Abide: what sorta fruit are you bearing?

2. To abide means that you will bear fruit.

Am I bearing fruit? I'm not sure. I do know what the fruits should be though.
Remember what Paul says about the fruit in Galatians 5? And we're all supposed to have the fruit.

Form the NIV:
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Here's how the Message says it,
22-23But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.

As I've always thought about this, bearing fruit seems like an on again, off again thing in my life. One time I get it right, the next time I get it wrong...sometimes minutes apart. So maybe the test on abiding is a minute-by-minute kinda thing. Am I bearing fruit now? How about now? Now? And then practice makes perfect? Even this I think is tied to seeing others the way that God sees them, looking through His eyes. It makes all the difference.

Abide: What's love got to do with it?

So we know the basic, critical, gotta-have commandment to abide: Love one another.

Here's what Paul says about love, Message-style, in 1 Corinthians 13:
So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.

We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

And I'm so glad I looked this up in the Message just for the last 2 sentences. Now, the definition of love is tough. Puts up with anything? Doesn't want what it doesn't have? I am in SO MUCH TROUBLE! I think I'm going to have to meditate on this one a while to recover.

Abide: The commandments

So as I'm reading this, I'm looking for parts of the definition of "abide" according to Jesus. From John 15, I know:
1. To abide, keep my commandments.
Easy enough, right? So what are the commandments? Further in John 15, jesus says this, Message-style:
--
I've loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you'll remain intimately at home in my love. That's what I've done—kept my Father's commands and made myself at home in his love.

I've told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I'm no longer calling you servants because servants don't understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I've named you friends because I've let you in on everything I've heard from the Father.

You didn't choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won't spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you.

But remember the root command: Love one another.
--
So, it's just as simple and as difficult as that to keep His commandments: Love one another.
This one's going to take some work. People aren't easy to love most of the time. It is easy to love some people, of course. But then, there are the rest of us. OK, like me, if you're one of the easily lovable. Obviously, the key to loving the unlovable is to see them the way Jesus sees them. He's managed to love me that way so I know it works. I just have to figure out how to adjust my vision and make it stick that way.

Abide: Jesus in John 15

John 15 (the only place I find "abide" right now), Jesus says:
I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so 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, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.

Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.



As I mentioned yesterday, this comes from the New American Standard translation because that's were I could find "abide" used instead of "remain" and I think the key to what God is saying to me is tied to abiding, not remaining. I do think it's interesting that this section also contains one of the biggest faith challenges I've ever faced: the promise about asking whatever you wish and it will be done for you. The only way that can be true is that it's tied to the condition of abiding in Christ. It just really sounds so simple, doesn't it? Just do it. Just abide in my love and you'll bear fruit and have joy.

Why is it so hard?

Abide: John 15:4

New International Version (NIV)
4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

New American Standard Bible (NASB)
4"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.

The Message (MSG)
4"Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can't bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can't bear fruit unless you are joined with me.

When I began looking for more information on what it means to "abide" in the Bible, the only verse I could sort of remember was from John 15. And my Bible didn't have a reference for abide because it's NIV. In the NIV, the word is remain. Do you think abide and remain are the same thing?

I love Biblegateway.com. It's never been easier to search for the words you can sort of remember or to compare translations. NIV is my usual, but I like to also check the NASB and the Message, just to see the difference. And the Message is always different! But I like it because it's usually just a different way of looking at things I've heard all my life. Sometimes you just need a fresh perspective.

So are abide and remain and live the same thing? Here are the definitions from dictionary.com.
Abide
1. to remain; continue; stay: Abide with me.
2. to have one's abode; dwell; reside: to abide in a small Scottish village.
3. to continue in a particular condition, attitude, relationship, etc.; last.
4. to put up with; tolerate; stand: I can't abide dishonesty!
5. to endure, sustain, or withstand without yielding or submitting: to abide a vigorous onslaught.
6. to wait for; await: to abide the coming of the Lord.

Remain:
1. to continue in the same state; continue to be as specified: to remain at peace.
2. to stay behind or in the same place: to remain at home; I'll remain here when you go to the airport.

Live:
1. to have life, as an organism; be alive; be capable of vital functions: all things that live.
2. to continue to have life; remain alive: to live to a ripe old age.
3. to continue in existence, operation, memory, etc.; last: a book that lives in my memory.
4. to maintain or support one's existence; provide for oneself: to live on one's income.
5. to feed or subsist (usually fol. by on or upon): to live on rice and bananas.
6. to dwell or reside (usually fol. by in, at, etc.): to live in a cottage.
7. to pass life in a specified manner: They lived happily ever after.
8. to direct or regulate one's life: to live by the golden rule.
9. to experience or enjoy life to the full

As I look at the defnitions, they are very close, even connected. What I want to know is more about what it means to abide. I don't think it means to remain in the same place, so I'm going to take a look at more of this chapter. Maybe that will give me a better picture.

Abide

ABIDE
To remain in a place.
To continue to be sure or firm; endure.
To dwell or sojourn.

Last week, I certainly didn't spend my time as well as I should have. Most of the time, my brain was more preoccupied with the "Ahhhh!" feeling of beautiful days instead of deep thoughts. While I was at Garvan Woodland Gardens, I had plenty of time to think in quiet, contemplative spots on shady paths. There were very few people to interrupt me. And as I walked, I finally clicked on to pray. And the word that kept coming to me, either from my own head or the Spirit, was "abide." As this is not a word that I use often, I really needed to do a little study.

First, a definition: remain in place, endure. That seems clear enough, right? And what does the Bible say? I did a little research. That's coming up next.

The old vs. the new

Colossians 2:20 If then you have died with Christ to material ways of looking at things and have escaped from the world's crude and elemental notions and teachings of externalism, why do you live as if you still belong to the world?

So this is going to be a roundabout (and is tied to having some Darcy pictures that need to be shown), but in one of those weird times where I wake up in the middle of the night, can't go back to sleep, and think too much, I was thinking about how much Darcy enjoyed living life unleashed last. This is an old dog, raised in the 'burbs, by a nervous person who maintains firm control of the leash any time we venture out into public. She's a labrador mix who never saw water until she was 4 years old. But when she found water, she knew exactly what to do with it...jump right in.

Last week, she approached jumping off the dock with caution but interest. And this just makes me think about how dogs, no matter what breed, have a memory of what they were bred for, even though they might have been thouroughly yuppie-fied. Shelties herd, labs swim, beagles trail...that's just what they do. Stopping them from doing those things is the challenge. Preventing them from swimming or running around your feet or barking all the time, they have to learn those things.

So we're sorta the same. We're born with one nature and, if we're lucky, we learn to use some pieces of that and then to change what needs to be different. Really, I just wanted to put up more Darcy pictures.

It's only temporary

From heaven even the most miserable life will look like one bad
night at an inconvenient hotel.

-- Teresa of Avila

This quote was delivered to me last week while I was learning about a few "bad" nights in an "inconvenient hotel." I vacationed in a real-life fishing cabin and learned that even I have a level of decor that I'm comfortable with. Everything was fine but it took a little adjusting to, particularly the kitchen. I rather imagine heaven itself to be more like the lake view from the deck while this life will look more like this stove...a little dirty, a little rusty, tired, worn out and in need of some serious overhaul.

Even convertibles get the blues

So I posted about the peace that a restful vacation on the lake can bring, and then I met Monday...147 emails, multiple voice mails, meetings, an excruciating mound of books crammed in my in-box, phone calls from family members about "opportunities" that became critical overnight and required my presence...and a flat tire.

A flat tire leads to a call to roadside assistance and a quick visit to put on my
too-low-to-drive-1-mile-to-the-repair-place spare. Stopped to put air in the spare
to drive to the tire shop to find out the flat can't be repaired and
they don't carry that size of tire and finding it in Little Rock will be
difficult. Return to work.
Make phone calls.
Find out that finding that size in Little Rock is not impossible just
very, very expensive. Drive to dealership to have new tires put on convertible because
driving the convertible is required to blow out all the rest of the clutter of the day.

Some days are just Mondays, you know? But even in those days there are good things:
Safety-made it to work at 6:30 Monday morning...before the tire went flat...in the dark...on the side of the road. Convenience-roadside assistance came right away to my work with one phone call and no money from me. I love my insurance.
Slowing down-driving as slowly as I did on that spare, that's a new experience for me. The world looks a little different. And the drivers a little angrier.
Restoration-it's only money, right? I found the tire(s), and everything is fine again. And as I have traded in another car for having a flat tire, it's a symbol of my love and need for this impractical car that I have. Well, maybe not, but it's all OK anyway.

Peace in this world is fleeting, but the good news is that it can be restored. Over and over if needed, but we can get it back.

Rest

Matthew 11:28-30 (Message)
"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

This is the reason I wanted to get away, to be quiet and to think. Tired, worn out, and ready to recover my life, I am unable to focus on what needs to change so that I can have a life that makes a difference at the end of a day at work spent juggling priorities, going to meetings, answering questions, and always living with a deadline. Recently, it's become too much for me. I needed a break, really to see if I can determine "how to recover my life." And the trip didn't start off well...a creepy, webby cabin, no one around for miles apparently, and an anxious dog. I was ready to just go back home. It might be mind-numbing to consider all the work I need to do at home, but at least it's comfortable. After all, I have plenty of my own spider webs. I didn't need to travel to get that atmosphere. To cure the anxious dog, I took her for a walk down the hill...to see this view, and just like that, my burdens disappeared. In the quiet, breezy woods with waves lapping on the shore and a snoozing dog at my feet, I felt peace, a freer and lighter soul that my normal burden.

Father, I want that freedom and lightness of knowing that I'm on your path, not my own. I want to know that my day makes a difference. Thank you for sending me rest. Now, help me hold on to that lightness. Work is a challenge, give me your peace.

Religulous

It's a combination of "religion" and "ridiculous". Sorry, I know a few who won't get the word so I have to explain. And it's the name of Bill Maher's new movie, and by the title, you can guess the subject. I watched an interview last night on the Daily Show (it's where I get all my news, I can't help it) and I've been thinking about it since. Maher is not in the "there is no god" camp, according to what he says, but more in the "we can't prove there is a god" camp. And from the clips, this looks like a funny movie, but it is so very disturbing that what the world sees as faith is extremism, fanaticism, and often the fringe of every denomination, church, cult, or crazy idea that calls itself "religion". On the show last night, Maher compared Scientology to Christianity as the only difference is that one is new. And I could feel a rebuttal building in my chest but he couldn't hear me...he was on t.v.

This reminds me a little of the whole "I met Satan" post I earlier had where I said I really see God at work. As a reasonable, educated, young-ish, Christian woman, I tend to live in the middle of most arguments, neither conservative or liberal. When I imagine what the conversation is going to be over this movie, I want to rest my head for a few minutes. Here's why: the extremes are what you'll hear. And really, as a middle-way person, I'm more disturbed by Maher's points about the questions he asked normal people who call themselves religious. And they couldn't answer. I know that any deep faith discussion is eventually going to wind up at something that you just have to believe, and there are many elements of religion that are laughable. But the fact that this is the face of the church, what the world sees, is not funny.

Maher's biggest point seemed to be that a VP like Sarah Palin is a shining example of all that's wrong with this country. She believes the Bible literally so how could she be a reasonable person? I am not sure that she IS a reasonable person, but I don't blame that on believing the Bible or see that as evidence either way. It appears to me that her issues are inborn, personality traits or character flaws. Jon Stewart mentioned that faith does give us good things: morality, comfort. Maher answered by saying they were outweighed by war etc. I don't believe that faith causes wars. Religion might. Extremism certainly does.

Obviously Bill Maher is sharp with a very quick mind. That is crystal clear. It seems unfair to illustrate the ills of religion by setting his wit against the masses on the street. What I'd like to see is a match up against the best minds. There still may not be agreement but it should be harder to make the other person the butt of the joke. A person who has actually thought to determine what he or she believes and studied some to find the answers seems to be a little hard to find out on the streets of London. It's very easy to find people who believe what they've been told to believe apparently. Of course, he has done an excellent job illustrating the dangers: there are a whole lot more of them than there are of us.