His Heart, My Home

How would you describe your walk of faith?

As a pleasant stroll through the park with no problems other than an occasional bee sting or a stubbed toe here or there?

Or as a “white-knuckled-hang-on-to-my-seat-and-close-my-eyes-so-I-don’t-have-to-see-this-because-you-never-know-how-this-is-gonna-turn-out” kind of rollercoaster ride?

If we are being honest, nearly all of us would say we have had both kinds of experiences since we gave our hearts to Christ. I personally prefer the stroll in the park scenario. How about you?

But are we consistently stable and at peace in our walk of faith? No, too often, we’re like Peter.

One minute it’s, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God!” (Matthew 16:16)

The next minute it’s, “I don’t know the man!”
(Matthew 26:74)

Wouldn’t it be great if we had fewer of those “roller-coaster” days and more consistency and stability in our walk with the Lord?

Think of this. We know Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

Jesus never has “down days”. And He lives in us. Therefore, our lives should reflect His constant, consistent, and confident life of faith.

It should be our earnest expectation, that, as Christians, our lives will be prominently marked by God’s blessings of peace, joy and prosperity.

The consistency of our victorious lives should “stick out like a sore thumb” in a world that is constantly and consistently oppressed, hurting, and downtrodden.

Our souls long for that place of stability where God’s blessings, come consistently in our lives.
The good news is that we can have it! Look at these three scriptures:

“Blessed be the Lord, who daily (consistently) loads us with benefits. The God of our salvation! Selah” (Psalm 68:19)

“He will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.” (Psalm 1:3)

“So now, beloved ones, stand firm, stable, and enduring. Live your lives with an unshakable confidence. We know that we prosper and excel in every season by serving the Lord, because we are assured that our union with the Lord makes our labor productive with fruit that endures.”
(1 Corinthians 15:58, Passion Translation)

These verses and many others throughout the Bible remind us that Jesus came that we might “have life, and have it in abundance, to the full, till it overflows.”

We are called and empowered to live a life that is consistently blessed and fruitful.

Notice the phrase “our union with the Lord” in
1 Corinthians 15:58. Through understanding and  embracing our union with the Lord, we will live a life that is stable, consistent, victorious, and abundant.

If we fail to understand the truth of our union with the Lord, we will be tossed to and fro by our feelings and our flesh, as we live unproductive, and barren lives.

Our lives, as believers, are to be Christ-centered. Our identity is unalterably connected to Him. We were crucified with Him. We died with Him. We rose from the dead with Him, and we ascended to God’s right hand with Him. We are one spirit with Him. He is the center of our universe.

Our union with Christ is established and secured by God’s completed work of redemption through Christ, and by the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. (John 3:5,6 and 1 Peter 1:23)

Our spiritual union with God is a one-sided, unilateral transaction. It is totally His work from start to finish. It is finished. It is perfect. And it is unchangeable.

All we contribute is our faith to receive and embrace what He has done for us in Christ.

“For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8, Amplified Bible)

Since it is “not of ourselves”, but is totally God’s work of grace, we can neither add to, nor subtract from, it. Our union with God, through Christ, is eternal.

Jesus revealed the simplicity of living in union with Him when he taught His disciples of the relationship between the vine and its branches.

“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)

Our union with Christ is just as real, just as organic, and just as vital as the union of a vine and its branches.

When we were born again, the same eternal life that Jesus (the Vine) had inside of Himself flowed into us (the branches).

The Vine supplies life to the branches. It is that Vine-life which initiates, directs, empowers, and sustains the fruitfulness of the branches.

Let’s look at the simple biological realities of the vine and its branches, and apply these truths to our union with Christ:

THE BRANCH AND ITS LEAVES SEEK LIGHT
● Jesus is the Sun of Righteousness.
    (Malachi 4:2)
● His face shines like the sun.
    (Revelation 1:16)
● He is the source of our spiritual light and.         
    energy

THE BRANCH GROWS TOWARD HEAVEN
●  The branch resists the pull of gravity as it
     naturally grows toward the sky.
●  We are risen with Christ and seek the higher
     life, orienting ourselves towards our spiritual 
     position in Him.
●  Our affections are to be centered on Christ,
     not the world. (Colossians 3:1-4)

THE BRANCH NEEDS WATER AND NUTRIENTS
●  The vine supplies everything the branch
     needs for life and fruitfulness.
●  Through our living-connection with the Vine
     we already have everything we need for life
     and godliness. (2 Peter 1:3)
●  We have been blessed with every blessing
    that heaven has available in Christ.
    (Ephesians 1:3)

THE BRANCH PRODUCES FRUIT
●  As the branch draws the life-sustaining water
    and  nutrients it needs from the vine, it grows
    leaves, flowers and fruit.
●  The branch doesn’t have to support itself to
    maintain its union with the vine. Neither does
    it have to strain and struggle to produce its
    fruit. The branch just naturally produces fruit.
●  Because God’s Spirit, and the Christ-life flows
    in and through us, we just naturally produce
    the spiritual fruit that pleases God.

²² “But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control…” (Galatians 5:22-23, Amplified Bible)

Jesus abides in us by His Spirit, and we abide in Him. We are one spirit with Him. It is natural for us to produce the fruit of the spirit.

Everything we think, say and do should naturally be an expression of His character, nature and life within us.

Abide in Him. Yield to Holy Spirit and invite Him to bring you into a deeper, more intimate communion with the Lord.

Draw everything you need from the Vine by faith, and live an abundantly blessed, fruitful, victorious life in Him.