I was asked a question...how would you answer it...?

"Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." John 15:4

Is abiding active or passive? What activities are inherent in the life of a person who is abiding in an excellent way?

For years now Andrew Murray has been one of my mentors on this topic of abiding. In one of the many things he says about abiding he says, "It is when the soul becomes utterly passive, looking and resting on what Christ is to do, that it's energies are stirred to their highest activitity, and that the we work more effectually because we know that He works in us."

Just as Christ drew us to him..."Come to me"...He keeps us with "Abide in me". Living and dwelling are active, in that they bring life and growth, depth .... Abiding is passive in that we can do nothing strategically to "make it happen". It is not our work to do. I believe it is for us to position ourselves, to create space, for Christ to speak and for us to hear. It is my ambition to know His voice, to stay, watch, listen and obey. Life itself will show me His glory if I am paying attention. The acts of obedience - to love, to study, to pray, to fellowship, to serve seem then to be natural responses to Jesus, not strivings of my own. These activities follow Jesus' activitiy rather than precede them. So, am I saying first passive then active? Or both passive and active? Actively passive.

Now, while I have meditated on this, studied it, prayed through it, wrestled with it for years now - I still have difficulty grasping the reality. (The "what it looks like" in our present reality.) The moments that I do get are fleeting. Where I get hung up is in the power of His presence is evidenced. It seems that there should be more evidence. There should be some obvious diffence between one who abides in Christ and one who does not.

While these are things we cannot see...dependency on Christ, reliance on the Scripture, prayer, and desire to always grow seem to be areas that are places we can begin examining our lives.

I do know that the true work in me, happens outside of my own strivings. This causes me to wonder if I am not so actively pursuing "abiding", I would gain some comprehension of these matters. Or - it will always be a matter of hindsight and I will never know what fruit is growing until it's time for the next crop.

My aim these days, "to allow Christ's Word to impact my life at it's deepest level". - whatever that looks like...

Thinking Theologically About Church: When Little is Big

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth...No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only,who is at the Father's side, has made him known. (John 1:14,18)

According to John 1:14 it is in Jesus Christ that we see the epitome of God’s way of dwelling with us. His clearest way of dwelling with us is through his Son, who exegetes the Father. If we want to find God, to see God, to know God, we need look no further than Jesus himself.

...surprisingly, perhaps astoundingly, the apostle who penned John 1:18 also wrote 1 John 4:12. In 1 John 4:12 John tells us that God is revealed in another place as well. In this verse he is answering the question, “Where can God be seen?” We would expect John’s answer to go something like this: “God the Father reveals himself and his love by means of his Son, Jesus Christ. So if you want to see God, look toward Jesus.” But instead, John states, “No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” John teaches here that God the Father reveals himself in the loving community of those who follow Jesus. The churches to which he was writing were scattered and fledgling. Yet that is where God chooses to dwell.

Yes, we believe and know that God revealed himself through our Lord Jesus. But the second aspect of that parallel, that God reveals himself within the local church, would be difficult for us to affirm if we did not have 1 John 4:12, wouldn’t it?

Nevertheless if we do not learn to affirm this parallel truth we miss an opportunity to be encouraged. Our church (work) is vitally important to God and his mission because he has chosen to dwell in our churches. And this is true regardless of their size. So be encouraged that little is big, that even small churches can be significant because God dwells within them and wants to reveal himself there. Continue to dream and work toward the day when the Church will be larger than it is. But in the meantime, remember that small can be significant.

To read the full article and many others like it go to Church Planting and Theology (Dale W. Little Ph.D

Taking Time for Personal Growth

One of the paradoxes of motherhood is that what we need as mothers is often the first thing we give up in order to be mothers. This is certainly true of making time for our own spiritual and personal growth. We often forego it in order to focus more fully on our children. It’s a dilemma: see to your own needs, or see to theirs.

When my youngest child was in preschool, I decided to take tap dancing lessons. Doing so was the first time since the birth of my children that I acknowledged I didn’t cease to exist the moment they were born—and admitted I could continue to have a life outside my role as “mom.” It’s a lesson my mom modeled for me, but until I was a mother myself, I didn’t understand it.

A theater major in college, my mom continued to be active in community theater, doing one play a year, so as not to lose touch with her roots. (I have fond memories of seeing her as the Blue Fairy in Pinocchio!)Recently, she shared with me why she did it. Here’s what she said:

"I did it to prove that there was still a 'me' inside of 'mother.' I always made sure the homework was in process, that everyone's needs were met, then I set out to fill my own need, that of expressing myself as a person. It released the artistic angst within me, and since I felt fulfilled and alive and vibrant, I am sure I was a much better mother. I felt like I was a person in my own right."

A search for the “me” in mother. It’s a lesson we can learn from. If we’re not looking for the “me” in mother, we end up simply seeing the “other” in mother.

We don’t have to give ourselves over completely to our children. It is possible to continue to exist separately from them, even as we are existing for them.

You still have things to learn. Things to experience. Things to do. And it’s important that your children know this. Self-growth is the way we show our children that life doesn’t stop just because we are adults--that the process of becoming who God intends us to be is lifelong.

The lesson is best shared by modeling. It may be as simple as letting your children see you reading a book. Or studying your Bible. Or looking up something in the dictionary. Or digging in your garden. Or knitting your first scarf. Or beading a bracelet. Or identifying a bird in your backyard. Or decorating a cake. Or making a soufflé. Or organizing a school party. What they see is not important. That they see it is.

Though modeling growth for your children is important for them, it’s also important for you. Your own growth is like a well of cool, refreshing water. When you are filled with energy, enthusiasm, and excitement, you can let your kids and spouse drink from your well without worrying if there will be enough water for everyone. You know there will be. And though you might have to fight for the time to see to your own growth, knowing your well is full makes the fight worth it, because when we see to our own spiritual and personal growth, we can, by extension, see to the growth of our children.

Article written by Mary Byers. Mary is a professional speaker and author of the newest Hearts at Home book, The Mother Load: How to Meet Your Own Needs While Caring for Your Family, which will be released soon. She will be speaking at the 2005 Hearts at Home conferences, where she will encourage moms to take care of themselves so that they are more able to care for their families. She lives with her husband and two youngest children in central Illinois.


"Copyright Hearts at Home 2006, used with permission. For more information about Hearts at Home: 1-309-888-MOMS or www.hearts-at-home.org."