
“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
Over the weekend, I came across a challenging A.W. Tozer quote from one of his devotions, “Are we mired down?”
“God will speak to us if we read and study and obey the Word of God! But when He does speak, we should speak back to Him in prayer and devotion. Otherwise, we are among the Christians who are mired down right where we are. Many in our congregations have grown older and yet are not one inch farther up the mountain than on that day when the sun first arose on them in conversion. In fact, some are not even as far advanced along the way with God as they were a few years ago. If these things are true, I can only conclude that there are “common” Christians, men and women who no longer hear the Lord speaking to them as they should. Can they really think that this half-way Christian life is the best that we can know? In the face of what Christ offers us, how can we settle for so little? It is a tragedy of our time that so many are settling for less than the Lord is willing to give!” (1)

We have the opportunity to seek the best that Christ offers us. Christ declared,
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15: 11)
Jesus also proclaimed in John 10:10 – The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Jesus offers us abundant, joyful life. It is not found in circumstances. It is found through abiding in Him through His word. Ponder his statements to the disciples the fateful night before he was arrested:
“If you love Me, keep My commandments.” John 14:15
“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him” John 14: 21
“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words;” John 14: 23-24
“ 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
“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” John 15: 9-10
“You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.” John 15:14
Take Jesus at His word. Let’s continue to delve deeply into our relationship with Him through the diligent study of His Word – as we remain in quarantine, and in our daily lives afterwards.
If you currently do not have a daily reading plan, you are welcome to download the Journey through the Gospel of John reading plan on the GEAR webpage – https://athletics.gcc.edu/documents/2020/4/20//Journey_through_the_Gospel_of_John.pdf?id=587

Images by Gerd Altmann, Free-Photos from Pixabay
(1) A.W. Tozer, “Are We Mired Down?” sermontext.net, http://www.sermonindex.net/modules/articles/index.php?view=article&aid=4874