The Secret of Abiding In Christ

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here is a huge question that has been asked by all of the greatest saints throughout history in their pursuit of God.

We saw in our previous chapter that this question was asked three times by Zechariah. It is the common quest of the diligent soul. It is the shared question of all generations, for all time. The question is very simply, “How do I abide in Christ?” The question is simple, but the answer profound. And few there be that find it.

Many of us feel like we move in and out of God’s throneroom. We have times of great connectedness, and then we suffer peri- ods of disconnectedness. We can’t always analyze exactly why a distance has developed in our hearts toward the Lord, but most of us feel like our relationship with Christ is a roller coaster ride of feeling close, then far, then close, then far, then close again. In and out. And we hate it. We were created for constant intimacy, and anything less drives us crazy on the inside.

In my opinion, these are some of the most glorious words of Christ in the entire Bible: “‘If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples’” (John 15:7-8). The “if” of the passage

The Secret of Abiding In Christ

almost drives me insane with holy desire. “If!” The great condition to answered prayer is an abiding relationship with Christ and His words. This attainment is not guaranteed. It is available, but rarely experienced in fullness. I know that I do not abide in Christ in this way because the things I desire are not yet done for me. So I seek this dimension of holy living with great spiritual appetite—with what I call “holy heartburn.” I must gain Christ!

A Christian magazine that featured Hudson Taylor in one of its issues referred to how Taylor struggled for a closer walk with God. Although he is considered one of the greatest missionary champions of church history, he longed for a more intimate re- lationship with Christ. “I prayed, agonized, fasted, strove, made resolutions, read the word more diligently, sought more time for retirement and meditation—but all was without effect,” he pined. “I knew that if I would abide in Christ all would be well, but I could not.” Taylor reached a turning point in his life when he received a letter from a colleague. This simple message unlocked the door: “Friendship with God comes not from striving after faith but from resting in the faithful one.” Those simple words were somehow precisely what Hudson Taylor needed to help him cross a threshold in his relationship with Christ. He was able to cease striving and to embrace Christ’s nearness and power and life. I refer to Taylor’s experience, not as though it’s a formula for learning to abide in Christ, but rather to show that the most eminent of saints have wrestled with this very issue.

How you come to abide in Christ will be different from all others. We all abide differently because we are all unique creations of God. Your relationship with Christ will never be like mine, and mine will never be like yours. That’s why you’ll never learn to abide in Christ by reading the stories of others. You won’t learn to abide by reading the right book or listening to a great sermon. No one can mentor you into an abiding relationship with Christ. A mentor might be able to help to a limited degree, but in the final analysis we all have to find our own way to abiding in Christ. When all is said and done, we must shut the door, get into the secret place with God, and discover what an abiding relationship with Christ will look like for ourselves.

Secrets of the Secret Place

Usually the pathway to an abiding relationship with Christ is attended with duress. God allows uncomfortable circumstances or emotions in our lives that press us into Christ with vigilant determination. Most of us will never abandon ourselves to pur- suing an abiding relationship unless the Lord, in His kindness, allows calamities or struggles in our lives that elevate our pain level to the point of desperation.

Joseph illustrates this truth quintessentially. God took Joseph on a painful pathway in order to help him find an abiding relation- ship. Let me review the story very briefly with you.

As a 17-year-old, Joseph stood apart from his brothers as a man of godly character in the midst of a perverse generation. So God basically said, “Congratulations, Joseph, you’re keeping your heart pure; you’re walking blamelessly before God and man; you’re keeping yourself separate from an evil generation. You’ve qualified for a promotion in the kingdom—to slavery you go!” So Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers.

In Egypt, he was sold to a man named Potiphar. Potiphar soon realized God was with Joseph and that He blessed everything Joseph touched. So Potiphar made Joseph the chief steward of all his possessions. Although a slave, Joseph kept his heart before God and continued to walk carefully before God. He was diligent to cultivate his gifts and talents, proving himself faithful as a steward over the house. He fled from sexual temptation when Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him. So God responded, “Congratulations, Joseph, you’re continuing to practice my presence; you’re faith- fully cultivating your gifts and talents; and you’re fleeing tempta- tion. You’ve qualified for another promotion in the kingdom—to prison you go!”

Joseph had no idea why he was in prison. Surely he must have been tempted with the thought, “God, what is the use of serving You? When I love You and serve You and keep a guard upon my heart, it does me no good.” Satan wanted to convince Joseph that serving God didn’t pay. But Joseph chose to push away the tempter’s thoughts, and instead he set his love upon God even in the prison. He held to the dreams God had given him of eventual promotion.

The Secret of Abiding In Christ

However, a desperation took hold of Joseph’s spirit. Joseph realized that apart from divine intervention, he would spend the rest of his life rotting in this Egyptian prison. None of his talents would work for him here. It didn’t matter that he was gifted and charismatic and intelligent; none of those things could get him out of prison. Every gift he had cultivated was now useless. Re- duced to total helplessness, Joseph began to cry out to God with intense desperation. “God, talk to me, or my life is over!” He began to push down roots into the Spirit of God, deeper than ever before. “God, why have you allowed this to happen to me?”

God said, “Deeper.” So he put the roots down deeper. “Still deeper.” So in his desperation, Joseph pressed into the depths of the Spirit of God. “Deeper, Joseph.”

Joseph kept sinking his spiritual roots deeper and deeper into the Spirit of God—until one day he found the river! There is a river, dear friend, that makes glad the city of God. This subter- ranean river runs so deep that most don’t find it. But in some cases God will allow extreme duress to press His servant into the depths of the Spirit with an unprecedented passion. When Joseph found this river, he found a lifesource in God that goes deeper than the seasons of life. Whether it’s flood season or drought season, there is a river available to the saint providing a constant source of divine life and Spirit empowerment. Very few seem to find this great underground river, but when you find it, it is called “abiding in Christ. ”

God was saying to Joseph, “Son, I have a great promotion in store for you. But what I’m calling you to will never be managed on the strength of your giftings and talents. And I know that as long as your strengths are intact, you will always default to them. So I’m going to put you in a place where your strengths will be useless. I’m putting you in prison! In the helplessness of losing all control, you will have to find a dimension in Me that supersede your gifts and talents. You see, Joseph, there is a dimension in Me that is not of your might and power, but it is by My Spirit.” When Joseph found that river, it was his ability to draw upon the life of God that lifted him from the prison. It wasn’t his talents that delivered him from prison, but his life in the Spirit. When

Secrets of the Secret Place

Pharaoh called upon Joseph to interpret his dream, Joseph was able to tap into the river and give Pharaoh the wisdom that he desired. And in one day, Joseph went from the prison to the palace! It is an abiding relationship with Christ that launches the saint into the God zone. I’m talking about the dimension where God works sovereignly and mightily in the affairs of men. Jesus had an abiding relationship with His Father, and He changed the history of our planet. If God will grant you the grace to find this never-ending source of divine power called “abiding in Christ,”

then you will change your generation for God as well!

Do not be discouraged by the duress and hardship that has suddenly come upon you. Press into God like you never have in all your life! Allow the desperation of your soul to help you pursue God with absolute abandonment. The secret is this: If you will seek Him with all your heart, He will guide you to the ancient river that runs deep in the heart of God. As you chase Him with every ounce of your strength, He will bring you to the fountain of divine life. When the life of God begins to flow into your world of impossibilities, this is the stuff of miracles. The life of God cannot be stopped! If you drink of this river, everything in you and around you will begin to shake and shudder under the groundswell of God’s power released. Everything about your prison is about to change! I pray you might receive this word: Learn to abide in Christ!

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Дата добавления: 2015-10-23