Abide Series Recap

Posted on December 1, 2022 by

20 Comments

If you have been following for the past couple of months, then you know that we recently went through a series regarding Abiding in Jesus. There are more Bible verses we could look at with the word abide in them. However, I felt the verses that we studied were the best in guiding us to grow in our Christian walk. I hope you enjoyed the series as much as I did.

Side note: I also enjoyed looking for different pictures of vineyards or grapevines to go with each post. They were all so beautiful to me. Grapevines always reminded me of my Hungarian great grandmother, as she had grapevines in her yard. But now I have new meaning to add to those memories. Grapevines and vineyards will now also remind me of the beauty we find when we abide in Jesus and His love.

Here is a short recap of some of the points we touched on in this series:

We have to be intentional about abiding in Jesus. We can do this by making our relationship with Him a priority. Day by day He will mold us to produce good fruit in our lives.

Not only are we to abide in Jesus, but we are also to abide in His love. We do this by keeping
His commandments. The greatest two commandments are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. And to love your neighbor as yourself. When we continue in His love, we will have joy in our lives. And He will continue to grow good fruit in us.

When we truly abide in Jesus, the love of God will abide in us. And His Word abides in our hearts, because we abide in His Word every day. We don’t merely go through the motions of religion. And we don’t try to impress those around us, as the religious leaders in Jesus’ day did. It is all about being in union with the One who loved you enough to die for you.

We have the Holy Spirit abiding in us. He is always with us. He is always there, ready to help us. I fear too often we do not tap into this priceless gift. We might not fully understand how much the Holy Spirit can do for us. Or we might simply forget that we are never alone. But He is there, and He will gladly help us in a myriad of ways.

When we truly abide in Jesus, we walk like He did. As we abide in Him daily, not only does He help mold our hearts to be more like Him, but we also want to be more like Jesus. When we read our Bibles, we learn about Him, and this helps us to follow in His footsteps. But again, there is a responsibility on our part. We have to show up. We have to pursue Him. When we do that, He will change us, day by day.

This week I heard a good sermon by Jentezen Franklin where he touched on wanting. He said, “Here’s how you know if you’re saved or not – you want it. You want to live for Jesus. You want to worship. You want to come to church. You want to be around Christians. You may have all kinds of issues, but you want it. If you just want it, that means life has filled you. The good news is you might be all messed up, but if you just want to be saved, if you just want to be like Jesus, if you just want it, you’ve got it.” These words remind me of what we learned about abiding in Jesus and growing good fruit. Part of the battle is our desire for it. If we have that desire, then we are on the right path. (The sermon was an excellent one and talked about ways Jesus’ blood brings us healing. If you have time, here is the link to the entire sermon – The Everlasting Covenant.)

Abiding in Jesus might also mean we will have seasons of pruning. But the end result will help us to flourish and grow good fruit, as we lean into Jesus and His love.

Thank you for joining this abiding journey. I hope you enjoyed the series. Let us know in the comments what your key takeaway was.

Dear Jesus, thank You for showing us how to abide in You. Sometimes we feel a bit lost, not knowing exactly how to grow in our walk with You. But over the last several weeks, we have learned that our top priority should be pursuing You and spending time with You. And You will naturally help change us, day by day. Help us to lean into You, Lord. There is no place we would rather be. Thank You! We love You! In Your extraordinary name we pray, Amen.

Gratitude Challenge for 2022

If you want to end 2022 on a positive note, then perhaps you will consider finding several things you are grateful for each day, through December 31. You can either write them down, or simply say a prayer of thanks. When we walk in gratitude, we learn to abide in Jesus because gratitude naturally pulls us closer to the Lord, as we see how much He blesses us.

Photo by Sven Wilhelm on unsplash.com

© 2022 Bridget A. Thomas

Category: Seeking GodTags: , , , ,

20 Comments on “Abide Series Recap”

  1. Bridget, I have enjoyed the Abide series. I love what you shared from the sermon you heard. So very true that part of the battle is our desire for it. I pray that as we get into the Christmas season and busyness can overwhelm, we stay intentional in staying connected and abiding in the Lord so that we do not stray from what truly matters and the reason we celebrate this time.
    Blessings my friend.

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    • I agree with you wholeheartedly. During the month of December we tend to get so busy and lose sight of what this season is all about. I like the word you used – we have to be intentional. Much of the Christian walk is like that. We have to make an effort to stay connected to Jesus every day. Thank you so much, Manu! Blessings to you too, my friend! ❤️💚

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  2. Thank you Bridget. Your series was a blessing to me. My key takeaway is the importance of making God a priority. Being busy can interfere with time with God, so making sure I am putting Him first is something I must do. This also reminds me that even in the midst of doing good things, we have to take time out with God. He’s the one who strengthens us and gives us the wisdom and understanding we need to do the good things we do.

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  4. Your Abode series gave me a lot of food for thought. It came at a time where I felt stressed and you helped me breathe and take a moment just to rest in the presence of God. Thank you for this recap as well. It helps to have a summary of the key points to anchor the practice of abiding.

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  6. Love the paragraph on the reminder of the Holy Spirit…you’re right we need to tap into the gift of the Holy Spirit remembering God is with always.
    Your abide series made me take notice and truly appreciate the word abide.

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