I woke in the pre-dawn darkness a few mornings ago. Though I’m usually in a good mood, that day my thoughts were dark and angry. I can’t tell you why I woke up in that state. Perhaps I had a bad dream or something.

In the past, I might have stayed with the train of negative thoughts for hours, but that morning I stopped myself. I took control of my thoughts by reciting a favorite phrase from 2 Corinthians:

‘…we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ.’

The full verse is this:

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ

2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV

Even though it took quite a few repetitions, eventually I banished the wayward thoughts. Once I cleared my mind, I heard the words ‘Abide in me.’  

I had to think for a moment, but then I remembered that those words were from John 15. Abide is an older word. In more modern translations, it is translated as remain. I like abide better, but both words lead us to the same place.

What Does Abide In Me Mean?

Here’s the passage from John 15:

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.  

John 15:4-5 ESV

To abide in Jesus that morning, I had to first clear out the mental trash and make room in my mind and in my heart for him. Then, a new verse came to me:

Take Up Your Cross And Follow Me

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

Matthew 16:24 NIV

you must take up your cross and follow me

Jesus took up his cross by leaving heaven and coming to earth. He did this out of obedience to his father.

Taking up my cross means being obedient to Jesus. I have to do this each and every day. I have to clear my thoughts and make them obedient to him.

The question is this. Am I going to take up my cross and follow him…today?

Am I going to take up my cross and follow him…today? 

Kurtbrouwer.com

Abide in Me

How can I do this? My method is this: First, take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ. Then I have to keep my thoughts on Jesus, which is to abide in him and to invite him to abide in me. Finally, I have to take up my cross and follow him.

Today Is The Day

I cannot go back in time to re-do the past. If I failed back then, I can certainly learn from it. But I can’t change the past. Nor can I call down the future. My only opportunity to abide in Jesus is right now. I can only take up my cross and follow Jesus…today.

I can only abide in him…today.

Yours in Christ, Kurt