The Hardest Thing

..."If anyone would come after Me, he must deny
himself and take up his cross daily and follow
Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose
it, but whoever loses his life for Me will save it."
Luke 9:23,24

'Abiding in Christ is something that every believer
has experienced, and yet it seems most difficult
to maintain...

1 Abiding is not something we do, but an 
     awareness that we trust the Lord completely.
2 Abiding is not dependent on us but on Christ.
     It is a faith issue. He is the one keeping us.
3 It is the setting of the mind on things above
     instead of on our self and flesh.
4 Abiding is the beginning point of an abundant
     life, and all hell is against victory.'
(My Weakness for His Strength
      by Michael Wells)

Reader, I am so challenged by what I share. In this
case there is a desperation to yield myself to Him
and to truth, His truth. You see abiding is not some-
thing I do in the morning when I 'read the Bible
and pray' but it is a continuous thing as I empty the
dishwasher and make the bed. The branch has to be
in continuous connection with the vine--or it dies.
Adam had the appearance of life after he declared
his independence from God, but his spirit had died.
We can live out of our own self, our flesh, and look
alive, even as we are fading. May we lean on Him
continuously, who is our Life!