Vital Union is the state of abiding in Christ and Christ in us. Like a branch that is joined to the vine, who finds it’s life through the vine, so we who are joined to Christ find our life through Christ. Jesus invited (rather commanded) that we would practice this abiding, in John 15:1-8. He illustrated the futility of doing any else, going so far as to say “For without Me you can do nothing.” Now I know I have done a lot of things without Christ. And looking over them, I would have to say that in light of eternity, life, and truth, they are nothing.
So how do I abide in Christ and bear fruit that remains? It’s really quite simple; yet it is counter intuitive. My flesh often gets antsy and breaks the union. But with practice, I am learning to hold the union longer and longer, and am bearing more fruit as I do.
Abide in Christ. The word abide means: To “stay (in a given place, state, relation, or expectancy)”, according to Strongs Concordance. Abide is a verb of remaining. But to remain, stay and abide, we first must accept the truth that we have been joined together in Christ. Joined together in His death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and high priestly ministry of intercession. In other words, we are in Christ by faith. Christ dwells in our hearts by faith. The life we now live, we live by faith, and it is no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us.
His Words Abide in Us. His words are spirit and they are life, they are truth, they bring faith – and faith is our justification. His words are our tangible connection in the face of any adversity, contest, accusation, or condemnation. His words are our lifeline. His words must “Stay in our hearts in the state we heard them first.” They must stay alive. In other words, we must hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of hope (vital union) that His words bring.
Putting the Two Together. Take a moment to quite yourself, turning your faith to the Lord and His complete and perfect work for you. Allowing yourself to become aware of this place provided for you, seeing Christ and His completeness as your righteousness. Praising Jesus for what He has done, we give thanks to the Father for His gift and accept our place inside of Christ. Here we abide. Now we hold His words in highest regard, grateful that truth is greater than any contrary experience. We choose His words as our connection, our rest, our abiding. We are abiding in Christ, His words now abiding in us.
Vital Union and Fruitfulness. Now, we converse in prayer asking anything, whatever we desire, knowing it shall be done for us. We rest, we remain connected, touching Jesus, His life, His faith, His love, His power, His miraculous ability flowing into, and through us. Soon, we notice that fruit growing. In our souls, we are quieted. In our hearts, we are joyful; and in our lives, we begin to witness tangible results.
How Long Does this Take? It takes time, because we disconnect from this place of vital union often. But that’s part of the learning, recognizing when we have disconnected from Christ. When we do, we do not condemn ourselves, we simply return to abiding. It’s that simple.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Wednesday January 27, 7 pm: Shirley Quon will be ministering, “The Wholeness of Christ.” Shirley’s passion for Christ’s wholeness “His fullness” to fill every believer, has sent her on a life journey of discovering all that Christ has done for us, and how to share these glorious truths. You will be blessed at what has been given to you in Christ and rejoice in what is removed from you through Christ.
Sunday January 31, 9 am: Brian Rogers will be sharing, “Living in Hope”. Reclaiming hope deferred to become hope alive.
Sunday, 10:20 am: Nations Prayer. I want to thank everyone who has joined us in humility prayer the first and last five minutes of Nations Prayer. Our posture of humility is pleasing to the Father and attractive to His grace. Let’s hold this place of dependency until grace overtakes all things.
Sunday, 11 am: I will be sharing “Building a Life Connection.” As I prayed for a dear sister after service last Sunday, I had a vision. In this vision, I saw a connection as thin as a thread between God and man. But then, I saw another strand, and then another strand layer itself upon the thread, until the thread became a cord. Not a rope but a living cord, like a spinal column filled with life, communication, vitality, power, and resurrection life. I knew this was for her, but also for all of us in our union with Christ. What does this life connection look like? What can we expect as we join ourselves to Christ and His words? What happens if this connection becomes severed? What can be done to restore it? How do we strengthen and build it up?
