One Elevator A Day

I do not like elevators.  When I enter an elevator I feel closed in and anxious.  I know I am not the only person who feels this anxiety. One elevator a day is more than enough for me.

I discovered that I do not have anxiety in every elevator.  I feel anxious in elevators that are completely closed to the outside world.  If I enter an elevator that has a view to the outside of the building I feel no anxiety.  I am totally calm.  The elevator can even stop between floors and I am fine.

The perspective we have during our day to day reality really does impact our level of anxiety.  When people like me who do not like elevators find one that has a view we are fine. No view to the outside equals anxiety.

Everyone feels some level of anxiety during their day.  All of us eventually feel closed in and anxious.  Everyone has their “elevator a day.” One’s “elevator” may be public speaking, traffic, doctor’s visits or just leaving home.  It is when we are going into our “elevator a day”  that we must look beyond our immediate environment for relief.

Someone described faith as “opening the window of the soul in God’s direction.”
I agree!  Opening our soul in God’s direction when our “elevator a day” appears before us is our daily cure for anxiety.

Each day will have its “elevator.”  Open the window of faith and you will win the battle one day at a time.
 

 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Matthew 6:33-34

Bud McCord

Abide International

“Je Suis Charlie” “I am Charlie”

A terror attack against free speech rocked France as 2015 stumbles to a violent start.

The staff of a small magazine dedicated to satire and stinging social commentary was killed in a burst of gunfire.  France’s passion for free speech came under attack.

Almost immediately the French people took to the streets declaring “I am Charlie”.
They painted a bullseye on themselves and said we now are the ones you killed. Come for us!

Everyone holding a “I am Charlie” sign knows that they are not the ones who died.  Everyone knows, however, that for those who died to live on thousands upon thousands will need to live on as lives of free speech just like the lives that were so violently taken.

This explosive social reaction signals a change in the landscape of Europe and perhaps the world.  From the death of freedom of expression  in some comes life of expression in others.  Only time will tell if the fervor of the moment will last and reverse terrorism’s  advance across the world.

As I watched these incredible moments unfold in Paris,  I found myself  thinking of Jesus’ crucifixion at the hands of sinful men 2000 years ago.  He was brutally killed in an awful public display of hate for God’s presence and love.  His only “crime” was love.

There was no immediate street demonstration for Jesus on the day of His death.  It took well over a month before His small group of followers would stand openly in Jerusalem and say  “We are Jesus!”.

All who stood for Jesus in Jerusalem painted a cross on themselves and said “Come for us!” They knew they were not really Jesus but they knew He was living in them and wanted to express Himself through them.

Nearly 2000 years later as disciples  of Jesus we are still here publicly saying to the world that Jesus’ death was not an end but a beginning.  Every disciple is a manifestation of His life .

“Le Suis Jesus!”  “I am Jesus!"

Lift up your cross publicly and say “Come for me!"

“It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” Gal. 2:20

“For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Phil. 1:20

Bud McCord

Abide International

Starting Point

Habits are hard to break.  Once we settle into a habitual pattern of behavior it is as if that pattern takes control of us. We would like to think we are still choosing the behavior but any attempt to stop the behavior lets us know that something has settled in and we are now tied to the behavior.

What has “settled in” is not the habit but the power of a starting point.  As humans we were meant to live with God as our starting point.  We were created to begin each day settled into God. 

When Adam and Eve ate of the tree of knowledge of God and evil they opened the door to hundreds of  potential starting points.   The history of humanity is the sad story of the failure of all of these starting points apart from God.  They just do not start and sustain life.

When Jesus called His first disciples to follow Him, He was offering Himself as the new starting point for humanity.  He was calling us to break the old habit of starting at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and begin again to start in God. 

There is a direct link between the quality of our life and what we choose as our starting point.  There is a direct link between Jesus and life because He is the tree of life-the starting point.

Start each day with words that establish Jesus as your starting point.  Even before you get out of bed say  “Jesus, you are welcome here in me!”  Let Jesus become the habit you do not want to break.  He is life!

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