Abide, Adore. . .

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Abide, Adore. Ask, and Agree  Devotion written by Bob Sorge (unable to find date written and published).  In Bible App

 

Ps 27:4       One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple.   this verse was in daily readings for the 21 days of the devotional

Psalm 145:18     The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth

Matt 6:33      But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

John 10:1-5     “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.  But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.  To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.   

John 15:4-7      Abide in Me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.  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.  If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.  If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.   Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.   By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

John 17:20-21     “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe You sent Me.

Ephesians 3:17     that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,           

James 1:27     Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep yourself unpotted from the world.

James 4:8      Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you          

1 John 3:16      Whoever keeps his commandments abide in God, and God in him.  And this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.

 

`“We were created to abide with God—to live and dwell in His presence.    When we abide with God, we are near enough to Him that we can hear Him!  We recognize His voice” Bob Sorge?????

God created mankind to abide with Him, but sin separates us from Him; but He still wants that with us; but our sinful natures continue to keep us separated.  Therefore, He needed to make a sacrifice of blood for our sins.  (Knowing what blood can smell like, I can’t imagine how awful that entire area around the altar smelled.  The animals had to be so difficult to handle smelling the blood and becoming frantic and frightened, and desperate to escape)

But God, even with all our sins, still wanted to abide with us, and instructed Moses to have a tabernacle built so He could abide among the people.  There was a veil that separated the people and even the priests.  Once a year, after the chief priest had been cleansed for Atonement Day, he alone was allowed into the Holiest of Holies. 

Much of the tabernacle was for the priests to perform their sacred duties.  It was no place for anyone who was not a priest.  The highest priest could enter and only once yearly into the Holiest of Holies.  The priests would kill the offerings, burn them, and encourage the people to learn and know the goodness of God—told through the stories of their history.  

But no one except the priests were to go to the altar and perform any duties.  That was solely for the priests.  But the Holiest of Holies was set apart, even from the majority of the priests. It was a place reserved for God until the Day of Atonement.  

The priests at this time were honored and respected by the people they served then.  How the priests were honored and respected at this point in their history.   

But the priests were human and became full of themselves and made more commandments than the Lord God had given to Moses.  And yes, He gave more during the Leviticus period—and there were a lot of rules—food rules—certain animals and things could be eater, while others were forbidden, bathing and cleanliness rules, and what to do when people become unclean.   People were unclean and separated from the group when women had their period, after women gave birth—and then were separated from the community after giving birth, people with leprosy or other illnesses, there were strict rules in how to cleanse dishware and so forth. 

But as Levites and other priests became settled and served the people, they also grew to like their admiration from the people.  They developed several ideas that could “improve” the sacrifices and honor to God.  They demanded that people adhere to the stricter nonsense that they made up and then “enforced” to the lay people, not necessarily for themselves.   The priests split into a few different factions—Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and Zealots were the four prominent priest groups.

They held different viewpoints, yet regarded themselves as honorable, righteous, higher in God’s view and following God as basically, pure and far more pious than any others.  But bottom line they invented rules for all the Hebrews to follow, yet they paraded around as clean and above reproach.  They questioned Jesus continually about His decisions, His methods and of course His audacity at quoting scripture, interrupting God’s views, and finally claiming He was the Son of God.

How did so many, especially the priests, no matter the sect, not see that the Messiah had arrived.  He was prophesized throughout the Old Testament, the Torah and the prophets.  Did they feel this was a bunch of words, but all untrue?  Did they believe that God had a a Savior He was sending? 

Jesus was in their midst—teaching, living, and healing, and loving people.  He treated people with respect, He did not duck from those with leprosy or any illness, and He showed all to revere and abide with God.  He showed them how important it is/was to show acceptance and respect to all, how to love others, and most important how He abided with God, His Father.

But even in the very beginning, God knew our faults and sins, and the leaning toward the enticement of sin.  Although created in the likeness of God we are sinners.  God did feel He should endow us with free will.  And sin is created from our free will which comes from self-centeredness, selfishness, and the desire to explore the world view. 

But God in His wonderful, ageless wisdom, made a way for us still be able to reside with Him.  He created us to abide with Him, to live in our midst, to share our secrets, to enjoy His presence, and to have the benefit of forever in heaven with Him.  But we blew it, then continued to blow it.  And in all honesty, I still blow it.  UGH! 

So, it was decided that God’s Son, would in time be sent,  to earth and to show people the true teaching of the scriptures, His healing, His love, His cleansing of sin, and most importantly to die for us so we had a path back to God.  Knowing He was leaving heaven and after a few short years of teaching, preaching, loving, and healing illnesses,  encouraging no further sinning, and loving by example and word, and He finally, willingly, went to the pain and torture of death on the cross for a path for us to have forgiveness and a way back to abiding with God.

Jesus certainly abided with His Father.  He arose early each morning and sought private, quiet time with His Father.  He prayed, He sought out private time with His Father, and this is what abiding is.

To abide we stay connected with God/Jesus/Holy Spirit.  And since the Holy Spirit resides in us once we ask Jesus to forgive our sins, and become our Savior, we cannot get any closer in the abiding manner!  Abiding in Him brings wholeness, peace and a sense of stability we do not have without knowing Him.  We can feel calmer and better believe that He is with us whenever a bunch of problems and concerns start bombing our lives.  Abiding is trusting Him.

With Christ, dying on the cross and arising from the grave tomb, He had taken our sins by shedding His blood as a sacrifice for us.  He took our sin and gave us a new, perfect and forgiven life.  He opened the “veil” that separated us from God because of our sin, yet God had a means of opening the way to Him and the trinity.

Jesus’ sacrifice freed us to be forgiven, to spend our eternity with God as long as we believe Jesus is the Son of God, He died to take away our sins as long as we believe in Him, was buried, rose again and descended to heaven, and repent of our many, many sins, we can reside with them in heaven.  His sacrifice freed us to be forgiven, to have all our sins forgiven, to be able to abide with God, the trinity. 

To abide with God, means we stay connected, such as praying daily, seeking His will, letting Him know how grateful we are.  We need to adore, honor, praise Him and give Him thanks.  We need to give thanks before we ask God to answer prayers, recognizing that not all our prayers will be answered if it is NOT His will for our lives.  The healing of all family and friends may not be His will, yet we KNOW, they will be healed in heaven with a new form and never have to deal with illness, sadness or anything negative again.  Yet, we still need to thank Him, recognizing He has a plan for our life, and for others.  And we also agree with His way by not complaining, whining or balking, and so forth.  We must show all—including Him—His way is right, and we have no business acting like a naughty toddler with nasty weather, and the other negative moments in our lives that intermittently show up. 

Lord, I am SO unworthy.  My heart is so grateful that You called me, I answered and have been blessed with so many blessings You have blessed for me and ‘mybellaviews.’