maintain a living connection

At times, we've all been. And maybe you are today. There is one reason... it is because we have not maintained a living connection with God. Making that connection with God is simply fellowshipping with Him -talking to Him, listening to Him and sitting in His presence. Its setting aside the distractions and demands of life and taking time to read His Word and talk with Him.

John 15:4-8 says Dwell in Me and I will dwell in you. Live in me and I will live in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself without abiding in (being vitally united to) the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me. I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in Him bears much (abundant) fruit. However apart from Me (cut off from vital union with Me) you can do nothing. If a person does not dwell in Me, he is thrown out like a (broken-off) branch and withers; such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, and they are burned. If you live in Me (abide vitally united to Me) and My Words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will and it shall be done for you. When you bear (produce) much fruit, My Father is honored and glorified and you show and prove yourselves to be true followers of mine.

God is telling us to ABIDE in Him. Abide refers to the place where you remain and dwell continually. He was instructing us to make that place of dependency and communion with Him our permanent home. If we don't, we won't be able to produce any fruit in our lives. In verse 6, it says if we don't abide in Christ, the branch will wither and be thrown in to the fire. When we become too busy to spend time with God and become disconnected from communion with Him, we immediately begin to wither. Wither means to shrivel, to lose energy, force or freshness. We lose our capacity for spiritual action. We may know what to do but we find ourselves lacking the power to do it. We become dry and spiritless. Daily living contact with God is absolutely vital to our success. Joshua 1:8 This book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you make your way prosperous and then you will have good success.

The secret to the abiding life is to put the Word into your heart in abundance. Read the Bible. Listen to good preaching tapes. Go to places that have good speakers, teachers, preachers. Do what you need to do to immerse yourself in God's Word. Like the Nike slogan says - "Just do it." We need to spend our resources on chasing after God. There are so many good CDs, DVDs, books and Christian TV that can help keep that connection with God. We need to spend our time getting to know God. We need to spend our time with good company, people who encourage us, uplift us and teach us.

If you'll maintain a living connection with the Lord, whatever you do, wherever you go, the power of God will be just one breath away. So give Him the opportunity! Open the door of faith for Him by spending time in His Word. Meditate on it until His Word becomes bigger inside you than the circumstances around you. Be God-inside minded. Set your attention on the Word that gives you an answer to the problem you're facing, then focus on God's answer until you can look right past the circumstances and into the realm of the Spirit. That is true actual reality! Focus on it until you can see God's Word coming to pass for you!