so i am very sorry

so here is my apology for being the ultimate slacker this summer. i am very sorry and i know i have let all of you down. i really do not have an excuse. i have not honored your time that you have put into this. so adeline, leah, and david i am very sorry. i have a lot of thoughts and will post them tomorrow. once again i am sorry for not giving you the time you deserved.

jim

Leah's thoughts on ABIDE so far

I am now about halfway through Abide in Christ so I will give you my very unpolished random assortment of thoughts. 

In the very first chapter, the thing that struck me the most was the intimacy portrayed through the idea of Abiding IN Christ. It isn't just abiding with Christ but IN Christ. We are never to be broken from this cycle, this relationship, this unity that we now have with Jesus. With that comes the invitation to stay with Him and learn of Him (i think this idea was in a later chapter). Those two words, IN and OF make so much difference. We are to remain IN him and learn OF him. Not learn about Him but of him...which in my  understanding means learn of His ways, His character, His heart and His love for us.  

In thinking about Abiding lately, it reminds me a bit of marriage. Not that they are at all the same thing, obviously, however I think there are some similarities especially when it comes to the intimacy part. Being married, it is a decision that was made and a commitment followed. I can't just choose to be married some days and not others. It is a life covenant. I think that abiding in Christ is like this as well. Once we make that decision, it is permanent. We don't get to decide one day to not be in Christ. It is an even more intimate relationship. In marriage, well really all healthy relationships, the more that you know one another and the more time that you spend together, the more intimate you will be. That is how I see abiding as well....a deep relationship that is not to be maintained, but is meant to go deeper everyday because of the intimacy involved. 

I have been asking myself the past few weeks what it really means to "abide in Christ" and what I keep thinking/hearing is Abundance and fullness. To me, to abide in Christ means to live in the fullness of what Jesus died to give us. To think about what THAT means overwhelms me (in a really good way). I think it means gentleness and power, hope, love and peace of mind, health for the body, soul, and spirit, freedom, confidence, and so much more. And for me, the opposite of abiding would be striving and listening to my fears and insecurities. I was listening to a Bill Johnson sermon earlier this week and he said, "Striving for a Christian can only exist in the absence of knowing and understanding the Father's love." I love this because the answer is all in knowing our Father in a deep way to UNDERSTAND His love for us. If we really knew who we were and how much He loves us, it would be so easy to abide in Him because we would constantly want to abide in Him and we would trust Him enough TO abide in Him. 

well, thats it for now....sorry so jumbled! 

leah

Last Week's Thoughts on Abide in Christ

This is more a question than anything. I was intrigued that he spoke so much about how we do not have the nature of Christ. I guess I wondered what you all think. I had been assuming this whole time that upon our new birth we also take on a new nature, the nature of Christ; and, that while the old habits remained, our nature was also new. I guess maybe I'm wrong???

Adeline's Thoughts on The Spirit of the Disciplines

Thought #1: It really, really bothers me that I can't paste things from a word document into this box ...

There's only room for one thought; and I don't think anyone cares anyway! So enjoy, or don't ... up to you all!

Willard highlighted the face that even our Lord, Jesus, "learned" from His Father ... He was a student of the disciplines. While I long to know a variety of worldly disciplines, I often prefer to skip the learning part of it if at all possible. I always joke that "I hate a challenge;" but, it's not a joke, really ... I do. If it doesn't come naturally, I don't want to try. If practice is what's going to make it perfect, I'd rather find something else I'm "perfect" at immediately than "waste" my time learning the present task at hand. If there are instructions or lengthy practices involved, I don't find it worth my time. Essentially, I am repelled by tasks that require discipline ... and, I think this includes being a Christian. I desire the immediacy, the experience, the promises, the words ... yet without mastering the disciplines that characterize me as a partaker of such things ... without dwelling in the disciplines that are located within the very presence of God, who is, essentially, the very One who will provide the very things I'm seeking. After all, as Willard says, this (a life of discipline) is where that easy yoke is located; this is where our burden becomes light. The spiritual disciplines are gifts; I treat them as burdens ... as items on my spiritual checklist: anamolies to the occurences of daily life; things to be remembered ... things that normally wouldn't cross my mind. Brusing my teeth comes more naturally to me than these disciplines. Brushing my teeth never makes my checklist ... Everything that matters, everything that is important is protected and governed by disciplines. Why do I act as if protecting my teeth with the discipline of brushing them is more important than protecting my life with the spiritual disciplines?

Oops ...

So I accidentally pressed "Publish Post" before I meant to ... so this is actually the end part of my last post: "Week 3 Thoughts on Abide in Christ." I just have a few more quotes to share with you all. I think I'm probably kidding myself that anyone will read this stuff, but I'm writing it anyway ... I was an academic ... that's my excuse for my long posts ... it worked in school ... I did well ... doesn't so much work here ... but y'all will love me anyway ...

ANYWAY

"I would say that the greatest temptation is to be without temptations. The greatest onslaught is to be without any onslaught at all. Therefore be glad when you are assaulted. With resignation, peace and consistency ... ABIDE. There, in internal regions, walk and live." Michael Molinos

"You must be patient in all the suffering that God sends you. If your love for the Lord is pure, you will love Him as much on Calvary as on Mt. Tabor. The Lord Jesus loved His Father on Mt. Tabor where He was transfigured, but He loved Him no less on Calvary where He was crucified. Surely, then, you should love the Lord as much on Calvary, for it was there that He made the greatest display of His love. ... How much do you desire to hunger after God? You will hunger after God, and find Him, in the same proportion that you hunger after the cross." Jeanne Guyon

Week 3 Thoughts on Abide in Christ

Well this week's thoughts are really geared more toward what I read at the end of week two than what I'm reading here in week three, but I wanted to write about it instead; really, I just want to share others' wisdom with y'all again ... oops. But I, personally, never really have any profound thoughts, you know ... one's worth sharing ... things you wouldn't already know ... on the things I read ... BUT, I know of others who do! And so I just like to share with y'all what the Lord shared with them and they shared with me! Sharing is awesome!
So there is this AMAZING book that Kristina Boothe sent me at the beginning of last year (and I read a lot, so for me to say that it is AMAZING ... well, that means it's in my top three or five) when I was going through some really hard, hard times. It is called 100 Days in the Secret Place. It's a compilation (compiled by Gene Edwards) of medieval mystics' writings while they were in hard places or dark days. It's brilliant. I was reminded of it when reading the chapter in Abide in Christ called "The Crucified One." This is another one of those things that I really really understand that I just don't understand if you catch my drift. Another one of those concepts that I know should be a huge deal!
I really do believe that the cross is the place of greatest intimacy ... yet I don't crave it ... I don't even like it ... I have trouble even being thankful for it or finding the good in it. But I believe that that place holds unspeakable intimacy, a type of intimacy that can be experienced nowhere else, a type of intimacy that should I taste it, I would crave that marriage bed of the cross! Not there yet ... ANYWAY
Here are some things I don't get: My old man is LITERALLY dead. I think we treat our salvation as more of a birthday than a literal birth ... and I think we often kindof forget about the death thing that happened along in there. I think I view salvation as a part of my old man's evolution into a better man. ... But that's not it at all ... I mean, WRONG! Literal death; literal birth. I wish I could understand that. Anyway, I don't get this. I also don't get the "fellowship of death." That's pretty deep stuff. I have felt so dead for so many years of my life, and I never sought the fellowship in it. Little did I know, I was given a privleged place: to fellowship with the LIVING GOD in my sufferings. I wished them away. My selfishness made the cross to heavy; I ran from the place of greatest intimacy. I had years - and I mean YEARS - to experience it; I think I missed out ...
Now, for other's words of wisdom on the way of the cross:

"Often, when you suffer, it is the life of your self-nature that causes you pain. When you are dead you do not suffer. If you were completely dead to your old nature you would no longer feel many of the pains that now bother you. ... So while you have the opportunity to experience difficult trials, do not lose the slightest opportunity to embrace the cross. ... Do not waste your suffering. Let suffering accomplish what God wants it to in your life. Never get so hard that you suffer for no reason and for no purpose. " Francois de Fenelon

Week 2 Thoughts on Abide in Christ

So you know how on occassion you have this aha/duh moment? Well, I had one of those ... it's simple, but profound ... for me anyway ... I'm sure it's just "duh" to everyone else. BUT, the Lord once said to me, "My simplicity is so profound;" so there you go, I suppose.
Anyway, in reaching the chapter entitled, "As Your Wisdom" I got super excited. As most of you know, wisdom is one of my strongest desires in life. I want it; I crave it; and, I ask for it really, really often! And maybe it's one of the reasons I leave my hair long ... hey, if there are any strands of wisdom in there, I'm not cutting them off!
Well, it was a nice chapter ... instilled some wisdom within me, if you will ... oh wait, it's already in me because I'm IN Christ who is the wisdom of God! That's what I learned. For years I have been asking for wisdom and seeking it in my own way; and, my own way is reading reading reading. My primary, really only, way of seeking wisdom has been through reading. To gain wisdom I have primarily sought knowledge; I should be primarily seeking Christ. I mean, if Christ is the wisdom of God, abiding within Him would probably be the absolute best way to attain wisdom. If I desire wisdom, and Christ is the wisdom of God, I should strive to be Christlike even more than I strive to be learned.
Like I said, I know it's a duh kind of thing, but I suppose until now I have been guilty of being ignorant of this profound simplicity!