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A Blessed Call to Abide

(Overcomer Wu)

"He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” --Psalm 91:1

Walking life’s pathway hand in hand with God as Enoch, Abraham, the apostle Paul and many dear saints in the past did is a reality we can enjoy on this earth today. The Lord Jesus Himself encouraged us for a more intimate walk with Him than even the Old Testament saints were able to do by putting it in the term "Abide in Me.” As we earnestly seek for a more intimate walk with the Lord, He will direct us once and again to His precious words spoken to His disciples shortly before His death and His physical departure from them in John 15: “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, except you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit…If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered, and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you….If you keep My commandments, you shall abide in My love; even as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love.”

To abide in the Lord Jesus is obviously a great privilege and should be treasured by us who have such privilege. Yet we often find ourselves looking at this privilege as a mere command that we need to obey and a burden to bear. In addition, when we are burdened with our inherent weaknesses and failures, we wondered how we could abide in so elevated a position. How could we even get to be in Christ? We yearned for this depth of relationship with the Lord. We urgently needed it. We prayed; we yielded our lives; we sought to fully repent and to be cleansed. Our hunger kept building. And then through God’s Word, light and peace began to come: "God had chosen the foolish…the weak…and base things…things which are despised… things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption: that, according as it is written, He that glories, let him glory in the Lord” (1 Cor 1:27-31).

Integral to the wonderful salvation God has provided for us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God Himself places us in Christ Jesus, and He is in us, however unworthy and lowly we are. He chooses us first then we choose Him. By faith in His Word, we take our place in the cross and resurrection of Christ, that the life of Jesus – the resurrected Christ – may be manifested in and through us (2 Cor 4:10-11), and we in Him. It is not something we can achieve, but it is entirely wrought by Him as we believe. Thus, all the glory – for fruit, for effective service, for holiness – goes to Him! Our part is to humble ourselves, to believe and to abide in Him all the days of our life. Not only Christ by our side, but Christ in us and we being "hid with Christ in God” (Col 3:3). If He abides in us and we abide in Him, we should "walk, even as He walked” (1 Jn 2:6). There will be no "…occasion of stumbling” in us (1 Jn 2:10).

The word “abide” takes on special meaning from Psalm 91:1: "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” There is intimate communion, safety, tranquility, and more. Under the cover of His wings, we are brought closer to His heart. When we nestle down in the bosom of the Almighty, why would anyone or anything else dislodge us from the most holy and most precious place? Even the most advanced and mature saints are pressing on as did the Apostle Paul to know God better and to more fully lay hold of this for which He has apprehended us. Our Christ is inexhaustible! May our aspirations to know Him experiencially soar to the heights, breaths, lengths, and depths that our immense, infinite, and expansive Christ has in store for us. In our constant abiding, we have no alterior motive for ourselves but our supreme desire should ever be to glorify God and to fulfill His great purpose of which we are called to be a part. As we constantly abide in Christ, then "…when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming” (1 Jn 2:28). Oh, glorious, coming day – the crowning day to a life of ceaseless abiding in Christ for all eternity!