What does it mean to abide in Christ and how does that affect my joy?

Today's Precious Prodigal Post is at = http://bit.ly/1tMQR9K What does it mean to abide in Christ and how does that affect my joy? #abideinChrist #choosejoy Like this? Please "Like" us and "Sh

John 15:4 “Abide in me, and I in you.”

When our prodigals begin to reap some natural consequences for their choices, it gets their attention. But it usually takes those consequences. One of the reasons our prodigals don’t get help is because they don’t hurt enough yet. I wonder sometimes how they can stand being so miserable!

But are we really so different? I’ve rarely visited or spoken to a support group for the families of prodigals that was all about “Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy” and “Let’s all share how the Lord has blessed us this week!” We may not be the ones who are acting out, but do we really have joy?

You know the answer to that as well as I do. But it doesn’t have to be that way because God’s plan for our lives is that we will have joy. So why don’t we? I’m convinced that one of the reasons we don’t have joy is that we don’t “abide in Christ.” The Greek word translated “abide” is “meno,” and the Apostle John used it 34 times in the Gospel and 19 times in his letters.

That Greek word “meno” means to stay or remain…to “stand fast.” It carries with it the idea of not wandering away…of being present and available. In English, it carries an even deeper meaning: “to accept or act in accordance with; to go along with.”

In our text verse, Christ says He abides with us and we are to “abide in Him” the same way. (John 15:4) Simply put, Christ stands fast with and for us, and He expects we will “stand fast” for Him. That means we’ll be faithful when the going gets rough. It means we’ll trust Him when we can’t understand the present and are frightened about the future.

To “abide in Christ” means we’ll continue to do what’s right in spite of how we feel or who has hurt us. It means we’ll acknowledge, obey and act in accordance with the Christ in us. If we’re abiding in Christ, we aren’t going to be shot out of the sky by a barrage of things our prodigal does.

Abiding means we’ll keep putting one foot in front of another regardless of the circumstances. It means our relationship with Christ is more than once a week on Sunday or an hour a day in our morning devotional time. That Greek word “meno” implies there is an intimacy, a closeness…like a “friend who sticks closer than a brother.” (Prov 18:24)

One of the reasons we’re so miserable about our prodigals might be that we’ve given our broken relationship with them too high a priority. If we choose instead to make our relationship with God the most important thing in our lives, it will change our entire perspective. It’s a choice, of course. But if we choose to dwell on our prodigal and our problems instead of our God, we shouldn’t be surprised if we have no joy.

Challenge for Today: What might happen if we, just for today, chose to focus on the God who brings healing instead of the prodigal who is breaking our heart?