This Christmas Do Not Underestimate Jesus

No one knows for sure how many people actually held in their arms the baby Jesus.
What we do know for sure is that none of them fully understood the quality of the life they held in their arms.

There is one story in the book of Luke where an elderly Jewish man received from the Holy Spirit a revelation of at least a part of Jesus' true worth.

And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.  And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.  So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law,  he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:
“Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace,
According to Your word;
For my eyes have seen Your salvation
Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of Your people Israel.”
And Joseph and His mother[h] marveled at those things which were spoken of Him.  Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

Luke 2:25-25

Simeon did not know everything about Jesus but he did not underestimate him.  He confidently spoke what He knew was true of the child he held in his arms.

Every disciple of Jesus holds Jesus in the arms of their interior life.  Every disciple is a Bethlehem where the presence of Jesus rests waiting to be revealed.

This Christmas ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you exactly who it is that you hold with the arms of  your inner life.  He will.

To underestimate Jesus is the greatest mistake we can make as humans.  We may not know all that He is but what we have received from the Holy Spirit about Him we can affirm this Christmas.

This Christmas do not underestimate Jesus.  He is all and is in all who believe. Hold Him and declare what you know.

 

Bud McCord

Abide International

The Words of Jesus

Jesus called special attention to His own words.  He measured His relationship with His disciples by their appreciation of and obedience to His words. We should learn to take the words that came directly from Jesus’ mouth very seriously.

The authors of the Scriptures faithfully received and recorded inspired words from God to bless mankind.  Only Jesus became those words fulfilled in flesh and blood and spoke as the voice of God with us.

Jesus’ words are a fulfillment of the Scriptures that were given before He was born.
All of the written words of Scripture find their final fulfillment in the Person and Life of Jesus.  Every word of the Scriptures is written so that we will hear Jesus.

Reserve a special place in your inner life for the words that came from the mouth of God made flesh among us.  Hearing Him and obeying Him continues to be the measure of our discipleship.

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

John 8:31-32

 

Bud McCord

Abide International

New Things

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away;

behold, all things have become new.
II Cor. 5:17

Jesus living in a disciple by the Spirit is the source of new things that are coming to each disciple every day.  The things of the old creation do not match with Jesus within.  New things birthed by Jesus in the new creation do.

New thoughts come to us every day when we receive them from Jesus.

New desires come to us every day when we receive them from Jesus.

New ideas come to us every day when we receive them from Jesus.

New paradigms come to us every day when we receive them from Jesus.

New ways to love others come to us every day when we receive them from Jesus.

New relationships come to us every day when we receive them from Jesus.

In the world dominated by death things are always getting older.    In the new creation birthed in Jesus all things are becoming new for us and in us.

Stay with the new things in Jesus.  They match with Jesus who has made you new and lives in you.

Bud McCord

Abide International

What Makes You Think?

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.
Proverbs 23:7

What makes you think you have the right to be called a child of God?   Jesus

What makes you think you have eternal life?  Jesus.

What makes you think you can drink from a fountain of life within?   Jesus

What makes you think you can always have the bread of life?  Jesus

What makes you think you can overcome human error?  Jesus

What makes you think you can see the way?  Jesus

What makes you think you know the truth?  Jesus

What makes you think you have abundant life?  Jesus

What makes you think you will never die?  Jesus

What makes you think you can serve others?  Jesus

What makes you think you can forgive 70 X 7?  Jesus

What makes you think you are salt of the earth?  Jesus

What makes you think you are the light of the world?  Jesus

What makes you think you can bear much fruit for the glory of God?  Jesus

What makes you think you can be at rest?  Jesus

If we really are what we think, then we better be thinking Jesus.

Bud McCord

Abide International

EYES WIDE OPEN TOWARD JESUS

The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee,

and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. John 12:21

True Christian living is best lived with our eyes wide open to see Christ’s love in action both within and without.  When we see Christ loving us within we can see ourselves as the incarnation of Christ’s love without. Love for those Jesus loves without is what happens as we continuously see Christ’s love for us within.  

A Hindu priest dives for days into deep silence and meditation to connect with his God.  He disappears completely into the invisible world.  While he is gone within those who are without must live without his presence or love. Monastic communities live separated to the world within and those without are shut off from their daily love.

An abiding disciple of Jesus, on the other hand, walks in the Spirit with eyes wide open to the invisible and visible world of God’s love in Christ. An abiding Christian can see Jesus’ love for him in the invisible and be Jesus’ love for others in the visible world at the same time.

He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said,

out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.  John 7:38

Only while seeing Jesus’ love deeply within can the disciple also see and love deeply those Jesus is loving without.  Jesus lived and loved with His eyes wide open seeing the Father’s love within and without and so can we.

And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in

our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. Romans 5:5

Live in the Spirit.Live as a manifestation of the Jesus who lives and loves you within in order to become through you life and love for those without. Are your eyes wide open within and without to Christ’s love? They can be and love within and without depends on seeing Jesus.

Bud McCord

Abide International

Rooted

…remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.
Romans 11:18b

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
Col. 2:6-7

True spirituality begins in the root.  The root is Jesus. Jesus always was and always will be the root of all spirituality God wants or accepts.
 

And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. Col. 1:17

Legalism always offers us a plan to change places with Jesus. Legalism calls us to support Jesus.  Legalism is always a complete failure because Jesus does not need our support.  We need His.

It is always Jesus who is the root and support of spirituality. If we want to live a spirituality that inspires, liberates and produces the fruit God desires we must understand that Jesus is the One who sustains us moment by moment.

Bud McCord

Abide International

HOPE

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
I Cor. 13:13

To lose hope is to lose love.


Hope exists between faith and love.  Without hope the ecosystem of divine love ceases to function.

The Apostle Paul affirms in I Cor. 13 that three realities function together so that love can continue to exist among us.  These three are faith, hope and love.  Love is clearly the goal.

Faith is the human capacity to receive love directly from God in Christ.  Faith allows us to receive the love we need to be truly human.  We are truly dependent beings and all things begin in us by receiving or by faith.  It is only by faith that love is born in humans.

Hope is like a bridge over which we walk in order to deliver love to others.  Faith alone cannot deliver love.  Someone filled with hope must cross the bridge each day.

The enemy of our soul attacks our hope.  He attempts to destroy our hope and destroy the bridge over which love must pass.  It is no accident that so many disciples of Jesus are depressed.  The enemy of love is at work to destroy our hope.

To lose hope is not just painful for us.  It is also painful for those who wait for love on the other side of the bridge.  To lose hope always means some love goes undelivered.

Hope abides in every disciple because Jesus is the source of divine hope.  We must cultivate deep and lasting hope in Christ if we would guarantee the delivery of love.  To hope in Jesus is to prepare ourselves to cross the bridge of hope each day.

Cultivate a deep hope in Jesus.  Stay focused on Him moment by moment.  He is the source of hope.  To lose hope is to lose love as well and love must not be lost.
 

Bud McCord

Abide International

Never Underestimate Jesus

"Christ is all…"   Col. 3:11

"He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own[d] did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name."

John 1:10-12

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,

the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

John 1:14

When we underestimate Jesus we lose something of our own humanity and our future. When we do not see Jesus as “all “ we let someone or something else occupy the space reserved for only Him.

When the church underestimates Jesus the church’s love grows weak and sick. The church where Jesus is not all is living in lack and not in abundance.

When I underestimate Jesus my love grows anemic and I live in lack and not in abundance.

Look again at the worlds “Jesus is all”. If we underestimate Jesus in our evaluation of reality the consequences can be much more profound than we imagine.

Losing the right to become “children of God” is no small thing. It is all. When we underestimate Jesus we always lose something and we can end up with nothing.

 

Bud McCord

Abide International

Connection

 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.  And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
Col.1:16-17

Sometimes we do not let the Bible say to us everything it was inspired to say. Sometimes without meaning to we diminish the impact of what the Bible says. Sometimes on purpose we refuse to hear what the Bible says because what it says does not fit our preconceived ideas.

Read again the words from Col. 1:16-17 and let the Bible reveal Jesus to you. The Bible’s main goal is to get you face to face with all Jesus is in every area of your life because He is the way, the truth and life.  Let the Bible do in you what it was written to do by the Holy Spirit’s inspiration.  Let the Bible take you to Jesus.

According to these two verses there exists a connection right now between Jesus and all things.  Do we see this connection each day as we interact with all things around us?  Do we really understand that Jesus’ existence is connected to all things right now?

If we really did see Jesus connected as Creator and Sustainer of all things would it change anything about our day to day behaviour?  Does this Jesus connection matter?

Think about the way we humans mistreat nature each day.  If we could see Jesus connected to all the manifestations of nature around us, would we still throw trash in a river?  If we could see Jesus still connected to nature would we treat many animals as only a means to an end?

If we could still see the connection between Jesus and every one of the 7 billion people on this planet would we be so quick to call someone an idiot?  If we saw each person as still connected to Jesus as Creator and Sustainer would we support racism or abort a baby?

We run a great risk when we do not let the Bible fully reveal all it says about reality and especially what it says about Jesus as the source of reality.

Jesus is still connected to all things as Creator and  Sustainer. I need to see and respect this connection in all things.  I need to appreciate the connection that everything has to Jesus. I need to do all I can to bless this connection to Jesus in all things so all can see and appreciate Jesus’ connection for them and to them as Creator and Sustainer.

It is not a big step from appreciating Jesus as the Creator and Sustainer to accepting Jesus as the Saviour.  And what a different and intimate connection that is to Jesus!

Bud McCord

Abide International

True Spirituality

"I am the true vine"
Jesus
 

True spirituality is birthed into this world only in connection with its source which is the perfect life of Jesus Christ.  As surely as a true grape is proof of a living connection that existed with a real vine, so, too, the fruit of a truly spiritual person is proof of connection to Jesus, the True Vine.

There are so many spiritualities that claim to be true in our world yet they can never be.  Theyfail to carry within them the Holy DNA of the Spirit of Jesus. Whatever these human spiritualities may be and  no matter how many say they are the true, the test of them all will be proven connection to to the Holy DNA of  Jesus.

It may be hard for us to see the great gulf between all so called spiritualites and the true Spirituality of connection to Jesus. Even so the gulf will be made abundantly clear when Jesus is placed close to everything that He did not inspire.  On that day the missing DNA will be clear to even the blind.

Christ is us and connected eternally to our spirit is the source of all true spirituality.  If we would just come to Him in the inner sanctuary of our lives, we would finally begin to worship in spirit and in truth and His Holy Spirit would begin to send His precious grapes through our lives and out from us as love.

“Christ is all and is in all.” Col. 3:11

 

Bud McCord

Abide International

Jesus-ALL

Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.  But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.  God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

John 4:21-24

The one thing we must never do in our inner life is make Jesus less than what He is and less than what He can do.  If we do diminish Him in our spirit, mind, emotions and will,  we will never worship in spirit and in truth.  We must learn to continuously worship in spirit by attributing all worth to Jesus and worship in truth by continuously seeing Jesus for who He is as truth.

It is only when we see Jesus as ALL and we give Him worship as ALL that we become the kind of people God seeks. Every disciple should want to be easily found by God!

We would all do well to begin each day affirming that the presence of the Spirit of Christ within us is where ALL truth is and where ALL inspiration to love begins.  If we would simply rest  each day in ALL the worth He is and ALL the truth He is, we would begin our day in spirit and in truth.  Only then are we  where the God who seeks true worshippers can easily find us.

In this world all we see is not what it appears to be.  The world hides lies behind many masks and we are all easily fooled into attributing truth to lies.  To believe in all we see around us is to certainly begin our day in less instead of all.  To give worth (worship) to all we see around us is to certainly begin our day in the wrong spirit.  We would do well to remember that all the world rests in the wicked one but all disciples can rest in Jesus.

In every disciple Jesus is ALL he appears to be now and forever.  He wears no  masks, tells no lies and inspires only love.  God would have each of us worship Him by attributing to Him ALL and by seeing Jesus as ALL truth  from the moment we awaken each day.

Worship Him now in spirit and in truth.  God will always find this worship because He seeks it.

 

Bud McCord

Abide International

Conversion

 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.Col. 2:6-7

When we receive Jesus we experience firsthand the grace of God.  At conversion we receive in Jesus all God has for us and all God demands of us.  The new convert is filled with the joy of receiving pure love from its true source.

Some conversions may not be as dramatic as others.  Perhaps the force of a some conversions is due to the depth of one’s hunger and thirst for true love.  No matter the force of one’s conversion the disciple of Jesus knows that love has arrived and is like living water to the interior life.

Each day should be a new experience with conversion.  We never move past conversion because it is from the same source that we drink each and every day.

Have you experienced the power of conversion today?

 

Bud McCord

Abide International

In The Vineyard with Jesus

Every disciple of Jesus should be discipled as they walk alone through the Father’s vineyard with Jesus.  If Jesus could take each of His followers into the vineyard and tenderly describe the relationship He and the Father have with us and want to develop over time in us, we would rejoice at the chance to be His disciple branches forever.

As hard as it may be to believe, the Holy Spirit , who is the Spirit of Christ, will take every believer on a personal tour of  the Father’s vineyard.  The Holy Spirit is the guide to the Father’s vineyard if we will surrender and go alone. All we must do is ask the Spirit to take us into the Father’s vineyard to see ourselves in Jesus.

In the vineyard with the Spirit we learn that discipleship is an intimate and eternal connection to and cooperation with Jesus, the Vine. This connection, intimacy and cooperation with Jesus is cultivated daily by the Father for the singular purpose of delivering into the world the glorious fruit of Divine intimacy which is love. 

It is in the vineyard with the Spirit that we see ourselves as disciples who receive by grace from Jesus all God wants from us.  It is in the vineyard we learn to rejoice in our complete dependence on Jesus.  It is in the vineyard that we embrace the fact that we exist to release freely the fruit of pure love which comes from our connection to and cooperation with Jesus.

It is in the vineyard that we finally find rest for our souls and a vision of true discipleship. 

For those who long for discipleship that is true and authentic, let the Spirit of Christ take you by the hand and walk you through the Father’s vineyard.  This walk will change you forever.

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 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.  If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.  If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.  By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. John 15:1-8

Jesus: See Him

"Christians have made the gospel about so many things . . . things other than Christ.
Jesus Christ is the gravitational pull that brings everything together and gives them significance, reality, and meaning. Without him, all things lose their value. Without him, all things are but detached pieces floating around in space.
It is possible to emphasize a spiritual truth, value, virtue, or gift, yet miss Christ . . . who is the embodiment and incarnation of all spiritual truth, values, virtues, and gifts."

 

Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola - Jesus Manifesto

 

And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. Col. 1:17

Is the Jesus described by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola my daily Jesus?

Is the Jesus described  by Paul in the book of Colossians the Jesus I see abidiing in me right now?

Do I see Jesus being before all things?

Do I see the one who died for me and lives in me holding all things together?

Do I really see that my very existence depends on His existence?

Am I really aware that He gives me my value?

Is He really keeping me from becoming  detached pieces floating in space?

What space does such a Person deserve in my mind, emotions and will?  Does He have that space in me?

Being I can ever hope to live Jesus I must first see Him clearly.

May God open my eyes and the eyes of all His children to see Jesus.

 

 

Bud McCord

Abide International

Stubborn

I love leaders!  I love people who know where they are going and inspire others to go joyfully with them.  Having declared my love for leaders, I need to lovingly tell my leader friends  “Stubborn is not a spiritual leadership gift.”

Listen again to what the fruit of the Spirit is.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is

love,

joy,

peace,

longsuffering,

kindness,

goodness,

faithfulness,

gentleness,

self-control.

Against such there is no law."

Galatians 5:22-23

For too long some leaders have hidden their stubbornness beyond a very thin veneer of spirituality. They have found a way to be stubborn by simply saying to those who follow them  “God gave me this vision.”  

A vision given by God can and must be lived without being stubborn.  If a vision cannot be lived by the fruit of the Spirit, it is not of God.   If the implementation of  a vision requires we force others to follow and use the words “God told me” to gain cooperation, then we are not leading as Jesus lived and led.   

Jesus was not stubborn.  He invited and inspired others to follow Him.  Jesus took on the form of a servant and even washed feet.   

Stubborn may feel good for a time, but it is never a satisfying way to lead.

Truly stubborn leaders end up alone at the top of a pyramid where there is only hot air to keep them company.

 

Bud McCord

Abide International

Jesus and Reality Or Jesus is Reality

"Reality is the conjectured state of things as they actually exist, rather than as they may appear or might be imagined. In a wider definition, reality includes everything that is and has been, whether or not it is observable or comprehensible. A still more broad definition includes everything that has existed, exists, or will exist."

One of the most fascinating things about Jesus is how He made Himself the subject of His own teaching.  Unlike all other religious leaders who teach about reality and call people to connect correctly to that reality, Jesus made Himself the reality to which everyone must connect.

If Jesus had simply explained reality like other teachers He never would have generated such hatred toward Himself or such love toward Himself.  By making Himself reality Jesus invites us to live a Person as reality not a system of reality.

True Christianity is not teaching Jesus is reality.  True Christianity is   teaching Jesus is reality and living Him as our reality.  “Without Me you can do nothing…”John 15:5 “For to me to live is Christ.” Phil. 1:21

Listen to the words of Paul in Collossians 1:15-20 and Jesus is reality will be clear.

Collosians 1:15-20
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.  And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.  And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,  and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

Do you live Jesus as reality?

 

Bud McCord

Abide International

Spirituality and Attention

“Whatever gets your attention gets you.” Mike Wells

It takes some time for us to verify if a great saying is actually true.  Just because something sounds true does not mean it will stand the test of time and practice in our lives.

After many years of testing Mike Well’s statement about attention I can confidently say this saying is true and worthy of trust.

Each day I live the challenge to stay focused on the perfection of Jesus instead of dividing my attention with the distractions and distortions of the world that surrounds me.  For me, the question of who gets my attention each day has become the singular question that determines the quality of my daily life and love.

I have come to believe that staying focused on Jesus is the very essence of what some call spiritual warfare.  When I start my day focused on and inspired by Jesus I defeat the power of lack that fills and frustrates the world around me and I begin to deliver the love of Jesus that abides abundantly in me.  Focusing on Jesus in me as my source of life and love keeps me receptive to His perfection and something of His life and love can flow from my life day by day.

Spirituality, attention and love are forever linked.  Anyone who wants to move beyond imitating Jesus sporadically toward living Jesus continuously will need to live with their attention on Jesus moment by moment.  When at war one’s attention must stay on what wins the war.

Jesus wins the war in us and through us moment by moment if we pay attention to Him.  Abide in Jesus!

 

Bud McCord

Abide International

ALL

“Christ is all ”
Col. 3:11

Jesus is all there is.  He is the source of all that exists.   He is the power that is all and sustains all.

It pleased the Father that the fullness should abide in Him.  He is where we must look to see all.  He is the one to whom we must listen to hear all. He is the path where we walk with all.

Letting the power of  “all” settle into our mind, emotions and will is the way   to finding personal, inner peace.   When we know that “all” is a Person who loves us we can finally rest. The peace we all seek only comes when we find all.

Jesus wants all of us.  Jesus cannot ask us to come to Him partially.  All must ask all. He asks us to commit to Him as all.  He asks us to eat His flesh and drink His blood because we must be filled and sustained by all He was, is and always will be.

Since He is all there is, there is no way to relate to Him partially. Jesus’ says those who love Him will finally obey Him fully.

He is all. He asks all. He gives all.

 

Bud McCord

Abide International

The Conflict of Wills

Wars are conflicts of wills.  Wars begin when men seek to impose their will on others and wars on earth only end when one side is forced to submit to the will of the other.

Wars are common among men because in Adam we have all eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  This is the tree which inspires and sustains  our conflicts of will and is the root cause of all war.

Jesus taught us to pray  for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.  
 

"Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven."
Matthew 6:9-10

Jesus knew how to stop our war of wills.  He knew we could never stop the war of wills on earth without Him and without embracing the will of His Father.

In heaven there is no conflict of wills.  There is no war in heaven because the family of God in heaven rejects the tree of the knowledge of good and evil with its power to lead into the war of wills.  The entire family of God in heaven feeds continuously on the will of God which is the tree of life.

But He answered and said to the one who told Him,

“Who is My mother and who are My brothers?”

And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said,

“Here are My mother and My brothers!

For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother

and sister and mother.

Matthew 12:48-50

Jesus is the Prince of peace.  Jesus is the kingdom come.  Jesus is the tree of life.    Jesus invites each disciple to abandon the war of wills and live the Kingdom come.
Jesus is peace on earth and good will toward men!  
 

Bud McCord

Abide International

Biblical Enough

The Bible is inspired by God to take me to Jesus so Jesus can take me to God.

If I do not see Jesus as the way, I am not Biblical enough.

If I do not see Jesus as the truth, I am not Biblical enough.

If I do not see Jesus as the life, I am not Biblical enough.

If I do not hear Jesus’ voice above all other voices,  I am not Biblical enough.

If I do not love Jesus above all other loves,  I am not Biblical enough.

If I do not value Jesus above all human opinions,  I am not Biblical enough.

If I do not see Jesus as all, I am not Biblical enough.

The Bible is always trying to take me to place where I experience Jesus as enough.  When Jesus is truly enough for me and I am continuously at rest in Him in God’s presence I will finally be Biblical enough and the Bible will have done its job.

“Christ is all”  Col. 3:11
 

Bud McCord

Abide International

Loved and Loving

What are the chances you will be perfectly loved today?  Good?  Impossible? 100%?

If Jesus lives in your right now then your chances are 100%.  The same way Jesus was loved continuously and perfectly by the Father, Jesus invites you to abide in his continuous and perfect love each day.

“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love." John 15:9

Never expect to be loved perfectly by the people in your world.  Never doubt that Jesus is loving you perfectly 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

Abide in the perfect love of Jesus and He will perfect the quality of your love and love the world through you.

Bud McCord

Abide International

Hunger and Thirst

And Jesus said to them,

“I am the bread of life.

He who comes to Me shall never hunger,

and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. John 6:35

Jesus promises He can satisfy the hunger and thirst we all experience.  What kind of hunger and thirst is it that He can satisfy?

Jesus satisfies the hunger and thirst that comes from seeking perfect love in a world of people that cannot produce it or sustain it.  Only Jesus can produce such love, sustain it and offer it as food and drink to all who believe in Him.

Think of the start of your day.  What kind of love will probably go unsatisfied for you this day?  You know what kind of perfect love will probably be out of your reach each day.  You can already feel the hunger and thirst for it in your inner life.

Will you be treated with dignity and respect today?  Will you be listened to and taken seriously?  Will you be shown compassion if you suffer?   Will you be forgiven if you fail?  Will these hungers and thirsts for perfect love go unmet for you today?

As you begin your day you can identify these potential hungers and thirsts.   By faith  take your hunger and thirst for dignity and respect to Jesus and ask Him to satisfy both.  Jesus will see your dignity and respect you. Eat and drink of His life and love for you.  Take your need to be listened to and taken seriously to Jesus.  He will listen to you and take you seriously. Eat and drink His life and love for you.   Even your hunger and thirst for compassion and forgiveness He will satisfy as you take them to Him alone. Eat and drink of His life and love for you.

Jesus is the table filled with every kind of love God sets for you each day in your inner life in the presence of all enemies of perfect love in your world.  Jesus is all the love you long to eat and drink each day from people in your world and often cannot find.

When you begin each day at the table where Jesus is the food and drink you will never need to expect the people of the world to love you perfectly.  Every day you live in this world Jesus will be the same beautiful food and drink of perfect love in you.  Eat and drink  one day at a time of the perfect life and love of Jesus in you and you will never hunger or thirst.


 

Touching Spiritual Substance

Every religious system has a list of activities which offer the way to touch the depths of true spirituality or spiritual substance.   In any religious community one must practice all the items on the list if one wants to be taken seriously as a true seeker of spiritual substance.

Those who do not see the group’s governing list as essential and fail to faithfully practice the list will be looked upon as spiritually less and in some religions suffer rejection or worse.  

Once a person accepts the list as the way to spirituality and begins to practice it faithfully that person becomes a slave to whoever wrote the list.  The desire to find our list and practice it runs deep in the human heart.  So deep, in fact, that we cannot truly rest until we feel we have touched true spirituality.

Jesus said in John 14:6 that He was the way, the truth and the life and that no man comes to God but by Him.  Jesus is the list that God wrote that directs to true spirituality.  Jesus is all God demands of us in order to touch spirituality.  This is why we can say “Jesus is all”.

If we want to touch true spirituality we must connect to Jesus as the list of all God requires of us. Touching this true spiritual substance is called being ‘of Christ”. Staying in the connection is called being “in Christ”.

We must become slaves of Jesus and Jesus alone.  He  is the source of the spiritual substance we long to touch.  Abide in Him and you are touching all the spiritual substance that God offers.

So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths,  which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. Colossians 2:16-17
 

Bud McCord

Abide International

Listen Again

Do we really let the Bible say what is really says about Jesus?  Listen again to the words from Scripture and ask yourself if you have really let the Bible say what it says.

 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
John 14:6

“Without Me you can do nothing”
John 15:5

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth.”
Colossians 1:15-16

“For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell…”
Colossians 1:19

“For in Him dwells all of the fullness of God bodily: and you are complete in Him…”
Colossians 2:9-10

“When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”
Colossians 3:4

Listen again and again and again.  Let the Bible take you to Jesus and leave you there for all eternity.
 

Bud McCord

Abide International

ALL

“Jesus is all…”
 

The Father decided that the fulness of God would abide in Jesus.   All that God intends to give to mankind is in Jesus.  Jesus is all.

The Father decided that every disciple would receive all He is willing to give by the Spirit of Jesus within each disciple.  Jesus in us is the revelation of the mystery of all of God’s generosity.  Jesus is all.

It is not Jesus plus something else that we need in order to be the church.  It is all of Jesus that we need for the church to be the church.  Jesus is all the church needs and all the church will receive.  Jesus is all.

It is not Jesus plus a great, annointed leader that we need to be what God expects us to be.  Jesus is all the leader we need to be what God expects us to be.  Jesus is all.

Since Jesus is all, we can rest and stop trying to add to Jesus anything or anyone else.
Cooperate with Jesus and you will find you have all you need to be everything God wants you to be and to do.  Jesus is all.
 

Bud McCord

Abide International

Which Water Am I?

Human beings fill the earth with what comes from within them.

In Noah’s time this was true.

And God said to Noah,

“The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled

with violence through them; and behold,

I will destroy them with the earth.” Genesis 6:13
 

In Jesus’ time this was true.

On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me,

as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

John 7:37-38
.

In our time this is true.
 

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?  Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”  Matthew 5:43-48

Water is present in the story of Noah and Jesus.  In Noah’s time the water came to destroy.  In Jesus’ time  the water came to give life.  In my time which water am I?
 

Bud McCord

Abide International

Jesus, God's Wisdom

God deliver me!

Jesus is much more than just a very wise man.  He is literally the wisdom of God.

But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.” I Corn. 1:30-31

In Jesus all the wisdom of God is hidden and that same wisdom is now hidden in every disciple because Jesus abides in every disciple.

For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.  Col. 2:1-3

May God deliver me from arguments that are convincing but are not Jesus’ wisdom.
May God deliver me from the idea that I am wiser because I studied theology.
May God deliver me from the conviction that I gained wisdom from leading churches.
May God deliver me from the subtle desire to be wiser than Jesus by explaining what He meant instead of simply saying what He said.
May God deliver me from trying to find a single subject where I can be wiser and more intelligent than Jesus.
May God deliver me from my own wisdom.

When God really does deliver me from all that convinces me except Jesus, I will be free to live the wisdom which is hidden in Jesus who is abiding in me.

Bud McCord

Abide International

My Entire Christian Life

The entire Christian life I will ever live is Jesus in me. The new essential fact about me is I am crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me.

Each day and moment by moment I must consider myself dead to sin which once inspired and governed my life and alive to God who now inspires and governs me through my eternal union to the Spirit of Christ.

Any attempt on my part to blend what was my old life inspired by sin with what now is my new life inspired by the life of God in Christ will only destroy my peace, stop my love and cause my soul to fall from the grace of Christ within.

I must identify continuously  and put off immediately the old things of my old life which no longer match my new life in Christ. Having begun once and forever my new life in Christ by the Spirit I must live once and forever by the Spirit which is my new inspiration and freedom to love.

The only attention my old life deserves is the time it takes me to say to it when I hear it call from its grave is "I am dead to you and alive to God in Christ!"  The time my new life in Christ needs my attention is 24/7 and moment by moment. As I give Jesus in me by the Spirit my undivided attention He will reveal more and more of my entire Christian He is to me and through me.

"For to me to live is Christ" is not a fancy Christian motto I enjoy. It is the entire normal Christian life I live. It is same truth Jesus taught me when he called me to abide in Him as the true Vine who is my entire Christian life.

My entire Christian life already lives in me!  It is Jesus!
Your entire Christian life already lives in you!  It is Jesus!

Bud McCord

Abide International

Not Biblical Enough

The people who most resisted Jesus during his ministry were the Pharisees.  The Pharisees of Jesus’ day considered themselves to be the final word on all Biblical interpretation and practice.  Tragically, they were so fixated on teaching others the Scriptures they failed to be Biblical enough.

In a moment of confrontation Jesus clearly tells the Pharisees their Biblical search had not yielded the true Biblical goal.

And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form.  But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.  But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. 

 John 5:37-40

The Pharisees could not see that the Scriptures are all about Jesus.  The mark of all Bible teaching that is not Biblical enough is Jesus is missed  even though He is clearly revealed through the Scriptures.

To all who teach the Scriptures these words of Jesus in John 5 should give reason to be very careful. If our search of the Scriptures does not make us clearly see, hear, love and live Jesus then we are not Biblical enough.

No matter how passionate and authoritative a Bible teacher seems to be, listen carefully to see if the beginning and end of the teaching is Jesus.  Anything less than seeing, hearing, loving and living Jesus is just not Biblical enough.

 

Bud McCord

Abide International

Hidden

“…in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
Col. 2:3

Christianity is meant to be mysterious.  Everything about Jesus and the Father is mysterious and unexpected.

When we try and make Christianity a list of doctrines, principles and techniques for living we don’t diminish Christianity.  We diminish ourselves.  We need mystery.  We need something for which we search.

Jesus is where we search.  Once we have found Jesus as our Saviour it is only the beginning of discovering the mysterious love of the Father.

How we can be forgiven by the Father is perhaps the greatest of all mysteries Jesus solves for us, but from forgiveness we begin to uncover all the hidden things of the Father for us in Christ.

If your experience with the Father and  Jesus is not mysterious, then you missed the mystery that you need to keep you searching in Jesus for all the treasure the Father has given us.
 

Bud McCord

Abide International

Spirituality and Attention

Spirituality and attention are forever linked. The focus of your attention will determine what controls and inspires you to behave as you do today.

In Psalm 1 the man who meditates on the law of the Lord (God's intentions) will live an abundant life and have success as a human being. The key is the continuous focus on what God wants with a desire to cooperate.

Do you have habits that keep your focus on what a God wants? Create some very simple habits that immediately focus you on Jesus.  Jesus is everything God wants for you and from you today!

As your day begins put your hand over your heart and say "Jesus, you are welcome here!".  During the day stop several times and say "Jesus, You are my life."

Whatever gets your attention gets you!  So simple yet so true.

Bud McCord

Abide International

The Knowledge of Evil

When Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they got their first taste of knowing personally what evil is.  Human history is the story of each of person getting a taste for evil and paying the price for this taste in pain, misery and death.

When Jesus came as the last Adam He was born with no taste for evil and never tasted evil when tempted.   With no taste for evil He became the bread of life we now eat to rid ourselves of our own taste for evil.  As we eat from Jesus’ holy life day by day we lose our taste for evil and begin to live only to love with Him.

The first Adam introduced us to the taste of evil. The last Adam takes away our taste for evil one day at a time.   Eating from the bread of life day by day we will lose forever our taste for evil.

 

Bud McCord

Abide International

Is Jesus Enough?

Is Jesus Enough?

Each generation and each person must answer the question “Is Jesus Enough?.” It may inspire us to know that others felt He was enough in the past.  Even so, we must know He is  enough right now.

Consider this inspired statement written by the Apostle Paul nearly 2000 years ago.

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.  And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.  And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,  and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.”  Colossians 1:15-20
The Spirit of God inspired the Apostle to know Jesus was enough in his day.  Day by day the Apostle answered this question with a resounding “Yes!.” The same Spirit will inspire you to know He is enough today.  Ask and you will know.

 

Bud McCord

Abide International

Only By Death

"If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell."

Matthew 5:29-30
 

God does not want you to sacrifice your body one piece at a time. What He is after is the alignment of your will to His 100% of the time.

They way we use our eyes and our hands is a public demonstration of just how out of alignment we are. This becomes so obvious to us that we grow deeply offended at our own state and we get frustrated enough to even consider cutting off that part of us which offends us and God.

What Jesus is pointing us toward with this shocking illustration is not a part by part process for human reform.  He is saying that nothing less than public, permanent death can end the battle of our will and God’s will. To live His will we must be willing to see our will publicly die and His will publicly live.

Fortunately for us this death of the human will already took place and all we have to do each day is believe we have already died and are now living God’s will in Jesus.

Paul put it like this in Galatians 2:20:

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

The Christian life is not a piece by piece, part by part human sacrifice.

It is a once and for all death and ressurrection in Christ. Can you see this?

Your death with Christ on Calvary should be as clear as it would be to you to look down and see where one of your hands was cut off because it offended you and God. If Jesus’ death is not that clear to you, look again to the Cross and see not just His public death but yours.

Now seeing yourself dead to sin and alive to God, live the will of God in union with Christ who lives in you day by day.

 

Bud McCord

Abide International

A Plan For Peace

 

"You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You,

Because he trusts in You."
Isaiah 26:3

“Whatever gets your attention gets you.”   This simple statement carries a tremendous power because it is true for all of us.  There is nothing more important to evaluate in our lives than what gets most of our attention.

Attention  becomes even more powerful when attention is combined with trust.   Attention can be mixed with many forces for good or evil, but attention with trust is the greatest of all  human forces.

Giving something or someone one’s attention is one thing.  Giving attention and trust is another much more powerful thing. In fact, there is nothing more precious that we can give to another person than our attention and trust.  

This is why Jesus told people who wanted to do the works of God that they needed to believe on the One He had sent.  To believe is to give one’s attention and trust and this is what God wants us to work at toward Jesus moment by moment.

Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”

Jesus answered and said to them,

“This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

John 6 :28-29

The single most significant thing I can do to cooperate with God day by day and  be kept in perfect peace by God in the process is to give my undivided attention to God in Christ with growing trust.  The quality of my inner life will be determined by giving my attention with trust to Jesus moment by moment. The quality of my love will also depend on my attention and trust in Jesus.

On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”  John 7:37-38

We cannot really know what a new year may bring to our day to day lives.  What we can know is how to plan our peace for any new year.  We can simply plan on being kept at peace by God as we give Jesus our attention with increasing trust moment by moment and day by day.
Make paying attention to Jesus with increasing trust your plan for being kept in perfect peace at all times this year and every year.
 

Bud McCord

Abide International