{"id":3031,"date":"2019-03-14T05:31:36","date_gmt":"2019-03-14T11:31:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/?p=3031"},"modified":"2019-03-19T06:38:01","modified_gmt":"2019-03-19T12:38:01","slug":"secret-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/?p=3031","title":{"rendered":"secret (3)"},"content":{"rendered":"

(continued from last week<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n

The \u2018secret of life\u2019 involves taking eyes off \u2018self\u2019 and focusing above. Jesus said: \u201cBecause I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you.\u201d (John 14:19-20)<\/p>\n

In Algebra we teach the transitive property of equality: \u2018If a = b and b = c, then a = c.\u2019 The same logic helps us understand: \u2018If Jesus is in the Father and we are in Jesus, then we are in the Father.\u2019 Paul states it plainly: \u201cFor you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.\u201d (Colossians 3:3)<\/p>\n

I am asking the Holy Spirit to remind me of this every day\u2026 when I wake up and when I go to bed: \u201cI am in Christ.\u201d Jesus teaches us with an interesting metaphor: \u201cI am the Vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit\u2026\u201d (John 15: 5)<\/p>\n

A branch is connected to the vine\u2026 a branch is a part of the vine\u2026 the health and life of the branch depend on the vine\u2026 fruit comes from the branch connected to the healthy vine. Likewise: I am connected to Christ\u2026 I am a part of Christ\u2026 my health and life depend on Christ\u2026 good fruit will come because I am connected to the perfect Christ.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are in Me\u2026\u201d \u201cRemain in Me\u2026\u201d \u201cLive in Me\u2026\u201d How often does a branch need to be reminded to abide in the vine? If the branch does not remain attached to the vine, it cannot live. The Holy Spirit wants our understanding to be just as clear. Separate from the Vine, we cannot live. And we are living with other branches in the Vine\u2026 dependent on our Source and bringing forth fruit for the Gardener, who is God.<\/p>\n

And what fruit is most pleasing to the Father? \u201cThe greatest of these is love\u2026\u201d As we live in Christ, we will learn to love like Him. His love flows through those connected to Him, blessing the world and revealing the Father. \u201cGod\u2019s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given us.\u201d (Romans 5:5)<\/p>\n

Over a hundred years ago, Andrew Murray, a South African pastor of Scottish descent, explained the result of living in Christ: \u201cThe believer cannot abide in Jesus the Glorified One, without feeling himself stirred and strengthened to work: the Spirit and the love of Jesus breathe the will and power to be a blessing to others. Jesus went to heaven with the very object of obtaining power there to bless abundantly. He does this as the heavenly Vine only through the medium of His people as His branches. Whoever, therefore, abides in Him, the Glorified One, bears much fruit, for he receives of the Spirit and the power of the eternal life of his exalted Lord, and becomes the channel through which the fullness of Jesus, who hath been exalted to be a Prince and a Savior, flows out to bless those around him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.\u201d Colossians 2: 6-7<\/p>\n

Quote from \u2018Abide in Christ\u2019 by Andrew Murray, \u00a91985 Barbour and Company, p 173<\/em><\/p>\n

(continued next week<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(continued from last week) The \u2018secret of life\u2019 involves taking eyes off \u2018self\u2019 and focusing above. Jesus said: \u201cBecause I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you.\u201d (John 14:19-20) In Algebra we teach the transitive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jesus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3031"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3031\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3042,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3031\/revisions\/3042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}