In order for me to live a life abiding with Christ, I must first understand my relationships properly.  

For people who are first beginning their walk of faith, what exactly is our walk of faith? Or for people who have been living their walk of faith but suddenly feel like there is no God, we have to allow them to know what their true walk of faith is. In other words, we receive thing s in our lives that we cannot create, and they are things from the Lord, these are things that can never be produced by the world, there are things that can only come from heaven, through Christ. And we are living on this earth, within this blessing.  

Life Abiding in the Power of the Lord (John 15:1-7) 

In other words, a life abiding in the power of the Lord.  We are living our lives remaining within the power of the Lord. In the past, I was outside of the Lord.

Me – Centered (Thoughts, Values, Plans) My things, My success, outside Jesus Christ

And what it means for us to live outside of the Lord is that we are living centered on me, according to my thoughts, according to my values, and according to my plans.  Anyone living like this is outside of the Lord.  I live centered on my things, I live my life trying to accumulate my own possessions, and I think that if I don’t get more things, my life isn’t working out.  I live according to my success. This is a life living outside of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Word, God’s Things, God’s plans

Then, through Jesus Christ, I live a life within Jesus Christ, outside, being centred on my, my things, and success, but now I’m living centred on the Lord, and I’m living no longer for my things but for the things of God, and I’m no longer living for my success but in order to fulfill God’s plan, this is what it means to be inside of Christ. Being inside of Christ isn’t talking about some locations, but it’s talking about being centered on Christ’s Word, Christ’s things, and God’s plan.  In order to live like that, we need to first know the relationship we have with Christ.

1. Relationship

In order for me to live a life abiding with Christ, we have to first understand the relationship properly.  

1) Philippians 2:6 Nature

Jesus Christ is God Himself; but did not consider equality with God as something to be grasped. In verse 11, it says that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, which means everything must worship Christ.  All beings in heaven and on earth must kneel before Christ.

2) Acts 7:55

When Stephen was being martyred, it says he saw Jesus Christ standing at the right hand of God’s throne, meaning Jesus is at the right hand of God.

3) 1 Corinthians 3:16 Temple

It says He is now living within me and has created me to be His temple. God Himself is dwelling within me through the Holy Spirit.

4) Galatians 2:20

All the things of my past life, centered on me, my things, my success have been crucified on the cross, and now I live for God’s things.  All the past self, the self-centeredness, being centred on my things, my success have been crucified on the cross; now I’m centered on the Word, and now the things of God are my things, and now the plan of God is my plan.  This is the life of Galatians 2:20

5) Matthew 18:18-20

“Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” This is how our relationship with the Lord has become, and it changes depending on what kind of thoughts and prayers we have.  If you can never forgive someone, you will constantly be in a state of not being able to forgive them. But if you forgive them, then the same blessings of forgiveness will be upon you, according to God’s Word.

6) Luke 24:15-16

The disciples are on the way on the road to Emmaus, and the Lord is walking with them but they don’t recognize Him.  We have to personally know that the Lord is with us.  If we don’t know that, then you have no choice but to go back to continuously being centered on yourself, your things, and your success.  What happens if you go back to that lifestyle?  First, you’ll have mental problems. What are mental problems? It means your mind has no peace; you’re bound by something and you can’t escape because you’re bound by your thoughts. That’s a mental problem.

You can’t escape because of your thoughts of money, and even now, you move around outside, seized by money, thinking that’s success. That’s the problem, you’ve completely seized by the incorrect things, and when that becomes severe, it becomes an addiction, and you cannot control your own life because you’re so seized. If depression comes into your life, you cannot choose to control it because it does whatever it wants to me.  If panic attacks come, you cannot decide to feel peace or freedom, why? It comes because you’re living, centered on yourself. This is sin, and a life seized by Satan. So, you must know, teach, and testify of how to live a proper walk of faith, then how can I remain within the power of the Lord?

2. How?

1) Matthew 28:20 Together, Matthew 18:18-20

The first thing is that you have to personally meet with the Lord.  The Lord is not with us mechanically; the Lord is with us personally.  Matthew 28:20 says the Lord who has all authority on heaven and on earth is with us forever.  You need to have a personal meeting with Him to live a life that is personally with Him. In Matthew 18:18-20 it says, “Whenever two or three gather in My name, there I am in their midst.”  When two people with the goal of Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ will be guiding them and will be with them.  That’s the situation today.  When you go back to your family, wherever there are people gathered for the goal and the name of Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ is with them, and people take that into the field, and that’s why people gather in groups of 2-3.

2) Communicate

Secondly you must have communication with the Lord.

(1) Mark 1:35

It says Jesus Christ woke up before daybreak and He prayed.  If we are able to have a very personal time of communication with the Lord in the very early mornings before all the people are active, then without a doubt, that person will have victory in their life. That is how healing takes place, automatically, when you restore your relationship with the Lord.  Because all problems come from being separated from the Lord, when you have a proper personal relationship with the Lord, all things are restored. All you have to do is not have thoughts of manipulating the Lord.  

People keep trying to use the gospel and evangelism, then you have not established a proper relationship with God; that’s not a very personal relationship.  It means you’re trying to have a relationship with the Lord with the mind of trying to con or swindle Him.  You need to have a proper relationship.  You need to begin to have a very personal relationship-based prayer before anyone else can disturb you.  

(2) Acts 16:25-31

It says the Apostle Paul was praising and praying in the middle of the night in prison. This is something he had always done. Whether he goes into prison, whether he’s doing his ministry, he’s doing the same thing. As he was praising, there was an earthquake, all the doors of the prison opened and the chains were broken.  These are the things that happen when you have a very personal prayer with the Lord.  All the things that were binding us were broken. All the things you were stubbornly bound are released.  One day, your mental problems begin to be healed. If you’re able to have this quiet time of personal prayer with the Lord at a quiet time, I believe all things will be restored.

(3) Ephesians 6:18

Ephesians 6:18 says, “Pray in the spirit at all times and every occasion.”  In all times and in every occasion, take it to the Lord in prayer because the Lord is personal and He listens to our voice and answers.  That’s why you need to have a quiet time to give everything to God.  Praying within the spirit, means you are establishing a personal relationship with the Spirit.  Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers  for all believers everywhere.

3) Master (John 2:1-11)

When that Lord becomes your Master, that’s when God begins to work. Prayer isn’t about asking for what you want, but it is what the Lord desires. Problems aren’t problems, we are finding God’s plan within the problem God has permitted. Your suffering is not just suffering, but without a doubt, there is God’s plan within that, so that is why you must make Him your Master.

4) Romans 12:1-12

And we must give our bodies as living sacrifices to praise the Lord.  What does this mean?  It means you give your entire life to the Lord.  You have to give it to the Lord so it is used as His instrument. You are not using your body for yourself, you’re not using your own body for your own goals or pleasures for your life, but you are using it for the Lord as instruments of righteousness.

This actually contains a very grand meaning. A living sacrifice means I’m dead, it means I’m no longer living my life according to my thoughts and emotions.  Now, I’m living my life as a living sacrifice, living for the Lord’s plan and His Word, then you receive healing.  You receive healing in your life. Because this is not taking place, every time you go into your field, you keep moving centred on me, my benefit, you’re being seized in the field again.

5) Philippians 4:13

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  In the past, I had to live with my strength and mental fortitude, but that was a life crucified on the cross, enslaved by Satan. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.  When does the Lord give me the strength?  The Lord gives me strength and guides me to fulfill His plan and His will, but when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will receive power and become my witnesses to the ends of the earth.  The Lord gives me the strength to do all things within His plan to save the 237 nations, 5000 I reached people groups, the churches, and the future generations.  These are the things that must change in your understanding of your walk of faith.  

If the new believers don’t understand this about their walk of faith, then they are going to live their life in the church exactly like they used to centred on themselves, then it turns into a religious life.  If you don’t teach them this with the Word of God, then they will never know. You have to raise them up one by one with the Word of God. There’s no method of healing, “Do this and you’re healed,” but the way for restoration to find your mission is to allow them to live a life that is within Christ.  “I just want to live like this and then die,” but even that’s self-centered. You should think, “For the rest of my life, as long as I have, I must live for the mission of Christ,” but instead you’re seized by your own thoughts.  “Oh, I don’t have anymore hope, I don’t have a reason to live so I should die,” you shouldn’t live your life centered on your thoughts like that. It’s not about the things you want anymore. Instead, you should pray for the things that the Lord wants you to do and request his grace. That’s very important.  

When you say and think you have no more hope, or something to look forward to, it means there’s nothing more you want, because you don’t see a way to get it, but the fact that you’re alive means you still have a mission from God. If you didn’t have a mission, God would have called you up sooner. “I don’t want to live anymore,” even if you did, God would’ve stopped your breath and called you up soon. The fact that God is allowing me to still live means God has a mission He wants to fulfill through me.  That is a life that remains within the power of the Lord, because the Lord says, “I will give you the power to fulfill that mission.”

“Oh, but my body is so diseased, I have nothing to look forward to, anymore,” if you’re still alive God has a plan for you but it’s the fact that He doesn’t have a reason to give you strength yet.  Only once you restore the mission you have within Christ, the reason to live within Christ will God give you the strength and grace to fulfill it.  

What is the reason your life is so sad and without hope? Are you sad and lack hope because things aren’t working out the way you want?  That’s a disease. That’s you holding onto the things that Jesus Christ died on the cross for again and becoming enslaved by Satan by yourself. You have to help these people to quickly come back.  

Some people are so critical of themselves, and they curse themselves, “There’s nothing that I can do that’s better than others,” that’s someone who is still seized by self-centeredness, they make their plans according to their own thoughts. They evaluate and grade their lives based on their own thoughts.  “I am a child of God who has been bought by the price of the blood of Jesus Christ, but instead, I undervalue myself greatly.”  Quickly restore your identity with the Word of God.  If that doesn’t take place, you will live your life completely oppressed, dragged around by Satan.

There’s no need to look at yourself, you need to look at the gospel; you must look at yourself within Christ.  This is very important, however, people who are not yet strong in the gospel will look at themselves with a sense of justice and oppress themselves.  Many young adults are like that, there are so many renowned people in America, they’re so oppressed by the competition; they’re not even in the mainstream. By comparison, they’re oppressed.  

How are you going to heal this?  You must find your identity within Christ.  At first, they don’t like to hear this because they’re so seized by their own thoughts. When do they escape? Once the Word is continuously imprinted in them, then they will be liberated therefore, there can never be any healing unless it is by the word of God, because when the word is proclaimed the Holy Spirit works, and the diseased people trapped by their own thoughts will begin to be liberated.

On the other hand, there are people who are extremely arrogant, they think they’re so great, and it’s possible, physically speaking, for them to be better than others, but even that is enslaved by Satan, and one day, they will be so seized that they cannot even escape. We can only be restored and restore our mission within Him who gives me strength, our Lord.

3. Result

What is the result of a life that abides by the Lord?

1) Prayer (John 15:7)

John 15:7 says, “If you remain in Me and My Words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it shall be given to you.” If I’m in Christ, then prayer takes place, if I am not within Christ prayer does not take place.  Even for people outside of Christ, they can pray, but they pray religiously. These are religious prayers centered on themselves, but if you remain within the Lord, prayer takes place.  If prayer is not taking place, it means you are outside of Christ.  Legally, you may be within Christ, but your state it outside of Christ, so you’re in a state where this doesn’t take place.

Because you’re a child of God, God is pulling you forward; however, you remain in a spiritual state outside of Christ.  So, you suffer on both sides because Satan is beating you up, and on the other hand, God is dragging you forward.  

2) Fruit (John 15:8)

If you remain like this, you will bear much fruit, you only bear fruit when you are within Christ. Only the Word of God remains in your life; nothing else will never remain. All of your diligence doesn’t remain at all. Why is it gone? “Why is it gone even though I worked so hard?” It disappeared because your motive was for yourself. Anything that you had a motive for Christ will remain as eternal fruit. These students study so diligently, but what is their motive? What are they doing this for? They study so diligently but nothing remains.  We study our whole lives so diligently, but in the end of our life, nothing remains, why? Because it was for myself that I worked hard.  

It’s the same for your business, what are you working so hard for, pulling all nighters for? Other people say you’re diligent, but Satan laughs at you, “Try hard,” and one day you’re seized.  For what are you working so hard? Is it for you or is it for Christ?  If your goal and reason is not for Christ, there isn’t a single thing that remains. Only Christ will bear fruit in your life. Among all the things you’ve had in your life, only Christ remains. Everything else disappears as soon as you die. You just live to maintain your physical body, nothing else, and that’s such a foolish and pitiful life. That’s what happens when you study your butt off and have no wisdom.

3) John 15:8

And in verse 8 it says, This is for My father’s glory, what is glory?  God is glorified when the mission God gives me is fulfilled through me.  God is not glorified when you win first place in your school, but God is glorified when the mission he gave to you is fulfilled. Do you think God doesn’t receive glory unless you win the Olympic gold medal? It’s possible that the gold medalist Olympian isn’t glorifying God, Why? Because it’s for himself, and because they’re Christian they might have you use God, but that doesn’t glorify God at all.

In verse 8, it says, “Showing yourself to be My disciples.” When you’re within the Lord, you will bear fruit, you will glorify the Lord and make disciples. Who is a disciple?  The one who prays within Christ, then you will bear fruit and God will receive glory as you become a disciple of Christ.  In John 15:9, “As the father has lived me and I have loved you, remain in My love.” If you remain within Christ, you remain in Christ’s love, a love that forgives all things.  

The Lord forgives even our lackings. Love contains the word, “forgiveness,” you are constantly remaining in the love of Christ, and that’s how you are able to love others. If I’m not able to receive the love of Christ, I’m unable to love others. If you’re told to love others, it becomes a heavy burden because you’ve never received love.  You have to receive in order to give, but you’ve never received.  If you are just treating someone nice because you like them as a person, that’s not love; that’s just a person’s nice personality. Many unbelievers are nice as well, and many religious people act this way as well.  Within Christ, the love of Christ. We are always lacking, but again, God forgives us, gives us grace, loves us.  Again and again, the Lord always does this, and that’s what happens when you’re within Christ.

John 15:13 says, “You will love one another.”  John 15:12, “You will be able to display a love that yields, a love that forgives one another.”  If you pretend to be very nice to someone, then when there’s a difference in benefit, you fight with them, that is not love. You’re only trying to be nice to someone for some sort of benefit later on. That’s not love.  You are just being nice to them for your own benefit because you have to receive their help later on sometime, and that’s the work that unbelievers do.  If you receive love first, you will be able to unconditionally pray for those people, give the Word to those people, and forgive those people. That’s a person who is able to pray within Christ, personally.

It’s not a mechanical thing. Just praying even though you don’t know where the Lord is? That’s not a prayer; that’s ritualistic chanting.  Converse with the Lord because He has a personality and is actually realistic there with me in spirit, so I converse with Him, when? In the early morning.  For people who are too far to come to church, do your early morning prayer at home, and the reason you should do this at church if possible is because we must raise the church. Anyone can do this at home, but why do we gather in church? It is to raise the church.

Our Father’s house is a house of prayer, and that person is the one who will be victorious.  Some people are too far from church to gather, so do this in your homes, and without a doubt, you will bear fruit and relay the love that saves others.  Though we are so weak and flawed, that person will continue to revive the love and forgiveness of Christ.  If we receive love and grace, we will no longer be so critical.  All the scars and pickiness within us will disappear.

Just go before the Lord, just the way you are. Our lives can’t go well because we want it to. You may want to do good things but it won’t take place.  That’s trying to live well outside of Christ, centered on my own strength.  After 3 days it will end again in the place where you are. Because you are lacking God is with you.  Even if you sin and fall into wickedness again, you go before the Lord yet again.  

Even for children who receive much forgiveness from their parents, they will become the kindest people when they grow up.  Don’t you think that’s true? It’s because they’ve received a lot of grace from their parents. However, those raised strictly will turn their backs. Of course this isn’t always true for everyone, but if you think about it, all the people who received love from their parents’ words will repay the love and grace of their parents until the very end.  

We are not that great, but if we think we’re great, we won’t think about having a prayer life with Christ. Because we’re so weak and lacking, we have to have the grace and strength from Christ, and then when we fall short again, we go before the Lord again, and that’s the one who will do things later. If someone tries to do something quickly, they can’t continue.  At first it seems to be going well, but it ultimately ends. Continuation is grace. It’s not about doing well, but having continuation is doing well.  Don’t try to do things well because you don’t even have that ability; the Lord is already doing well. We don’t have to do that, but we just have to keep going until the very end, attached to the Lord.

If we fall over, we just have to go before the grace of the Lord again.  I have two brothers, and I was beat up the least by my brother, and the reason is because, whenever I did something wrong, I said I was sorry so there’s no reason for them to hit me. But if you do something wrong and you say you didn’t, they hit you in order to discipline you, but I don’t remember being beat up by my father many times, maybe twice? It wasn’t because I was good, but if I did something wrong, I would kneel before my father and say I was sorry, so he liked it, because before he mentioned anything or disciplined me, I apologized by myself. The parents are able to show their authority by saying, “That’s okay.” 

If you do something wrong but keep fighting until the end, you will get beaten up.  If you know you’re lacking and you go before the Lord, that is the way to receive His grace and love. “Lord, I do not have the finances to do temple construction.” You have to be very honest with Him; you shouldn’t keep measuring yourself as if you had so much, “Lord, give me the strength and grace to do this. Lord, honestly speaking, I don’t have the heart to raise remnants, but it keeps coming out in the messages at church, so Lord, give me the strength and heart to do this.” These are people who will bear fruit and save others.  

“Lord, how can I do 237? I don’t even have language skills. Give me the strength to be able to do that, or raise up the people who can do that.” That is the one who will become a disciple and bear fruit.  For people who boast about themselves from deep within themselves, they can never do this.  For people who know themselves too well, “I have no money; I cannot speak the language,” these people cannot do anything. 

You have to move from knowing this to going into Christ, “Give me the strength to be able to do that.” If you are not able to pray, then you will never have the power, because if you’re not able to pray, you’re essentially saying, “I’m going to live with my own strength,” you’re saying, “I’m going to live with my own sense.”  Then, as evidence that you’re not able to pray, you will not bear fruit, you will not have disciples, and you cannot save others.  

Starting today, you must change.  Even if your thoughts are so correct, those correct thoughts aren’t correct at all. You have to change it into prayer with the standard of the Word, then everything will turn into answers.  This will be relayed to your children and the next generation, but Satan will blind you from this, he will make you look at yourself from within yourself and seize your thoughts with correct words. You must escape from that. 

“I am not the master of my life, but the Lord is the Master of my life.” When the Word is proclaimed and it isn’t fitting with me, that becomes my prayer topic.  “The Lord says ‘I will restore you and give you a mission,’ but I don’t know what my mission is.” Then what is it that I must restore? You should know that, shouldn’t you? Then make that into your prayer topic.

“I don’t know what my mission is. I still don’t know what it is, I still think that my mission is just living a good life and eating food,” that is not your mission; that is insecurity. There is a separate mission God has given you.  In order to save people, we cannot do this, “God, give me the strength to be able to do this,” during the early morning, personally with the Lord, conversing with Him.  May you have this time of blessing.

Prayer

God we thank You.  May we live a life that abides in the power of the Lord. In Jesus Christ’s name we pray, amen.