Fw: abiding

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Saturday, January 7, 2017 9:17 AM
Subject: abiding

John 15: ^4 "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."

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So how do we abide?  I think it starts in our minds.  The fact that we can choose to abide in one place or another means we have choice and choices are made in our minds.  And where can a mind abide?  A mind abides in the realm of thought.  The place we abide is the place we choose to spend quality thought time.  And how do we abide in Christ in this way?  We have thoughts that are fed by His thoughts.  How are we fed by His thoughts?  We read and reflect on His thoughts expressed through His words.  When we do this we provide an avenue for the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, to enter our thoughts and give us personal understanding of how Christ's thoughts are meant to become useful in our individual lives.  The abiding relationship continues as we express gratitude for this personal interest He has in us and we also express our personal needs and bring those of others to Him.  And as His thoughts shape our thoughts and our thoughts become expressed in actions the abiding relationship that begins in our mind becomes fruit...fruit of loving actions, attitudes and prayers directed outward and upward.

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Remember... John 15:¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

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blessings,

Rob Smith