Have you ever noticed that you can read a scripture over and over again and then one day you read it and suddenly a light will come on and you can understand it like never before? It’s like God has intentionally hidden nuggets of truth all through the Bible and the only way you will understand their meaning is to “abide” in the Word and have the Spirit of God interpret them for you. I feel that in this hour in which we live God is revealing these nuggets to us for such a time as this.
To me, the word “abide” means to “live in it”. Most translations interpret “abide” to mean “to obey” and/or “to continue” in all the teachings of Jesus. I think it goes much deeper than that. The best example that I can give you is the example of how a great actor may research a character role. A great actor will find out everything they can about the character they are portraying. They may spend months researching the history of a character plus learning how to mimic the way a person walks and talks. They may even spend time in the lifestyle of the character, such as living on the street if they are portraying a homeless person.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. (Matthew 13:44)
The Bible is sort of like a real life mystery novel that is full of hidden clues. God gives us keys throughout the Bible to understand His heart. If you don’t have a personal relationship with Him, you will miss those keys and not understand His unwavering love for us. You will not understand the constant battle that is being waged by our enemy to cause us to believe that God is cruel, mean, uncaring, stands ready to punish us at every turn, and is withholding wisdom from us (Genesis 3:4-5).
God wants all of us to know Him and know the truth. The first step is to be born again. The second step is to abide (live) in His Word.
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