Abiding and Fruit Bearing - Part 8

Now, what does this abiding do so far as fruit-bearing is concerned?  Well, we go back to 1 John 3:6, where it says, "Whosoever abides in Him sins not"!  What do you think of that?  That's beyond your comprehension and mine, isn't it?  "Whosoever abides in Him sins not"!  Now tell me, Why is this a fact, and how is this a fact?  Is this about pardon?  Is this about believing in it?  Well, how much can the branch do that abides in the vine?  It can do nothing!  How much?  Nothing!  All it can do is abide; that's all it does.  It is true that it receives its strength from the vine, but does it say, "Well, now, I 'd like to have five gallons of sap today"?  Or does it say, "I only need a quart today!"?  Does it?
No!  What does the branch do?  Nothing!  It receives exactly what the vine gives it!

Now the word "abiding" implies something very important for us to understand.  What is implied when the word "abiding" is used as a command?  The point is this:  There would be no need to give the counsel--the command--to abide if it were not the natural thing to do the opposite!  Isn't that true?  The natural thing is to not abide.  We get the information; we gather the facts and then go our way with a big smile on our face.  Isn't that what we do; get the inspiration, then leave the Source?  That's the natural thing to do.  Jesus said "Abide".  This abiding, then, is the essential thing, the absolutely essential thing, for living the Christian life.  Abiding is the one thing that we must absolutely do to live the victorious life; there is no way around it.

Now immediately somebody says, "But tell me, how?"  Notice page 69 of "Steps to Christ":  Do you ask, 'How am I to abide in Christ?"  "Have you ever asked that?  Absolutely!  "In the same way as you received Him at first.  'As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him.'"
Colossians 2:6.  So, if we a bide in Christ, the ability to walk even as He walked is ours.  Isn't that right?  Of course it is.  That's why 1 John 2:6 says that the ability to walk only comes as we abide.

It's getting better all the time isn't it?  I pray that you are being blessed as I am.  This is so powerful that it actually changes our lives to a complete turn around.  I love to know that I can abide in Christ and He takes over the Fruit Bearing, the Love, Joy, Peace etc. in Galatians 5: 22,23.  Grandma Joan