were no particular questions being raised about abiding, while pondering in prayer just where to begin to address such a subject, it came to mind to approach "Abiding in Christ" from three different angles - what, why and how. From there I broke it down to these four questions: 1.) What does it mean to abide?

2.) Why - what happens when you abide?

3.) What might you encounter when abiding?

4.) How does one abide in Christ?

More questions could probably be raised but this seems like a good place to begin.

"WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ABIDE? There are two ways in which I could define abiding. One is the dictionary definition and the other is to explain what it means to me. First let's look at the plain, old dictionary definition of ABIDE. TIDE: IILMAIN, RESIDE, AWVAIT, ENDURE So, it could be said that to abide in Christ is to remain in Christ, to reside in Christ, to await in Christ and to endure in Christ.

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WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ABIDE? continued

If I were to define ABfDING in my own words it is simply spending time in the presence of Jesus Christ and God the Father. You see, to come to know Jesus, one must spend time with Jesus. Spending time with Jesus is foundational to establishing and building a relationship with Jesus with the ultimate effect of being bonded or connected with God through Jesus Christ.

Now, some may argue that prayer alone will establish a relationship and that is true but what kind of relationship? I see prayer as talking with Jesus or asking Jesus for things, which is a good and necessary start but abiding is going the next step of just spending time with Jesus and being with Jesus in a position of receiving and relating with Him. What do I mean?

Think of it like this, for many prayer is like making a phone call to Jesus to make a request or to chat about something on a person's heart but abiding is actually going over to Jesus to talk with Him personally to hear what He has to say. We can pray but still be removed from Jesus' presence or we can pray and abide in His presence - which is a different experience altogether.

Another way to look at it is to take for example the relationship of a child with its parents.

When we are growing up in this world we receive some personal instructions from our parents about right and wrong and how to get along in this world but we pick up even more by just being around our parents. As children we are like little sponges, absorbing our parent's behavior, traits, likes and dislikes, attitudes and attributes - for better or for worse. How many times in your adult life have you found yourself sounding just like your parents in spite of yourself? That's because you've just absorbed your parent's reactions by simply being around them. Now, with our Heavenly Father we are to come to Him and Jesus Christ once again as a little child, full of trust and openness. Once again, we are to be like little sponges, taking in God's Spirit and Jesus' Love, attributes, character and very Being --- and this will only happen if we spend time in God's Presence through Jesus Christ. Simply being taught about Jesus is not the same as actually being with Jesus and that is the difference that abiding makes in your walk in Christ.

MAKING A CONNECTION OR BOND As I read some of the Scriptures speaking of abiding, I am struck by the relationship that it promises and offers. Just look at what Jesus said in John 14:23: "...If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him."

Just think, if we love Jesus and keep his words then the Father will love us also and They will come unto us and remainlreside/awaitlendure with us! Wow, what love! What patience! But then the relationship goes even deeper when we look at John 15:4-5.

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MAKING A CONNECTION OR BOND? continued

"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without ine ye can do nothing. " (Jesus in John 15:4-5) Now, just think of the word "abide" as a bond or connection of ultimate love between you and your God and Savior Jesus Christ, your source of all Life, Love and sustenance. Think of Jesus saying to you personally, "Bond with Me and I will bond with you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it is bonded or connected with the vine, no more can you truly live, except you bond with Me. I am your vine, you are My branch. He that is bonded with Me and I with him, the same brings forth much fruit (of the Spirit of God), for without Me, you can do nothing."

Then Jesus says in verse 6: "If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gathered them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned."

This is like Jesus saying, "If a man bonds not with Me nor is he connected to Me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered (because he is not connected), and men gathered them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned."

You see, when we are bonded or connected to Jesus, then He gives us Life and that Life is like blood to the branch which in turn flows from the vine to the branch then back out to the vine and then back and forth with an open flow of Life and Spirit between the branch and vine in a continuous flow. It's not just one way but is an open relationship and exchange of sustenance, Spirit and Life which benefits not only the branch but the vine as well_ To me, those that fail to bond or really connect with Jesus are like those spoken of in Matthew 7:21-23 for the Judgment upon them is essentially the same. Here Jesus said: "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

So, like the branch that is withered and cast into the fire, here these workers of iniquity have failed to connect or bond with the Vine and they too are cast from Jesus' Presence.

This is further substantiated by 1 John 3:6, which says: "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. " Here a connection is made between abiding and seeing and knowing Jesus and out of that relationship, siruvng no more.

The workers here in Matthew 7:21-23 did things in Jesus' Name but Jesus Himself professed that He never knew them and that they were workers of iniquity which is sin. For ChuckJOHNEL myself it has been our experience that the more we abide in Christ, the less we sin.

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Likewise, we find that when we go for a period of time without abiding, it isn't long before we find old, sinful behavior creeping back to trouble us. For these workers of iniquity, they never did abide in Him for if they had, they would have sinned less and come Know Jesus personally,

WHY - WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ABIDE? Rather than assume everyone would see and just understand the necessity of abiding, I thought we'd take a look at just why abiding is important in our Christian walk. I personally believe that it is a very important key to growth and maturity in Christ that no Christian should do without, And, like anything having to do with God and His Kingdom, there are many layers and depths to which any subject can be plumbed. To begin to plumb these depths let me explain one dimension of what happens when you abide.

When we pray to abide in Jesus' Presence we are directing our spirit and our soul to Heaven and to be with Jesus. Whether we realize it nor not, when we pray this way we are there with Him, we are in His Presence. The neat thing is that while our soul with its limited mind and capacity may not be able to receive or take in all that is happening, our spirit man in Christ is fully able to hear, see and experience the wonderful time of being with Jesus.

I know this because there have been times when I've seen Jesus in my abiding time and He is talking to me but I can't hear or retain. what He is saying consciously. Instead, I just Know that my spirit is hearing Him and that what Jesus is saying will be a part of me and that I will have that knowledge within me for a later time. So, you see, even if you see and hear nothing consciously, you are experiencing and receiving from Jesus in your spirit by the Spirit of God. Also keep in mind that Jesus relates to all of us according to our personality, call and the relationship we have with Him. It is only out of time and patiently practicing His Presence that you begin to learn how Jesus will relate to you but remember, He wants us to first of all be reliant on Him and to go by faith and not by sight which includes what we see or even hear inwardly in our prayer time. With God there are no formulas but there are truths and general ways in which He operates.

One such consistent truth that is inescapable when talking about growth or maturity in Christ is death to self. You can't have Life in Christ without death to self and you can't abide in Christ Jesus without it as well. This in turn connects with the main reason why one needs to learn to abide, for without it one cannot grow and enter into their new Life in Christ. To illustrate this let's take a look at what Jesus says in John 12:24-25: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit- He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal"

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In this particular case, I see the "corn of wheat" as being what the Apostle Paul called "our body of sin" and that our soul is the life contained within that "body" or shell —) our soul

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so our soul can enter we must let our our soul is born into sin in this world "corn of wheat" die into Eternal Life in Christ

The shell or outer casing of the seed can also be seen as our Adamic nature, our carnality, our self-life, our self-nature, our self-will, unrighteousness, our old man and our body of death.

However, these things of themselves are not soulish but until we begin to learn what is of Christ, we tend to yield our soul to them and operate within that "body of sin". Therefore, if we chose to hang onto that self-life, our soul encased in a "body of sin", then we indeed abide or live alone with the definition of"alone" being "apart from God and Jesus Christ, the source of all Life". If we love our sin-life too much to let it die, then we will surely die in our sins but if we hate our life of sin, then we will truly live as we enter into our new life in Christ Jesus.

The good news is that if we let our "body of sin" go to God and chose to abide in His Presence, then Paul tells us in Romans 5:5-9 that: "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his (Jesus 9 death, we shall be also with him, that in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified is the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that with dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live hath no more him; Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death dominion over him. "

Abiding has all the dimensions to me of being planted with Jesus. When we are abiding we are submerging our spirit and soul in the source of all Life. We are letting our self-life go to be in Jesus' Presence and put our roots down there.

I have personally found that while it is sometimes difficult to see and be confronted with the "body of sin" within myself, it has been absolutely essential in my walk in Christ. Since the kingdom of God is within each of us, then it is there that we learn to communicate and relate to and with God and Jesus Christ but so often we don't know what is truly God or Jesus speaking to its and what is ourselves. To learn to make the distinction in the beginning I found I had to put aside everything I thought and felt to simply wait on God_ I knew I could not trust my soul since it was far too subject to my desires, feelings, thoughts and opinions.

My soul was still too much alive in the "body of sin" that I knew it couldn't be relied upon at all. Only after years of abiding and seeing how Jesus works in my life and how He relates

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to me have I begun (I'm certainly not there yet) to operate more in His new life for me. Again, it comes down to coming to know God the Father and Jesus Christ by spending time with them and in their Presence and out of that time of quieting one's self, you begin to learn what is of yourself and what is of the Spirit of God working within you. However, you'll never really leant the difference if you don't make the effort.

I Iike how Francois Fenelon touches on this in his book, "The Royal Way of the Cross", published by Paraclete Press, Brewster Massachusetts. On pages 129-130 he wrote: "... as we contemplate God there will often be side light, so to speak, thrown upon ourselves. It is just as a man who stands looking at the reflection of another in a large mirror - while looking for that other man he also beholds himself without seeking to do so.

And thus we often see ourselves clearly in the pure light of God. The presence of God in purity and simplicity, sought after in very faithfulness, is like that large mirror, wherein we discern even the tiniest spot that flecks our soul.

A peasant who has never passed beyond his own poor village only faintly realizes its poverty. But set him amid splendid palaces and courts, and he will perceive how squalid his own home is, how pathetic his rags compared with such magnificence. Even so we realize our own loathsomeness and unworthiness when brought face to face with the beauty and greatness of God. Talk as much as you will of the vanity and emptiness of the world, the shortness and uncertainty of life, the inconstancy of fortune and friends, the delusions of grandeur, its

inevitable and bitter disappointments, the failure of bright hopes, the emptiness of all we attain, and the pain of the evils we endure. All these things, true and just as they are, do not touch the heart, they do not reach far enough or alter a man's life. He sighs over the bondage of vanity, yet does not seek to break his bonds.

But let one ray of heavenly light penetrate within, and forthwith beholding the depth of goodness, which is God, he likewise beholds the depth of evil, his fallen creature. Then he despises himself, hates, shuns, fears, renounces self; he throws himself upon God and is lost in him. Truly that man's loss is a blessed one, for he finds himself without seeking. He has no more selfish interests, but all turns to his profit, for everything turns to good to those who love God. He sees the mercies which flow into his weakness, sin, and nothingness; he sees and rejoices."

Keep in mind that the change we are seeking here is the lasting, life-altering change from

within. Instead of trying to change ourselves from the outside or through our own limited efforts by our own will-power, true change by the Spirit of God can only occur from deep within a heart surrendered to God_ A level so deep that only God can effect a lasting change

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or transformation. Madame Guyon said it best in her book entitled, "Experiencing God through Pra er", (published by Whitaker House, 30 Hunt Valley Circle, New Kensington, PA 15068) on page 37-38. She wrote: "All attempts to correct the external only drive the soul into more furious activity. Rather than overcome the problems the old self-nature imposes, a flurry of activity only seems to cause fragmented lives redirected into harsh feelings about yourself.

Depending upon your senses for guidance only provokes and stirs up your passions within. The more you place your awareness on the self-nature activities, the more they seem to thrive and grow_ ... The only genuine means of bringing about change is by inward means. You must commit yourself wholly into the hands of a loving God. The simple act of commitment in every circumstance where self exerts itself will, in time, produce a separation of the sensual (senses) from the spiritual.

The nearer your spirit draws to God, the further you become separated from the soulish demands. When God responds to your yielding desires by sending His grace, your outward or self-nature is weakened and easily complies to God's will."

WHAT MIGHT YOU ENCOUNTER? I suppose the question that I am led to address in this segment is more appropriately, what resistance might one encounter to abiding? There is always the possibility that the enemy of our souls will work to distract you or prevent you from abiding in Christ. After all, the Devil hates when God's people begin to grow and manifest Christ and will do all in his power to try to prevent you but in truth, he can't really succeed in preventing us — only if we let him. So, how do we `let him' succeed? By making room for or allowing sin to remain in us or a part of our lives knowingly.

Remember when Jesus said, "...the prince of this world cometh, and hat!: nothing in me" in John 14:30? What the Spirit of God has shown me is that in other words, Jesus knew that Satan was coming to end His life but that Satan would come and find nothing in Jesus through which Satan would be able to operate or gain occasion, opportunity or grounds to attack Him for Jesus was truly without sin within Himself. Unfortunately for us, we still have areas in ourselves through which the enemy can operate to one degree or another. This happens just by being born into this world for it is then that we are born into sin through Adam/Satan and therefore we are subject to the "prince of this world". When we become saved and our sin is put under the Blood of Jesus Christ, then we are taken out of Satan's power and he begins to lose his grasp in our lives but all of us must realize that we walked according to his ways at some time in our life. Look at what the Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:1-3 –

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WHAT MIGHT YOU ENCOUNTER? continued "And you hath he (Jesus) quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past Ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. "

(Ephesians 2:1-3) This former, fallen state or life that we led is what Paul refers to as the "old man" and the "body of sin" and that this "old man" is to be shed, died to and crucified with Christ and the "new man" in Christ put on in its place. Just look at Ephesians 4:17-32 (selections) to see what I mean. "...henceforth walk not as other(s)... in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through ignorance that in is them, because of the blindness of their heart... That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. ...Neither give place to the devil... Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying.. .And grieve not the holy Spirit of God... Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice. And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you"

Perhaps even more to the point we have James 4:7-8 — "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.

As for what Paul wrote about the "body of sin", keep in mind Romans 6:6--- "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him (Jesus), that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. " Later Paul qualifies in I Corinthians 15:56 Paul that, "The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. " This is turn is qualified by Romans 8:1-2 — "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made us free from the law of sin and death. " So to me, abiding (living, remaining, waiting and enduring) in Christ has everything to do with getting out of the "old man" and into our "new man" in Christ but I see it is also a choice which we make and effort is needed to apply one's self to enter into the reality of what Scripture tells us.

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The way the Spirit of God has made me to see or understand these concepts is to understand that we have a soul and when we are born into this world we are bo rn through Adam/Satan into sin so like the corn of wheat spoken of earlier, at the beginning of our soul-life on earth our soul is encased or born into a "body of sin" at that point in time. I'm not speaking of our physic al body but a souli sh body subject to sin through Adam. Then when we repent of sin an d accept the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, our spirit is then saved but now we must "work out (our) own salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12). We must now "In your patience possess ye your souls" (Jesus in Luke 21:19). In other words, we must direct our soul, discipline it and bring it into submission to the Spirit of God. More than ever before we now have a choice -- on one h an d we have our "body of sin" an d on the other we have our new life in Christ. We have the choice of whether we want to operate in the "old man" or in our "new man" or new creature in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).

To try to visualize this, let's say for example that our soul is like a little ball of light which can inhabit the old or the new man - a body of sin or the Body of Christ or our spirit in Christ. ^

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It can operate in the: Body of Christ (Spirit of Christ Subject to Christ, Spirit of God God's/ Christ's nature Spiritually minded forgiveness, peace, truth death to self God's Will old man (Rom. 66, Eph 4:22-24, Col 3:9-10) --- new man — Body of Life body of death W serving righteousness serving unrighteousness (Rom. 6:13) ----

QR It can operate in our: y "bod of sin" (Adam/Satanj and to be subject to Satanl Lucifer - -- OR ----- OR --and in the Adamic nature ---___-carnality/carn al minded bitterness, anger, lying (Eph. 4:25,31) -----__--self-nature self-will

flesh - lusts & desires of soul (Eph 2:1-3) ---

letter of the law Father is the Devil (John 8:44)

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new creature (2 Cor. 5:17)

Spirit of the Law Adopted unto God (Rom, 8:15) Bride of Christ (Rom. 7:4)

The way that the Apostle Paul words it is not to "operate in" but to "yield our members to"

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one body or the other. I made this list to help illustrate how it is that we yield ourselves to sin and how we can yield ourselves to righteousness by the decision to put our soul-life into Christ Jesus and out of the "body of sin". I was shown this when I read and pondered in prayer Paul's teaching in Romans 6:11-14, 19. Here it says, "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through

Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. " The dictionary definition of a `member' is a "distinct part of something, like an arm".

However, what the Spirit of God was showing here was that the "members" we have been yielding to unrighteousness and should yield to righteousness have to do with our soul and riot just our "mortal body" or physical body with its members or parts. In this case, if we yield

a distinct part of our soul to our body of sin, then we are yielding it to unrighteousness but if we yield a distinct part of our soul to Jesus Christ, then it is being yielded to righteousness.

This in turn goes back to how the enemy works through the sin within us to trouble, attack or work to prevent us from abiding and growing in Christ. It is through the "body of sin" that Satan gets opportunity to trouble us but as we put our sin under the Blood of Jesus in the likeness of His death, then we pull ourselves out from under his influence and into our new life in Christ and the likeness of His resurrection — free from the power of sin and death. So dear ones, the more you abide, the more victory you should see in your life but if you do find yourself assailed by the enemy of your soul then stop and repent of any sin within you and remove the access the Devil has to bother you. Once that door is shut, you should be able to rest in Jesus' Presence in peace and joy.

A SLOW SORTING PROCESS To grow in Christ and to learn to yield your soul to Him takes time, patience and trust in God to sort out within you what is of Him and what is of sin. In the beginning almost all of us aim at serving God more or less for our own sake first. Let's face it, we "want to win, not to lose; to be comforted, not to suffer; to possess, not to be deprived; to increase, not to diminish. Yet all the while our whole interior progress consists of losing, sacrificing, decreasing, humbling, and stripping self even of God's own gifts, so as to be wholly his."

(Francois Fenelon, "The Royal Way of the Cross", page 19.)

It is often difficult to get past the draw of our self-life which seeks a lively feeling, a reassuring pleasure, some kind of excitement or moving experience when we abide in the Lord to be satisfied with just resting in His Presence. The problem with looking for a feeling or

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experience is that our self-life is activated by this sensory experience and can work to create one for you if God doesn't "come through". Our self-life doesn't want to be quiet or put in its place in subjection to Christ and the Spirit of God and will work to assert itself if it has the opportunity. And yet, as Francois Fenelon goes onto to explain on page 32, there is a "gulf of vanity and corruption which God would have us discover in our own heart: We must look on it with the calm and simplicity which belong to true humility. It is self-love which makes us so inconsolable at seeing our own imperfections. To stand face to face with them, however, not flattering or tolerating them, seeking to correct one's self without becoming pettish - that is to desire what is good for its own sake and for God's sake, rather than merely treating it as a self-satisfying decoration."

Again, have patience with yourself and with God. God works slowly within us from the inside out so don't be in a hurry and don't judge your growth in Christ for you are no position to make that kind of judgment. Leave that up to God. I like what Fenelon had to say about this subject on page 22. He wrote: "It would be as great a miracle to see one full of himself die suddenly to self-consciousness and selfinterest as it would be to see a child go to bed a mere child and rise up the next morning a man of thirty! God hides his work beneath a series of imperceptible events, both in grace and nature, and thus he subjects us to the mysteries of faith. Not only does he accomplish his work gradually, but he does it by the most simple and likely means, so that its success appears natural to men. Otherwise all that God does would be as a perpetual miracle, which would overthrow the life of faith by which he would have us exist."

This brings me to my last point in this section and that is to seek God for God alone and not for an experience. When you are abiding in Him, just know, rest and have faith in Jesus that you are in His Presence whether you see or experience anything or not. Don't compare yourself to someone else or to some extraordinary experience you may have read or heard about but seek only Jesus Christ. After all, it was Jesus who told us to, "... seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things will be added unto you. " Fenelon points out that our self-love can too easily flatter itself that it has attained the lofty heights which it has admired in books. For me, I believe the world would be a better place if everyone just sought God and prayed to be who He made each of us to be. If each of us has moved into the fullness of what God made us to be, then we will each be doing what God made us to do and there's plenty of work to go around for everyone according to their place in God's kingdom. So again, seek God for God and not for what you can get out of Him. Seek Jesus for Jesus alone and you'll find your true self in the process.

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HOW DO I ABIDE? Last but not least, we come down to HOW. For Chuck-JOHNEL and myself, we have a daily practice of once we have completed our prayers (praying the prayer sheets), we read a chapter or two out of the New Testament and then we take time to rest and abide in God's Presence. Just prior to being quiet before the Lord Jesus, we pray and plead the Blood of Jesus Christ upon us (and anyone within our house) and pray that God would set His Holy Angels all around us to keep us safe. If we discern any demonic presence or trouble in the house then we take authority over it and command that it leave or ask God that the Angels would remove it from our house in Jesus' Name. Following this, we then close our eyes and are just quiet before the Lord. It is at this time that we just open our hearts to Jesus and anything He may say or show us but we are not seeking any answers in We have given the Lord our prayer and He knows our questions or needs and so we just wait upon Him. It doesn't matter if we see or experience something or not. It is sufficient to know that we have spent time with Jesus regardless.

Other times, like when I go to bed but before I go to sleep, I pray to abide in the Lord's Presence as well (without the extensive prayer time just prior but a short prayer instead) just to be with Him or to further pray about other needs or concerns. Here again, I may receive an answer, I may see a vision, or I may just drift off to sleep or become distracted and lost in my own thoughts. Any or all of these may happen so don't let it discourage you from abiding again and as often as you can.

Regardless of my experi ence or lack thereof while abiding, I do know that even though my soul can't remember anything, my spirit has taken in what was said or experienced so I will benefit from the time spent with Jesus whether I consciously realize it or not.

Jesus calls us, beckons us to come unto Him. He is there for us. He stands there with His

arms open wide, saying, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. " Don't be

anxious or afraid to come unto Him. Lest any of you think that abiding is not for you, think again. Paul states in I Co rinthians 7:23-24, "Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men. Brethren, let evert man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God. " Let each of us seek God within our very being.

Like a Father whose children have left home, He sits waiting patiently for us to return to Him. So let us, in our patience, seek to retu rn to Him. May God bless you and draw you to Himself and the fullness of His Life for you.

TA Jes i' s'La ., ,.r•^-" '