Wednesdays in the Word

"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you." -John 15:7

Most people would focus on the second half of the verse. They focus on the sermon that helps people to understand questions like these... "SO then, if you ask for a bike, will God give it to you?"

But I am going to focus on the first half of the verse, in order to later understand the second half. And particularly I want to focus on the word abide. I don't know about you, but this word holds power when it is spoken. When I read this verse, the word abide is not just a word that I can quickly pass over. And I think this is mostly because of the fact that this word, abide, is not used much anymore in everyday life. So I asked myself, "What does this word mean? What does it really mean to abide in the Lord and His words?" Because I feel like abide holds more meaning than it's synonym remain, which is found in many translations of the Bible. The dictionary defined abide in two different ways as a verb: A verb with an object and a verb without an object. I'm going to use the definitions of the verb with an object since we are told to abide in God.

Here are several of the definitions under this word as a verb with an object:
     To endure, sustain, or withstand without yielding
     To wait for; await; to abide the coming of the Lord
     To accept without oppostion or question
     To remain; continue; Abide with me
     To have one's abode; dwell; reside
     To Pay the price or penalty of; suffer for
     To continue in a particular condition, attitude, relationship, etc; last.

I could preach on this probably for hours... so instead, I'll let you chew on those definitions for awhile. Understand what it really means to abide in the Lord and in His words. Accept it without opposition or question. Accept His word as it is; as true and perfect. Dwell in Him; reside in Him, don't cease, but keep studying in His word. Continue to be in relationship with him. Uphold your attitude toward God (important one). And I'll leave you with this thought... the second to the last definition... pay the price or penalty of; suffer for...

"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you."
The second half of the verse makes more sense once we unpack the real meaning of what the first half is saying. Being in the right respect of God gives us the correct eyes to see what it is that we should be asking for.