Next to my sleeping bride

Evening

As one of the men visiting today observed “It’s interesting how our perspective changes… about what is truly important in life”. As I sit by the bed of my sleeping bride, I am not thrilled about the job, the new car, the fancy TV….. I am thrilled to see the tiniest evidence that her new kidney working. It’s about relationship, it’s about the heart. My heart that yearns to travel with Anne and encounter the wonderful, unplanned little events that make travel for us a ‘heart thing’; to fall asleep at night next to her with out all the plastic lines and metal alarms in between us, the constant noise and light and vibration of the dialysis machine next to us – and to wake up in the morning to quiet; it means being able to consider serving the Lord anywhere in the world; it means Anne can leave a life in which her very best state was feeling drained, weak and low energy.

What the Spirit has been showing me in the Word
Over the last 3 months I have spent the majority of my study time either in Psa 119, and trying to digest Chapter 4 of “The Normal Christian Life”. I returned to the later this morning, and noted the following once again.

"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. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
John 15:4-5

“We do not try to produce fruit or concentrate upon the fruit produced. Our business is to look away to Him. As we do so He undertakes to fulfill His Word in us.
How do we abide? ‘Of God are ye in Christ Jesus.’ It was the work of God to put you there and He has done it. Now stay there!” Nee

Nee goes on to explain that the “abide” sentence is comprised of an objective command (abide in me) and a subjective promise (and I in You). As we choose to do the objective, He will do the subjective – He promised. I am learning, one tiny step at a time to “abide”. A wonderful promise and a deeply satisfying way to live – I wish it were easier to accomplish and appropriate!