Abide

Abide
^{Sunday, December 7th, 2025
_{Pastor Amy Herzog}}
Nowadays, a lot of people quickly give up on things they start. For example, reading a new book, starting a new diet, or getting a new job. It becomes too difficult, uncomfortable, boring, or inconvenient. Pastor Amy presents an alternative, abiding. To abide is to stay. A close, personal relationship with God is what it means to abide with Him. This manifests as faithfulness, dedication, and loyalty.

John 15:4-8
_{Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.}

Sometimes we want to move. Sometimes we want to give up. This happens when things get difficult, when we get offended, or when we get discouraged; we quit. Abiding is how we bear fruit. Bearing fruit is how we bring glory to God. Fruit comes from intimacy. Pastor Amy discusses three ways to abide in Him, focusing on the main scripture of John 1:1: abiding in His word, in His presence, and abiding together.
_{In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.}

To abide we must be rooted in His word.

Colossians 2:6-7
_{As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.}

To bear fruit, you must have roots. The bible often compares us to trees.

Psalms 92:12
_{The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.}

The cedar and the palm tree represent longevity, steadfastness, uprightness, fruitfulness, and a righteous life. Palm trees can withstand harsh conditions, and they have a long life. In Aruba the winds are constant, and there is a type of tree that grows called a Divi Divi tree. The Divi Divi tree grows bent. They have abundant resources and remain green year-round despite their circumstances. Their trunks are flexible, and their roots are so deep down that even when the storms come, they may bend, but they never break. Just like the Divi Divi tree, it’s ok for you to bend, but don’t let the storms break you. To those who are rooted in God, He promises the righteous a life full of abundance. We must allow time for our roots to grow deep down. We cannot grow roots if we are always moving. Roots provide an anchor. Our roots keep us standing in tough times. Roots also absorb food and water that is preserved in the root system. His word is our bread of life and the water that can quench our thirst. Roots also provide storage and resources during the dry times. The word is in you throughout all seasons of your life when you are rooted in His word. When we have deep roots, we abide in His word, and we cannot be moved.

Ways to Abide in His Word

#1. Read it. 1 Year Bible is available on Youversion.
#2. Meditate on the word. Look up different versions of scripture.
#3. Memorize it.
Making a habit deepens the impact and gives you the ability to call on scripture when it's needed.
#4. Use it. Let the word be a solution to the world’s problems and not our opinion because the word is truth.

Abiding in His Presence

John 1:1

"Abide" refers to staying or residing, while "presence" (in the spiritual sense) refers to a profound or tangible encounter with Him via prophecy, worship, or the Holy Spirit. Our family will eventually follow if we set an example by abiding in Him. Everywhere we go, God is with us, and we ought to worship Him daily. In order for God to move in our lives, we must grant Him permission. God becomes a guest in our lives if we only occasionally spend time with Him. Inviting God to live within us on a daily basis is the path to true peace.

Worship daily.
I Chronicles 16:29
_{A scribe to the LORD the glory due His name; bring an offering and come before Him. Worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness.}
Psalms 95:1
_{Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.}
Psalms 119:175
_{Let me live that I may praise you, and may your laws sustain me.}

Pray without ceasing.
I Thessalonians 5:17
_{Pray continually}
Philippians 4:6-7
_{Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.}
Matthew 7:7-8
_{“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.}

Speak in the Holy Spirit.
One of the many gifts given to believers by the Holy Spirit is speaking in tongues.
I Corinthians 12:4-11

The Gift
God has given each of us a unique gift. We should be using our gifts to do His will and to connect with Him on an intimate level. We get rejuvenated and find supernatural peace when we use these gifts. This is more than anything the world could ever offer.

Abide Together

John 1:1

God is love. We are the representation of His love. We abide with God when we show the love of God. We are the word of God in the flesh.

Proverbs 27:17
_{As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
We are not meant to be isolated.}
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
_{Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.}

Man was not meant to be alone.

I John 3:18-20
_{Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in His presence: If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything.}

Psalm 68:6
_{God sets the lonely in families, He leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.}

Job 14:7-9
_{“At least there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail. Its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump die in the soil, yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth shorts like a plant.}

Have you been feeling hopeless? Go back to abiding in Him and He can bring you back to life.

I John 3:24
_{The one who keeps God’s commands lives in Him, and He in them. And this is how we know that He lives in us: We know it by the Spirit He gave us.}

John 1:1
_{In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.}

Abide in the word.
Abide in His Presence.
Abide together.