Abiding in His Word

Here is the last bible study in this series. I hope you enjoy it and gain more insight from God as I have in studying it.

In His teachings, Jesus spoke of abiding in Him so my question to God was, how do you abide in Jesus?

This is what God showed me:

John 8:31-32       So Jesus was saying to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word (logos), then you                                                 are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

John 15:4-6         Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so                                                   neither can you unless you abide in Me.

John 15:7             If you abide in Me, and My words (rhema) abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done                                                 for you.

Jesus is God’s word so when you continue (remain or stay) in it, you are His disciple (a learner or student). When we continuously remain or stay in God’s written word, we are reading it and thinking about it, we are abiding in Jesus.  Jesus takes it one step further in John 15:7, He is telling us that when we continuously stay or remain in His word, then He will give us a specific word for our lives and if we believe and trust in that specific word from God,  then we will be able to ask God for whatever we wish, as it pertains to that specific word, and He will give it to us.

An example would be that God has given you a specific word about His purpose for your future, maybe that you are to go to a faraway place to share the gospel. If you keep that specific word in front of you and ask for God’s help in making it happen, He will answer that request. The key here is that God gave you that specific word.

Jesus tells us how this works in the parable of the sower. He tells of a sower, who went out to sow seed and the different types of ground the seed fell on but then Jesus reveals to His disciples what the parable means.

Luke 8:11-15       Now the parable is this: the seed is the word (logos) of God….…But the seed in the good soil, these are                                                 the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with                                       perseverance.

When you read the entire explanation that Jesus gives, you can see that three of the heart conditions did not make the logos word of God a priority in their lives. But what made the last heart condition honest and good was that the logos word of God was accepted as truth and important. Then the word remained (held fast) so that fruit was then produced with perseverance. Now we look at the word perseverance and we may think that it’s a bad thing, but it means endurance or constancy. If we consistently keep or abide in the word of God, we will have results, we will hear a rhema word from God and we will have fruit in our lives.

If our minds are soil and Jesus is telling us that planting God’s word will produce fruit in our lives.

Will words planted from the enemy or the world produce fruit also?

We can see how Jesus handled the enemy’s words and did not let them take root.

We have heard the following scriptures taught many times, but I would like you to look at them in a new light.

Let’s look at Luke 4:1-13

Luke 4:1                Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, for                                                 forty days, being tempted by the devil.

The Greek word for led is “ago”, it means to lead or to bring drive. We know that the Holy Spirit did not physically appear to Jesus and grab him by the hand and lead Him into the wilderness. It was a leading He felt inside.

Luke 4:5                And he (devil) led Him (Jesus) up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment in time.

The Greek word for led is “anago” which means to lead up or sail away.  As you can see, its origin is from the original word we looked at in verse one.

Luke 4:9                And he (devil) led Him (Jesus) to Jerusalem and had Him stand on a pinnacle of the temple, …

The Greek word for led is “ago”, the same word used in verse one for the Holy Spirit leading Jesus.

I don’t know about you, but when I would read these scriptures, I would visualize the devil appearing in front of Jesus and the two of them flying off to each one of these temptations. Which would really make it a little easier to do battle because you can see your enemy but think about it in a different perspective.

Knowing that the Holy Spirit leads us from within and the enemy will put thoughts into our heads and try to lead us from within, wouldn’t it make sense that this is the same way he led Jesus. We can see that Luke used the same or similar word to describe Jesus being led. Also, the enemy showed Jesus all the kingdoms in a moment of time. Now that would have to take place while flying around really fast or it would happen in the imagination of the mind.

I believe that this battle between Jesus and the enemy happened in the spirit realm of the mind, remember that Jesus was in human form and operated as a human while here. Jesus may have even willingly walked to these different places because the enemy could not force Him, the enemy could only influence. Also, it does not say that all of these temptations happened after the forty days were complete or in that exact order because Matthew’s account is in a different order than Luke’s.

With all that being said, Jesus had to do battle with temptation the same way we do. He had to know when the enemy was speaking to Him and depend on the Holy Spirit to help Him through. Isn’t that what we have to deal with today? We have different voices in our head trying to guide us and we have to purposefully keep our focus on God.

It builds my faith to know that Jesus went through the same thing.

God cares about our thought life and it is important to keep your focus on God’s word. We can see how much God cares in the following scriptures.

James 4:7-8        Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will                                                 draw near to you….

The first step is submitting to God and how do you do that, get into His word and learn to trust Him. Then you can resist what the enemy says to you and cut off his influence in your life. The promise here is awesome, when you draw near to God (make Him first place in your life), He WILL draw near to you.

Once you submit to God, He wants to go to work on all the lies that have been fed to you and have taken root.

Matthew 15:13                  But He (Jesus) answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be                                                           rooted up.

When you first read this scripture, you would think that God is rooting out bad people but if you look at this in context, He just told a parable about how words defile a person (Matt 15:10,18).  When you read and speak God’s word, it takes root and the more you do it, the more those roots will take over in your heart. All the lies from the enemy and the world have already taken root on the inside and it will take time for God’s word to choke all of that out. It is just like the parable of the sower that we looked at, but with the opposite effect.

God sent Jesus to show us His nature and to heal all that were oppressed by the devil.

What does it mean to be oppressed by the devil?

Acts 10:38            You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how                                                 He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

Let’s do a little Greek word study:

                Good – euergeteo – to be philanthropic, do good.

                                                        Dictionary: Philanthropy – altruistic concern for human welfare and advancement.

                 Healing – iaomai –          to cure, heal, make whole

God is concerned with your human condition and wants to make you whole by bringing you up into His kingdom!

                Oppressed – katadunasteuo –    To exercise dominion against

                                                It comes from the word “kata” meaning down (in place or time)

                                                And is a derivative of the word “dunastes” meaning a ruler or officer, of great authority

                Devil – a traducer, false accuser, slanderer

The devil falsely accuses us or lies to us in an attempt to keep us down and from being made whole. He will try to hold us down under his false authority by feeding us lies and hoping they will take root in our hearts. When we believe his lies, it keeps us away from all that God wants to do in our lives. God loves you and wants His best for you!

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The Word is Vital

In the last bible study, we looked at how Jesus is the Word of God and how God sent Jesus to heal and deliver His people from the beginning. Then we looked at how powerful God’s word really is because it is alive and working for whoever speaks it.

Luke 21:33           Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words (logos) will not pass away.

We can see once again just how powerful God’s word is. It will last forever, beyond everything that we can see.

The Greek word used for “word” in this scripture is logos, which means “something said.

Now let’s dig a little deeper into God’s word:

1 Peter 1:23-25  You have been regenerated (born again), not from a mortal origin (seed, sperm), but from one that is AMPC                   immortal by the living and lasting Word (logos) of God. For all flesh (mankind) is like grass, and all its                                 glory (honor) like the flower of the grass. The grass withers and the flower drops off. But the Word                                 (rhema) of the Lord (divine instruction) endure forever. And this Word (rhema) is the good news                                   which was preached to you.

When you read this in the Amplified Classic Version, you can see that verse 23 is referring to us being born again in Jesus and Peter uses the Greek word “logos” to describe Him. Then in verse 25, Peter uses a different Greek word in reference to “the word”, he uses “rhema” in this verse twice. This can be a little confusing because the English translation for both “logos” and “rhema” is word, but they have different meanings.

The best description that I have found to help in understanding this:

Logos is a word (spoken/written) given generally – the general word of God that communicates His ability to do something or His general will on a matter.

Rhema is a word (spoken/written) given specifically – the word the Holy Spirit quickens to a specific person for a specific situation.

Logos & Rhema are always in alignment with one another.

Peter is stating that the apostles were teaching and preaching the word that was given to them directly from God. God was guiding them in their teachings using the Holy Spirit. Paul confirms this when he states, “all scripture is inspired by God” (2 Timothy 3:16). When Paul said this, all scripture had not been put together yet, so this was from God for us today.

Jesus gave His disciples a very specific word about communion in John 6:52-58 and they were having a hard time receiving it because it was like nothing they had ever heard before. Later they understood what Jesus was saying because He demonstrated the drinking of His blood and eating of His body during the last supper. But in the moment that Jesus first made this statement the disciples were grumbling which led Jesus to say the following:

John 6:63             It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words (rhema) that I have spoken to you                                 are spirit and are life.

Jesus used the word “rhema” in this scripture which tells me that this was a specific word from God to the disciples. Jesus is telling them that in our flesh or natural mind, we will not be able to understand the specific word that God wants to impart to us. We will get frustrated because we don’t understand, that happens at times when reading the bible and we don’t understand what it is trying to say to us. The only way to understand is with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can ask for help in understanding and God will assist us every time.

A great example of this for me is when Jesus is talking about receiving the Holy Spirit and the following scripture was one that I didn’t fully understand:

John 16:12-15     He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has                                 are Mine therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.

I know that disclose means to reveal or uncover, but how would the Holy Spirit reveal what belongs to Jesus?

Jesus is the Word (Logos), which is God’s general will and ability on things.

The Holy Spirit brings us the word (Rhema), which is God’s word given for a specific situation.

Which means that the Holy Spirit will:

                 take from Logos (God’s general word) and give you Rhema (God’s specific word for your situation).

When we allow the Holy Spirit to speak into our lives, we build up our faith and trust in the finish work of Jesus.

Romans 10:17    So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word (rhema) of Christ.

This is telling us that the specific word from God is going to strengthen us and keep us in our time of need. I’m not saying that we should not rely on the written word of God, but I am saying that asking God to give us greater understanding of His word will bring His written word alive in us. Just like Jesus said in John 6:63, His rhema word is spirit and life.

Another instance when the rhema word of God is important is during spiritual warfare. Paul is telling us here that our sword is a specific word from God for our situation.

Ephesians 6:17   And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word (rhema) of God.

Reading and declaring the written word of God over our lives is very important and there may be times when you don’t have a specific word from God. Continuing to spend time in God’s written word is important while you seek God for His specific word over your situation and that can only be done by asking Him for it.

Jesus used His sword when He was being tempted by the enemy in the wilderness. As you can see, Jesus’ words are from the logos word of God in the old testament but became the rhema word of God when the Holy Spirit quickened them to Him to say at just the right time. This is also why Jesus used the word “rhema” when He spoke. When we are feeding on the written word of God, the Holy Spirit will bring to mind the specific word that fits our situation and that is what we use as our sword.

Matthew 4:4      But He (Jesus) answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word                                 (rhema) that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”

God will give us His specific word when we ask, seek or knock:

Matthew 7:7-8  Ask, and it will be given to you: seek, and you will find: knock, and it will be opened to you. For                                      everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

I don’t believe this scripture is telling us that we need to do all these things in order to get an answer from God.  This covers all the bases because these are all the different ways that we might come to God in prayer and He will respond. God is a gentleman and He will not force an answer on us, He is waiting for us to ask, seek, or knock. He is graciously waiting, with the answer, for us to approach Him in the way that is most comfortable to us.

Maybe you are waiting on a specific word from God on your situation, you can have peace in knowing that all of God’s word has power and authority. This means that spending time in the bible, reading and speaking God’s logos word over your life is also very powerful.

Luke 4:32             And they were amazed at His (Jesus) teaching, for His word (logos) was with authority and ability and AMPC                   weight and power.

Jesus spoke the word of God throughout His time here on earth and that is where He drew His power from.

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