Abide in the Lord (1 John 2:28-29)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 08-01-04
My Worship Time     Focus:  Abide in the Lord
Bible Reading & Meditation   Reference:  1John 2:28-29
 Message of the verse:  “28 ¶ And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.  29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.”  (NASB)  “28 ¶ And now, dear children, continue to live in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame.  29 Since we know that God is always right, we also know that all who do what is right are his children.”  (NLT)
 This is a repeat of these two verses, do to the fact that I had to back up my computer to before the time when I did this on the 31st of July, and so it erased that spiritual diary.
 These two verses are a bridge between the first theme of this letter, which is the fellowship portion of the first two chapters, and the second theme of this letter, which is the sonship (born of God), portion of this letter, and the remaining chapters in the letter.  There are three words I wish to focus in on at first, and they are abide, appear, and ashamed.  The Greek word that the English word abide comes from has this meaning, “a primary verb; to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy): — abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry (for), X thine own.”  John writes that the believer is to abide in Jesus Christ, and one of the reasons that he is to abide in Jesus Christ is so that when He returns to collect His Church those who have been abiding in Him will not be ashamed.  The word appear is referring to the rapture of the Church, which is the snatching away of the Church by Jesus Christ at the end of this Church age, and one of the things that will take place shortly after this will be the “Judgment Seat of Christ,” and in that event all of the believers from the Church age will be judged, not for sin, but for faithfulness to the Lord with the things He has given them to do.  If the believer has been abiding in Christ so that he has been faithful to the things that He has called him to do, then he will be rewarded, but if he has not been faithful he will not be rewarded, but will be ashamed. 
 In verse 29 John writes about how one can identify a true believer, or at least one of the clues to identifying one, and that is if he is practicing righteousness just as the Father is righteous.
 Spiritual meaning for my life today:  If I want to understand what the Lord has for me to do in this walk with Him, then I need to abide in Him at all times to find out what His direction is for me.
The Word of God has brought conviction to my heart as I read it this morning.
My Steps of Faith Today:  I think that this abiding in Christ is what goes on for the rest of the day after my personal devotions with God in the morning. 
Memory verses for the week:  1Cor. 13: 8-11
Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.  For we know in part and we prophecy in part; but when the perfect comes the partial will be done away.  When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.

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