Matters of the Heart

"If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." - John 15:7

"To abide in Jesus is never to quit Him for another love or another object, but to remain in living, loving, conscious, willing union with Him."- C.H. Spurgeon

As I read these words in my devotional time yesterday, I was convicted in my spirit. How many times have I been guilty of not abiding in Christ? How many times have I left a retreat or sermon with a heart full of devotion to Christ, only to let my heart be turned to other things? It is amazing how easily we replace Christ with "another love," whether it is our spouse, our children, our job, or just our own will.

The thing that amazes me the most is that we fail to abide, despite the great promise our Savior gives us: "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." This doesn't mean that Jesus is our personal genie, ready to grant all of our worldly desires. Rather, it means that if we abide in Him, our desires will become aligned with God's will, and we will reap the blessings of that. As Pastor Hunt often tells us, there is great safety in being in the center of God's will.

These powerful words from Charles Spurgeon closed my devotional:

"The heart must remain in love, the mind must be rooted in faith, the hope must be cemented to the Word, the whole man must be joined unto the LORD, or else it would be dangerous to trust us with power in prayer. The carte blanche can only be given to one whose very life is, "Not I, but Christ liveth in me." O you who break your fellowship, what power you lose! If you would be mighty in your pleadings, the LORD Himself must abide in you, and you in Him."

Do you want to see God's power work in your life? The first step is abiding. Make Christ the true Love of your life.