The first milestone of this month came when I finished reading the Bible in 94 days. I was aiming for 90, but frankly, am pretty amazed that I came even close! Bro. Lynn Raburn is a great encourager for Bible reading and it was always something that I struggled with, so I finally took his advice and gave it a go. Now while some days I'm sure I was just reading to get that check mark, God showed me the beauty of reading His Word in one fell swoop. The knowledge and understanding that I have gained from reading it as a whole, has benefited me tremendously! It is definitely something I will be doing again!
Coinciding with this accomplishment, was our annual MTM training. This year they made it very family friendly and took us to the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View, AR. These weeks devoted to learning and growing are always so amazing to me. It was no coincidence that during this same week, us ladies were learning about the benefits of studying our Bibles and memorizing scripture. I gained so many tools and some new friends too! As always, our children had a blast and hated to leave. They got to experience the folk center, go bowling, visit caves, go hiking, go to a pumpkin patch, go on a hayride and have s'mores, go canoeing, and play in bounce houses. Their week was full of fun and many memories! We are so grateful for everything MTM has provided for us.
This month, our church also had a revival in a local park with Bro. Will Diggs preaching. It did my heart good to gather with our church family nightly and hear God's Word. There was wonderful worship and a definite boosting to my spirit! We also had our local Associational Meeting which I got to attend a portion of. Again, the preaching was FANTASTIC and I got a lot of encouragement from various pastors in our area. It is moments like these that keep me fueled during this difficult journey.
The last bit of excitement from this month brings me to the title of today's post.
My sweet neighbor-friend and I have started to meet weekly to go through Kelly Minter's What Love Is. It is a study of 1John, 2John and 3John. Our Monday mornings have now become my very favorite part of my week. This time together has filled a need that I have had for awhile in such a special way. And it is through this study that brought me to today's epiphany. We are in the third week of this study, and Ms. Minter has us really thinking about what it means to remain, or abide in Jesus. In the Gospel of John, Jesus gives us a clear picture of what this looks like in chapter 15. He discusses the vine and the branches as an illustration and says: "Remain in Me, and I in you..." (vs. 4). For us to remain in Him takes a good bit of effort on our part. The world wants to drag us away in so many directions. When I really started to think about this, I realized that prior to this journey I had a god that kept trying to pull me away from Jesus. This god looked innocent enough, but it can do so much harm. If I'm not careful, he still tries to steal me away. We all have gods that try to do this. I'm sure I have several others that I am still actively battling. However, it is this one particular god that I want to focus on today because I really feel like it can do so much damage to remaining in Jesus.
What is this god I speak of?.....The god of Stability. Prior to our calling, one of my greatest pursuits and joys in life was stability. I loved that Ben had a secure job that paid well. Even though he was salaried he had opportunities for overtime if needed. We had great health insurance and a 401K. His company gave bonuses twice a year that would pay for our modest family vacation and Christmas. His company took really good care of us and valued him. I felt secure.
However, it was this security that could have completely drawn me away from following God's Will. If I had not been girding myself with sound preaching weekly, devotions, small group studies, regular fellowship with believers, and serving my community....the god of security would have won. I would have attached myself so deeply with it, that the whisper, tug, and shout of God's calling would have been drowned out completely. I am so grateful God had me in a place where I was grafted so securely to His vine. I pray I never let security lop me from it.
The really good news though comes in the second half of what I quoted..."and I in you." You see, Jesus doesn't have to work to remain in us. Once we ask Him to be our Savior He just IS in us. He may prune us from time to time, but He will not remove us from His vine once we have been grafted. I am so grateful for this!
I hope you will take some time today and consider if the god of security has interfered with your relationship with Jesus. Or is there some other god that is pulling you away? If so, ask Jesus for forgiveness and then strengthen yourself for the battle ahead.
Armed and Ready, Anne
"Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me." -John 15:4
