Abiding in Him

John 15:5 "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."

I believe that when Jesus said to "abide" in Him, he meant for us to make Him our dwelling place. What do we do in our dwelling places? We do most everything there! We live there, we eat there, we rest there, we play there, we work there, we laugh there, we cry there.

When we are in our dwelling places, we let our hair down. We are our truest selves there; no pretense or put-ons. We find refuge and shelter in our dwelling places.

Jesus wants to be our dwelling place. He wants us in our truest forms. He wants to be the place where we find rest and refuge. He wants his heart and his arms to be the place where we laugh and cry and cry out!

Abiding in a physical dwelling provides certain specific needs that might not be met otherwise. But abiding in Jesus, promises to meet ALL of our needs, physically, spiritually, and emotionally and to make our joy complete.

Most of the time I make my abode in the heart of my Savior. But sometimes I find myself straying outside of His protective shelter. Those are the times I really struggle. I long to live in the comfort and peace that only He can provide. And so, I am learning that my struggles can act as an alarm. If you have an alarm system in your house, you know what I mean. When a door is opened something beeps. When I feel frustrated, overwhelmed, impatient, angry, whatever, I know that the Holy Spirit is "beeping" to remind me that I am not abiding in Him.

Thank you, Father for your sweet shelter and for your spiritual "alarm system"!