What Does It Mean to Abide? (#1051)
Wayne and Kyle explore Jesus’s invitation to abide in him. It often begins with longing—a desire to know his presence and have him walk with us through life. But abiding is not something we manufacture through spiritual practices or dramatic experiences. It unfolds as God reveals himself and we recognize the ways he is already present with us through insights, nudges, impressions, and a growing awareness deeper than our own thoughts As we embrace what he reveals, we learn to follow. Over time, his life becomes less confined to extraordinary moments and more deeply woven into the ordinary ones—our conversations, relationships, disappointments, questions, and daily routines. Abiding is learning to recognize how God is merging his reality with ours and to live in heart-to-heart engagement with him.
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Thanks Kyle and Wayne, these conversations on fullness in Jesus are so helpful. Still processing but appreciate the depth of chatting about this…..learning to be more patient….this seems like a long haul.
Love your last sentence. I talked a lot about patience in view of James 1 with some people this week. Powerful stuff there.
“My heart near His heart” I love it!
I would love it if people posted “the best thing they heard in this podcast” so that others would be reminded or drawn into listening. I love the line you pulled out. Since we don’t script that it is fun with things like that crop up that we had no intention of saying.
Around thirty years ago, I became involved with a megachurch led by a senior pastor with a nationwide following. I tried to center my life around the church and its teachings, but within two months, I found myself at the end of my own strength. The church could not sustain me when reality challenged my expectations. I struggled to see God in the ordinary, which left me discouraged and desperate. Yet, at the eleventh hour, He rescued me from a much darker path, for which I am eternally grateful, though it was a hard lesson to learn.
Learning to abide in God has been a lifelong journey. Even now, I often need to reach the end of myself before His presence becomes fully real to me. In times of difficulty, when the path ahead feels dark, I wrestle with doubts about His nearness and care. I question whether He will allow me to remain in my struggles, and if His love is truly constant, why He doesn’t intervene in more tangible ways right now. In these times I sometimes question my maturity as a believer. I should know better, I say. Haven’t I seen in the past the times where God was so present I couldn’t doubt Him? Of course I have, but in my humanity, I become short-sighted.
God hasn’t brought me this far to abandon me, I know that. Yet at times, the gap between what I understand and what I feel can be wide. God is more than a concept to grasp—He is a loving presence to experience. And the more I experience God, through His word, through prayer and meditation, through other people, the more He becomes present to me.
Thank you, this was so helpful.
To me, abiding with Jesus is similar to the mountain roads I live near. The roads wind higher and higher, then descend into valleys and meadows. While navigating twists and turns I may come upon an incredible vista sometimes with a sunset or a rainbow or even crossing the path of a butterfly migration. Other times the trees crowd together and darken the way for mile after mile of hairpin turns. Traveling with Jesus is like that. I’m just glad He knows the way. My only plan is to stick close and listen .
He has a way with every person and longing is a wonderful opener.
One day He is no longer an outsider and not a visitor
– but grown together unseperatly oneness every minute of your life.
That doesn’t mean you cannot follow daily affairs (or sometimes do stupid stuff) – but He is tangible with you in it all the time.
In our instant time, we want instant solutions, but looking at my life ….He doesn’t seem to be in a hurry ( what I do not really understand)