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Abide
Pastor Jim Kilby • January 4, 2024
"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me." (John 15:4, NKJV)
Friends,
This time of year, New Year’s Resolutions are everywhere. Social media erupts with them, diet books fly off the shelves, and it’s hard to find an open piece of equipment in the gym. People know they need change to become who they should be, and so they struggle and strive to start anew. While I’m certainly a fan of making great decisions and never looking back, the truth is “resolutions,” whether the New Year’s kind or otherwise, rarely lead to any lasting change. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “If you do tomorrow what you did today, you will get tomorrow what you got today.” Jesus taught a similar way when He spoke about these kinds of things. When a woman was caught committing adultery and brought to Him, He said to her “go and sin no more” (John 8:11). After He healed a group of people at the pool of Bethesda, (John 5:14), He said exactly the same thing! In the verse following John 15:4 (above), He said “I am the vine and you are the branches…” giving us an amazing picture of a grape vine branch cut from the host but still trying to bear fruit. A silly, yet profound truth. What we need are not more “resolutions,” but more “abiding”. We need decisions to “abide” in Christ. Another way to define “abide” is “remain”. Someone who “remains in Christ” is 100% connected to Him. There are not two, but only one. A soul who is connected to Christ doesn’t need resolutions. They have the same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead abiding within them. When the Holy Spirit urges, they lean in. When the Holy Spirit prompts, they act. And when the Holy Spirit convicts, they simply go a different direction and never look back.
May I encourage you today to consider how well you “remain” in Christ. If you’ve ever reached out to Him and accepted Him as your Lord and Savior, He is there, no matter how you may “feel” about it. Spend some time in prayer, re-devoting your life abiding in Him. Friend, that is literally the ONLY way to true Joy in this life.
Blessings in Christ,
Pastor Jim Kilby
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Harvest Youth Ministries (HYM) is an outreach aimed at young people; not a youth group. HYM is an IRS approved 501(c)(3) not-for-profit ministry. All donations are tax deductible as allowed by law.
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