Connections

"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples." [john 15.4-8]

"I and the Father are one." [John 10.30]

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one." [Deut. 6.4]

"Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." [Matt. 19.4-6]

"I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought." [1 Cor. 1.10]

there are three words spoken thru Word of God which which catch my attention. abide (which unfortunately is taken out of the new international version of the bible), steadfast, and one.

abide - what comes to mind when you read that word? this is what it causes me to think: abiding is an action, a motivation to be intertwined, i desire to share everything, a hope of being connected, to know and be known. marriage certainly sheds new light on the def/n of abiding.

for troy and i to abide together, we need time with one another. and not just any time, but time without the distraction of tv, computer, others, etc. our deep conversations happen when the lights are out or we are driving. one and one personal time. the same is true for my relationship with Christ. it thrives when i set aside time to rest in His presence without all the distractions of normal life. yet, there is a certain amount of listening which happens during the normal routine of daily life, too.

i wonder what the israelites were thinking when they were told that the Lord their God is one. were they doubting if He was? did they think he was separate? just curious, but oneness is powerful. i'm grateful the Lord is one, and not two or three or more. i know when two people come together on a plan, it's powerful and can be very effective.

there are days when troy and i are not on the same page. our thoughts and desires are set on different things. we grate on each other's nerves. we're not always 'perfectly united in mind and thought'. sometimes it feels like there is a division. yet we've both learned that those days are few and far in between.