Abide in Me • Deshen Daily

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me (Jn. 15:4 KJV).

Ablde in Me image showing a tree with fruits

Jesus commands us in the verse above to abide in Him if we are to be fruitful. Jesus is the Vine and we are the branches. If a branch is to bear any fruit, it must remain attached to the vine. We abide by remaining, or continuing, in Christ.

We all want fruits. Healing is a fruit. Financial prosperity is a fruit. Joy is a fruit, as are righteousness, love, and peace. A Christian can be abundantly fruitful, or entirely barren, or anywhere in between.

The secret of fruitfulness in our life is given to us right here by Jesus Himself with the words, “abide in Me.” Do not bother yourself with how the healing, joy, prosperity, peace, etc. will work out. If you abide, you will see the fruits.

Abiding in Christ as described above is not the same thing as becoming a Christian. The instruction to abide is not to unbelievers, but to believers. It essentially means remaining or continuing to be where you have been placed, or continuing to walk on the road you have been put on.

When you guide your thoughts, actions, and words by the Word, you are abiding in Christ. If we are anxious, for example, we are out of the Word, for the Word clearly tells us to not be anxious. When we are bitter, we are out of the Word. When we curse, slander, hate, etc., and do things that are against the Word, we are no longer abiding in Him. We abide by surrendering to the control of the Word through which the Spirit operates in our lives.

MEDITATE

Why does a branch need to abide in the tree to bear fruit?

APPLY THE WORD

Abide in Christ all day, every day. This is your ticket to a fruitful and flourishing life.

PRAY

Ask the Spirit to help you abide in Christ every single day.

Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God. And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the Lord which sanctify you. (Leviticus 20:7–8, KJV)

Jehovah Mekaddishkem showing washing gloves, cleaning fluid and sponge

As the Great I AM that I AM, God revealed Himself as the Lord who sanctifies His people in the Old Covenant—Jehovah Mekaddishkem. But this was only a shadow of something greater that was coming in the New Testament.

Jehovah Mekaddishkem is the English transliteration of the Hebrew words for “I am the Lord which sanctify you” ( “mekaddish” = sanctify, “kem” = you). Divine names and titles in the Old Testament often reveal an aspect of God in relation to His people.

There are three keywords that underlie the meaning of sanctification: “wash,” “consecrate,” and “separate.” Sanctification essentially means to make something holy. Sinlessness is a core aspect of holiness, but there is more to holiness than sinlessness. It is the very nature of God. However, when used in reference to us humans, it means to be cleaned from sin, set apart for God, and consecrated to Him.

In the passage above, God tells the people first to sanctify themselves and then reveals He is the One who sanctifies them. Thus, He gives us the two sides of sanctification—the God side and the human side. There’s something God does and something His people do for their sanctification.

This truth was only a shadow in the Old Testament. It is in Christ that we see God fully revealed as Jehovah Mekaddishkem to His people through the sanctifying work on the cross. In speaking to the Corinthians, Paul revealed,

“And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11, KJV)

This is Jehovah Mekaddishkem fulfilled in Christ: We were washed and sanctified. Note that these are in past tense, describing something God has already done. The day you received Christ, you received the bath of your life, a heavenly bath by the Spirit of God that removed every stain of sin through the precious blood of Christ. And as you continue to live on earth, the Spirit continues to sanctify you daily.

Following the sanctifying work He has already done in us, He commands us,

“For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:” (1 Thessalonians 4:3, KJV)

Now that you are clean, washed, and sanctified, He tells us to put that sanctification to work outwardly. Paul explicit states it is what God wants—His will. He gives us a very specific example of sanctification here: abstain from sexual immorality. Few things defile us, like sexual impurity. But sanctification certainly includes more than abstaining from fornication or adultery. As above, it includes living a consecrated and separated life to God daily in the way we talk, act, think, feel, and handle our bodies.

He is Jehovah Mekaddishkem, the God who has Sanctified you in Christ and continues to sanctify you every day.

Meditate

Is our sanctification completed, ongoing, or both?

Apply the Word

This is the crucial part of this devotional. Until you receive the truth that God has already sanctified you by His Spirit, you will not be empowered to be sanctified practically. Put God’s sanctification power to work in your life daily by faith in the finished work of Christ.