Day 28: Room To Listen

It comes back to the cross every time, all the time. We were saved from our sins. Jesus who was sinless came from his father down to us in flesh and took our place, because of love and obedience to his father. Jesus was human just like us. He didn’t want to die. He asked that this cup be taken from him, but that the Father’s will be done. He followed his father.

From that obedience we were given not only forgiveness from all our sins and eternity with Christ, but a helper to be with us through our time on earth. The Spirit of God is with us, our helper in living in the world and hanging on to truth when we want to give up and go the wide path.

“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.” John 15:26-27

The Helper bears witness about Christ to us, just as we bear witness to the world around us. The Helper does not leave us, the Spirit is with us always. The Helper is our helper. But do I listen to the Helper?

Am I and are we willing to listen to the Spirit and also be willing to make ourselves available to listen? If I cannot recognize the voice of God, I am probably not going to be willing to listen or pick it out form all the other voices around me.

For our dreams, but more importantly our lives we need that voice of truth to not only make good decisions but discern what we should do. I used to believe this was a little hokey. I do not hear an audible voice of God, but when scripture just pops into my mind or a memory of God’s faithfulness comes back into focus, I listen to that. I gain perseverance to keep going towards what is obedient to Christ in loving others before myself by prioritizing being in silence to listen for His prompting.

Remaining in Christ is possible because of the Spirit we have, our helper. Because of the cross we can know Jesus. We do not have to fret when dreams don’t come true or doors are closed, because no matter what we are not alone. Being with Christ and doing our best to be obedient to what he has asked us to do, love people with His love, is all that matters. That is a good life.

Remaining Assignment #5: Get silent. No music or screens. Get alone and be in the silence. Ask God to open your ears to hear and journal what came from that time of silence with Him.  

- Hannah

Day 27: Our Helper

The world does not like Jesus. Faith of any kind is asked to stay in churches and behind the closed doors of homes, rather than shine bright in our everyday lives. It needs to be separate from our government, work, and school. A relationship with Jesus Christ is to be kept in a box, or at least that is how many in our world today would have us believe and live. The world, because of our love and belief in Jesus Christ, hates us.

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates.” John 15:18-19

This is one of the biggest reasons why it is so incredibly important to abide in Christ. When I am hated, I go on the defensive. I tend to get nasty. My actions are not loving, let alone respectable to the individual before me. God does not need me to defend Him. I do not need to defend myself. If I need to defend myself, I am basically saying that Christ’s love for me is not enough for me. I need to do more than what he has done for me on the cross.

Yesterday I felt like the world was hitting me on several levels. Nothing was horrible, but it was a constant jerking around of my time and I was frustrated. I said things and thought things out loud that I shouldn’t have to my mom in the heat of anger. I can’t remain in love without the Spirit. One small thing that does not fall in line with what I want still has the power to send me into a tail spin.

I am learning that to remain in Jesus is to keep my mind on him, to pray and fill my mind with what is true. The world hated him before it ever hated me. I am not alone in my frustration, sadness, and dismay from the small to the big because Jesus went through it first. Because he went through it and ultimately all the way to the cross, all of us can remain and endure too.

What is so good of our Father is that he has given us a Helper. We have the Holy Spirit. With the Spirit in us we can not only endure the hatred we are going to face on many levels, but remain in Christ daily. We cannot love or stand in the face of hate on our merit and strength. I can’t. We can’t.

Remaining Assignment #4: Set aside time today to just be with Jesus. Whatever time you can. Read John 15, pray, put on worship music, whatever you want. The length of time does not matter. Just be with Him. 

- Hannah

Day 26: It All Comes Back To Love

“This my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends.” John 15:12-13

It gets me that in the midst of talking about abiding in Christ that he comes back to love. It all comes back to the greatest commandment that we have been commanded to obey; to love one another. Above every goal and dream I have, loving people well is what is most important.

It is easy to get caught up in getting what I want, when I want it. Working hard to get things to come to be, without thought to the people right in front of my face. I do this more often than not. It is what our world screams. Make it happen. Do more and get more. It doesn’t matter who or what is harmed in the process as long as you get what you believe you deserve and work hard to make happen. It is promoted loud and proud and when something is loud, that is where my ear is going to go. It is where my focus is going to tend to continually be directed.

Abiding in Christ is not meant to just benefit our own growth and renewal by the Spirit, but to produce fruit in our lives. Not for us to consume, but for the world to benefit from and see who Jesus is for themselves. Love is more important than our dreams. It should in fact be the root of our dreams, to love others more than ourselves. To lay aside what we desire for what is best, to pursue what is beneficial for them, and trust God more than we do ourselves.

Love, I think is the most powerful thing we can ever experience, but it is also the most powerful thing we can give away. To remain in Christ is to be in love. There is nothing that can stop the love of Christ from flowing out from us and into the world around us. But, loving the world and ourselves and accepting and abiding in love on a daily basis is hard, especially when the world does not

Remaining Assignment #3: Take your dreams the ones you have right now and look at them. Are they rooted in personal gain or in love? Do they consider personal glorification or shining the light on Christ? Journal it out and take it to Jesus, He will take anything unloving and transform it. He will make something new. 

- Hannah