When God Shares His Thoughts

“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” (John 15:7, NKJV).

Today we continue our discussion about abiding in Jesus. This verse here sums up one of the fundamental aspects of abiding in Him. “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you…” Let’s talk about what that looks like.

His words abiding on the inside of us – Paul describes this same idea in Colossians 3:16: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom…” (NKJV). When Jesus’ words abide in us richly, they are alive on the inside of us. They are pulsating with His life. In the context of teaching us about abiding, Jesus also says, “Because I live, you will live also” (John 14:19, NKJV). His words abiding in us make us live. They make us come alive, as He is fully alive.

As His words abide in us, they are talking to us. They are enlightening us constantly. They are teaching us new insights every day. They are changing us. They are dynamic, unceasingly at work to transform us into Jesus’ image. They are living and active. They are never passive or dormant. They are Spirit, and they are truth.

Having His words alive and abiding in us really comes down to one simple thing: communion with His Holy Spirit. As we walk with Him each day, we hear Him talking inside our hearts. We hear His heartbeat. We hear His whispers. He shares His thoughts and feelings with us. His thoughts are His words – His  words abiding in us.

Here’s another vital thing about this matter: Holy Spirit’s job is to remind us of what Jesus has said to us. The more we fall in love with the Bible, the more material He will have to use for this purpose. The more we store up His written Word in our hearts, the more Holy Spirit will be able to bring it to our minds. Throughout the day, He will pull on those stores, based on exactly what we need for each moment.

For this reason, time each day in the Scriptures is also a crucial part of abiding in Jesus. As we internalize the love letter of His logos (written Word), we will then find Holy Spirit whispering bits of it to us as we walk forward moment by moment with Him.

As we make this our lifestyle, Jesus will produce fruit through us naturally. As His words abide in us, there will be an outflow. Abiding in Him makes us so alive that this vibrancy spills over to others. We will find ourselves ever ready with a word to encourage those that are needing it around us. Here is the rest of the verse we looked at a moment ago:

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”

Think on that. He instructs us to “let” this be our ongoing reality. This means that we do play a vital role in this equation: that of making space for His words. The more make room for them, the more we will find our hearts overflowing with spiritual songs of joy. This is wonderfully contagious, and life-giving to others.

There is nothing more delicious than abiding in Him!

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What has Jesus taught you, personally, about letting His words dwell in you richly?