Yesterday we saw that God's will is that you put your faith in him, trust in his sovereignly, and are thankful.
1 Thessalonians 5:18, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Let's look at another aspect of God's will.
2. God’s will is that you remain in him.
“And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17).
Abide means ‘to remain or continue’. It is God’s will for us to remain in him. That means we are in our walk with him for the long haul. He wants to move us on to maturity. In John 15:4 Jesus says, “ Remain in me, as I also 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.”
God wants us to have the character of Jesus. Why? Because he is the character of God!
To abide in Jesus means to stick with him. If we stay connected to Jesus we will be changed. God’s spirit will act within us to draw us nearer to the heart of the Jesus and to God. We can’t be near God and not be changed. Change is evidenced in our fruit.
When I read ‘bear fruit’ I am lead to think of both internal and external fruit. In our abiding, we are changed internally. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. These are internal changes. Changes to our character. As we take on Christ’s character internally, we take on his external purpose as well. Christ’s purpose was to create disciples, and he commands us to do the same. Matthew 28:19 says, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” We know we are abiding in Christ when we begin to emulate him resulting in the external fruit of discipleship of others. No fruit, no abiding!
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