Abide in Jesus, a devotional from Faith to Faith by Gloria Copeland

Abide in Jesus

If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered. – John 15:6

If I were to ask you to make a list of a hundred things you need to do to please the Lord today, you could do it, couldn’t you? In fact, you probably have so many spiritual “dos” and “don’ts” cluttering up your mind that you’d hardly know where to start. But you can relax. I’m not going to suggest you make a list of them. Instead, I’m going to help you simplify things by giving you only one: Abide in Jesus. The one thing you’re truly responsible for is your union with Him. If you keep your union and fellowship with Him intact, everything else will be taken care of. “But Gloria, I’m facing some big problems right now. My life’s turned upside down. I’m so rushed I don’t know whether I’m coming or going. I don’t have time to fellowship with the Lord today.” That’s when you need to do it the most! You need to maintain your union with the Lord particularly when the storms of life come. I know that’s often not easy to do. Whether the storm is a sickness in your body or financial problems or family strife, the temptation will be to settle your attention and your mind on that problem. You won’t even want to think about anything else. That’s what the devil planned on. That’s the reason he sent that storm in the first place. To distract you from fellowshiping with God. To draw your attention away from your union with Him. Don’t fall into the devil’s trap. Instead, keep your thoughts and affections trained on the Lord. As you do that, the force of faith will begin to flow out of you. And that flow will repel every form of darkness. It will bring you in triumph through every storm. Fellowship with Jesus today.