John 15:1-6 Jesus says: I (The Word) am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
Every branch in me (The Word) that beareth not fruit HE taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, HE purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Abide in ME (The Word) , and I in you.
As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in ME (The Word).
I (The Word) am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in ME (The Word), and I (The Word) in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without ME (The Word) ye can do nothing.
If a man abide not in ME (The Word), he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
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Comments by Joan Boney:
We abide in Jesus as we live in the Word given to us by God through HIS Spirit.
Each of us have to ask ourselves, What has God told me to do about the situation?
(God often speaks to us directly by HIS Spirit by putting ideas into our heads, or by reminding us of a scripture or a dream. Sometimes God speaks to us through another person.)
How to know the wisdom from God?
James 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
* Pure: Without bias or other influences.
Sometimes a person will be blinded by his own desire often in an irrational way. God might send HIS word to that person by another messenger.
* Easy to be intreated:
To me, this is one of the most important considerations: I have so often seen the ideas from God to be simple and easy to do. If the plan is complex and expensive, I always know to continue to ask God what I should do and consider another way to do the project.
* Without hypocrisy:
Any form of deception, either from our self or another, shows us we are going the wrong way.
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By faith in believing we have heard from God, we follow that Word, doing that instruction.
For God keeps us by HIS Word.
HIS word is truth in the matter at hand.
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Sometimes God will divide us from another person who would be a handicap to our going forward in ways of God.
God showed Pam Padgett that to go among her relatives would be like walking into a hill of red ants.
God once gave me a dream showing me I would not be able to go out through my cousin's house. When my mother died, my cousin tried to get me to move to city where she lived with her husband and adult aged sons in same town. She said the "boys" would be such help to us. But God had warned me that I could not do this. So I was refrained by the Word from God in that dream. I know it would have ended up badly for me had I tried to move there.
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When we hear the Word from God it often separates us from those who have not heard from God.
The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
The Word changes us and divides us from the thinking of the world.
The apostle Paul is one of the most dramatic examples of being changed by The Word.
And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou ME?
And he said, Who art thou, Lord?
And the Lord said, I am Jesus (The Word) whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
And the Lord said, I am Jesus (The Word) whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?
And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
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Our flesh loves and craves excitement. We want to stir something up. Our flesh loves controversy. If it were not this way there would be no newscasts.
Some of us loved "justice" and righteousness so much and wanted others to live in justice and righteousness that we debated and argued and fretted our self when we saw humans go in a way of evil. We were constantly stirred up.
I was this way until God gave me The Word on the subject of righteousness:
II Peter 3:13-14 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
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The righteousness I so desired for myself and others would be in that new heavens and new earth that comes after this life. This present earth will never be righteousness. It will get worse and worse and men of this earth will get worse and worse according to the apostle Paul. II Timothy 3:13
The goal for me was to learn to live in peace ... To keep myself without spot in the midst of the trouble ... to remain blameless while waiting here for the return of Jesus.
It was not to try to make the other person do "right", but rather for me to do right by turning to God in the problem and doing that which God showed me to do. Peace is in this.
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God's way by HIS Word is always the answer for us to the problem.
I was troubled by some of the things I heard my housekeeper say when she would come to my house to clean.
I turned to God with the pain I felt over her words.
As I continued to fret and be troubled, I heard "The Word" from God on this issue.
"Just focus on that which she does well."
That which she does well is cleaning!
I stopped trying to share spiritual things with her. I even had to stop sharing the "good" secular things for when I did I saw her pervert the good to evil in her thinking and in the ramblings of her mind.
To live in peace with this woman, I had to keep everything focused on cleaning and not allow myself to speak to her about other matters. As long as I did that, there was no problem. I had to stop trying to share with her as I would share with a friend. This worked when I controlled myself by that Word I had heard from God on this matter.
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Abide in that Word which you have heard from the Spirit of God on the matter at hand. Continue in those concepts shown you by God. Live in peace. Stop fretting yourself.
When you stop trying to make the other person do right ... and you focus on doing right in the sight of God in the matter at hand, you will keep yourself by The Word you hear from God and you will be able to live on this present evil world in peace, without spot, and blameless as you wait for the return of Jesus, The Word.
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