Abide in Me

by Peg Yarbrough

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. It is by His word that all things exist. His plan for man and for salvation was in His heart even then.

Ephesians 1:4,5 NLT
Long ago, even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes.
His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave Him great pleasure.

Long before He made the world, God’s plan was to bring us to Himself through Jesus Christ. Jesus was created, begotten, for this purpose. (Luke 1:35) God always intended to place the risen Christ in a unique and exalted position. (Heb. 1:4-14) Christ is now the head of the Church, the administrator of the new covenant. We need to have fellowship with God, and we need to have a fellowship with His Son. ( I John 1:3)

John 15:4, 7,8
Abide in me, 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.

We are to abide in Christ. The word “abide” means, “to remain without struggle.” That is another term for fellowship, to have an awareness that Christ lives in us by way of holy spirit. We abide in Christ by choosing to be obedient to him.

Living with Jesus as Lord opens a whole new dimension to our life. We have been given new life. (John 3:6; Rom. 6:13; 8:2) We are given a connection to do things above and beyond the natural realm because we are now tapped in to a higher realm, where Christ sits on the right hand of God.

When Jesus went into heaven as a spirit power, a new power was unleashed in heaven and on earth. Servants of Christ tap into that power.

Matthew 28:18
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

Mark 16:17-20
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
[If] They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

All power in heaven and earth is given unto the risen Christ. Those who have faith in his name, who serve him, can do the miracles spoken of in Mark 16. Most importantly, verse 20 says that when they went forth and preached, the Lord Jesus himself was working with them, confirming the word with signs following.

Verse 17 says that “In my name shall they cast out devils.” This phrase means more than just using the name of Jesus as an incantation. In part II of this series we talked about the seven sons of Sceva who were exorcists. (Acts 19:13-17) They knew of the name of Jesus but they did not know Jesus! They did NOT have a personal relationship with him. They were powerless over the evil spirits because they did not “abide in him,” they could do nothing “in the name of Jesus Christ.” The name was just words to them, without any faith behind them.

To do something in the name of Jesus has two major aspects. First, it means to act as if you are in the personal presence of the one whose name you are using. And second, it means to express the thoughts, or speak with the authority, of the named individual.

Many well meaning Christians end their prayers with the words, “in the name of Jesus Christ.” By the way, there is no prayer in the Bible that ends with that particular phrase. Praying in the name of Jesus is not about using a phrase but it is about having a personal relationship with him, realizing he is with you and is in you.

Ephesians 5:20
Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

Colossians 3:17
And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

Colossians says that whatsoever we do, we are to do in the name of the Lord Jesus. We don’t go through our day driving our car and uttering, “In the name of Jesus Christ.” Or go about our day constantly uttering that phrase. But we are to go through our day practicing the presence of the Lord Jesus, having him dwell in our hearts by faith. The same is true of our prayer and thanksgiving to God, to do it with Christ in our heart, to give thanks to God through Christ is to be aware that he is our Savior and High Priest.

In the Old Testament there are three records where God said He would, “cause His name to dwell there.” Two refer to the tabernacle in the wilderness (Deuteronomy 12:11; 16:11), and the third refers to Solomon’s temple. (I Kings 9:3) When God spoke to His people about putting His name there, it meant that He would be personally present to fellowship with His people. It meant that they should be acutely aware of His presence and provision.

When we do things “in the name of Jesus Christ,” we are to be acutely aware of his presence, as well as his provision for the Church today as the Good Shepherd.

Also, in the Old Testament, when men went forth, “in the name of the Lord of Hosts” they went forth in the authority and power of the God who made heaven and earth. David prevailed over Goliath because he came against him in the name of the Lord of Hosts!

So it is, that when we use the name of Jesus Christ in faith, we have access to the authority and power delegated to Christ by our heavenly Father.

It is not about tagging on the phrase, “In the name of Jesus Christ,”to the end of a prayer, but it is an attitude, a frame of mind, of being immersed in the reality of what Christ did and IS DOING for us. Praying in the name of Jesus is not about ending our prayer with a catch phrase, it is knowing that Christ is personally present with you by faith.

John 10:25 – 28
Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.
But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

There are two very exciting points here, first of all, the works that Jesus did, he did, “in my Father’s name.” Jesus did the works because he was so in tune with the Father, he had perfect fellowship with Him, and Jesus carried out the Father’s wishes. Then Jesus said to us that, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

As we develop the same type of relationship with Christ that he has with the Father, we will do good works, and we will glorify our Father through His Son. That’s the order for the Church today. Only by abiding in Christ will we bring forth much fruit.

This is what life is all about.
Bringing glory to God through our Lord Jesus Christ.