[Faith-talk] FW: [thefamilyoffaith] Abiding In The Vine - cfaith Easter 2012
Eric Calhoun
eric at pmpmail.com
Wed Apr 4 19:29:53 UTC 2012
Original Message:
From: "thefamilyoffaith" <TheFamilyofFaith at tampabay.rr.com>
To: <thefamilyoffaith at yahoogroups.com>,
<INTERCESSORS-ALLNATIONS at yahoogroups.com>,
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Subject: [thefamilyoffaith] Abiding In The Vine - cfaith Easter 2012
Date:
Wed, 4 Apr 2012 08:34:41 -0400
Abiding In The Vine
This Easter season, I encourage you to set aside
daily distractions and find time to "abide in Him" because only then will
you discover the joy and peace that is waiting for you within that empty
tomb.
April 2012
Dear Tony
In just a few days, Christians around the
world will celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. His willingness to suffer
and die on our behalf-in order to restore mankind's relationship with
God-is the greatest mystery and gift any Christian could possibly
experience.
That's why Easter is such an important
holiday. It reminds me of Christ's sacrifice, renews my faith in a loving
Savior, and recharges my spiritual batteries to move forward-with power and
confidence-in what God has called me to do.
I love the fact that we celebrate Easter in
the spring-when all of creation is renewed again. Trees grow, flowers
bloom, and landscapes explode with color as if God is sounding the trumpet
of life to begin once again.
Forgive me, but I just don't get that warm,
fuzzy rejuvenation feeling during the long months of winter. All I "get,"
here in Minnesota, is a whole lot of cold and snow.
But as spring represents newness of life in
a natural sense, Easter does the same thing in a spiritual sense. The
celebration of Easter is an annual reminder that no matter what sort of dry
or desolate season we may walk in or out of, there is always hope-and new
life-in what Jesus did for you and me on the cross.
But in today's fast-paced world, it is easy
to get caught up in the daily demands of life, work, and ministry and
thereby miss the beauty and significance of Christ's sacrifice. If I want
to maintain and protect my intimacy with God-especially during the Easter
holiday-I must guard against the increasing number of distractions that
compete for my time, attention, and energy.
Abiding In The Vine
God longs to have an intimate relationship
with all of his children. He loves us so much that He sent Jesus to die on
the cross in order to abolish the barrier of sin that kept us detached from
our heavenly Father.
That is what Easter is all about. Through
His death, life was brought to us who believe. But in order to fully
experience God's power and presence in your lives, you must put away
earthly distractions which get in the way of staying connected to Him. The
Bible describes this effort as "abiding in the vine."
"I am the vine, you are the branches. He
who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do
nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is
withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are
burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what
you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified,
that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples."
(John 15:5-8 NKJV)
To "abide" in the vine doesn't mean to
simply visit with the Lord once a week on Sundays or whenever I feel like
it. In addition, to abide in the vine doesn't mean I throw up a quick
prayer in the morning while I hurry out the door.
I want to get to a place where I desire to
spend time with the Lord. It doesn't matter how much time. What matters is
that I am there, seeking Him, because I want to...not because I feel
compelled out of pressure or guilt.
Too often we tend to look at others and
make assumptions about their spiritual condition based on the amount of
time they spend doing religious activities. All of us have different
motivations for doing these things, but if we are not serving God or others
from the heart, then we are not abiding in Him.
The word abide means: to remain, to tarry
or sojourn, or to wait. I like the way one translation puts it: "maintain a
living communion with Him." This suggests a relationship with God that is
ongoing throughout the day. It means that my heart is in constant communion
with Him.
If you are anything like me, by now you are
probably asking a few different questions:
a.. "But how am I supposed to commune
with the Lord throughout my busy day?"
b.. "Can't I just think about all of this
on Easter Sunday?"
c.. "How can I meditate on His sacrifice
and resurrection when I barely have time to get dinner on the table?"
We can do these things by cultivating a
conscious awareness of His abiding presence in our life-not just during our
daily prayer time, but throughout the day. In other words, from the rising
of the sun to the time that it goes down, I should be aware of the God's
presence in my life.
That should be the goal for all of us.
As Christians, our relationship with the
Lord should not be "on" one minute and "off" the next (ask me how I know).
Thanks to what Jesus did on the cross, you and I are no longer separated
from God! But He will not force anyone to accept the free gift of salvation
that Christ secured for us. God will not require that I spend time with Him
in prayer. Consider you own children: are you blessed when they talk to you
because they have to, or because they want to?
This Easter season, I am trying to develop
a deeper understanding of Christ's sacrifice and what it means to me as a
Christian. I encourage you to do the same.
Resurrection Sunday represents a revelation
of God's love that is incredibly personal and powerful, and it should never
be taken lightly or for granted. I hope you will join me as I strive to set
aside daily distractions and find time to "abide in Him." Why? Because only
then will we discover the joy and peace that is waiting for each one of us
within that empty tomb.
Easter Content Available At cfaith
As we prepare for the upcoming Easter
holiday, cfaith once again plans to highlight a considerable amount of
holiday content on the front page of our website.
Our special collection of Easter content
will bless you, renew your faith, and help you abide in the vine. I
encourage you to read the variety of teaching articles or listen to any of
the on-demand audio and video messages. If possible, I hope you will tell
others about these powerful online resources. Encourage them to visit
www.cfaith.com and be blessed as well!
Thank You
Our ongoing efforts to enhance and improve
the ministry efforts of cfaith would not be possible without your continued
assistance and encouragement. Together, we are helping each other maximize
our collective ministry influence, and that is what being a member of the
cfaith family is all about. Thanks to you, we are learning to abide in God
and reach the lost in powerful new ways-each and every day.
This Easter season, it is my prayer that
you will experience Christ and the joy of His resurrection in a powerful
new way.
Celebrating His resurrection with you,
Jeff Litfin
ministry operations leader
cfaith
--------------------------------------------------
easter articles
Hosanna
By: Tim Gilligan
Inviting Company for Easter?
By: Phil Winn
The Omega Man
By: Mac Hammond
Good News About Good Friday
By: James Dumont
The Resurrection and the Life
By: Sharah LaGail Wyatt
For More Content
CLICK HERE
related scriptures
"I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone
who believes in me will live, even after dying."
- John 11:25 NLT
"You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who
was crucified. He isn't here. He is risen from the dead!"
- Mark 16:6 NLT
"I have written this to you who believe in
the name of the Son of God that you may know you have eternal life."
- 1 John 5:13 NLT
"And He Himself is the propitiation for our
sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world."
- 1 John 2:2 NKJV
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