If I am ministering, I have to be anointed by His Spirit, or I might as well stay home. God’s wisdom–His way of doing things–is available in every area of our lives, and I know I need it. I can’t afford to engage in activity before I’ve spent time with God.
“That’s necessary for you,” someone might say. “You and Kenneth are preachers. It takes the supernatural power of God to do what you do.”
Whether you know it or not, it takes the supernatural power of God for you to do what you’re called to do, too! Even if you’re not in the fivefold ministry, God has a divine calling and purpose for you to fulfill. Ephesians 2:10 says that He has predestined, or planned beforehand, good paths for all of us to walk in and good works for us to do.
But there is only one way we’ll ever be able to do them–by abiding in Jesus and communing continually with Him.
Jesus left no doubt about that. He said: “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. 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” (John 15:4-5).
The word abide Jesus used has a sense of permanency about it. It doesn’t mean “to come in and go out.” It refers to the place where you remain and dwell continually.
When Ken and I travel, we might stay in a hotel for a week. We live there temporarily, but we don’t abide there. We abide in our home in Fort Worth, Texas. That’s where our belongings are. That’s the place we continually return to. That’s where we live.
When Jesus said, “Abide in Me,” He wasn’t saying, “Visit Me when you go to church on Sundays and whenever you have a big problem.” He wasn’t talking about a sporadic or temporary arrangement. He was instructing us to make that place of dependency on Him and communion with Him the place we continually remain. He was telling us to make it our permanent dwelling place.
And He immediately told us why we must do that. It’s because if we don’t, we won’t be able to produce the proper fruit in our lives. If we’re not continually walking with Him and talking with Him–continually spending time in His Word and listening for His direction on the inside–spiritually we won’t be able to accomplish anything.
