Intimacy Not Information - Abiding in Jesus | Navaz DCruz

Intimacy not Information - Abiding in Jesus |Navaz DCruz

This message was preached by Navaz Dcruz at Word of Grace Church on  November 4th , 2018. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here.

PART 2

VERSE 4-5

 ⁴ Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

 INTRODUCTION

In Part 1 we looked at the fact that there can be many vines that we could be a part of but Jesus is the true vine. We saw that if we are to be fruitful we would be pruned. Pruning is not punishment but a process toward more fruitfulness. Jesus wants us to be fruity Christians.

HOW DO WE ABIDE IN A DIGITAL WORLD THAT PINGS, BLIPS,  SCREEN LIGHT UPS EVERY OTHER MINUTE?

Many things are grabbing our attention each day and the immediacy of everything is to the point of being ridiculous. The pressures of work are real, – long hours, long commutes to and from office, deadlines etc.etc.

Our relationship with Jesus cannot and should not be another pressure point; rather he should be the place where all pressure is released.

He said ^28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matt 11:28-30)

Jesus does not come to add to your burdens but he is our burden bearer, He is the lifter of our heads.

When you love someone you want to spend time with them. You are not timing it or clocking in.  That is what Jesus is calling us into – a restful abiding in His presence – out of joy and not duty.

VERSE 4 ⁴ Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

I.                 WHAT DOES ABIDE MEAN?

 So while our relationship with Jesus is eternal. No one can pluck you from His hand, what quality of relationship you enjoy is up to you.

The word abide/remain is repeated 10 times in a span of 4 verses. Repetition for emphasis is a style of a good teacher and Jesus certainly was that.  We would be wise to pay attention to what Jesus puts an emphasizes on.

The Word Abide/remain is also translated “to stay/to dwell”. To make your dwelling place. This is reflected in the Old Testament very well in Psalm 91, Ps 84. It is about taking up residence. It’s where you feel secure, relaxed “at home” and have your most intimate relationships.

 In the Old Testament, God’s presence was confined to a geographical space. His death on the cross put an end to that. Today, his presence is not confined to a box behind a thick curtain. 

He has now made is dwelling among us. He now has taken up residence in our hearts. He also says when 2 or  or more gathered I am there among them. 

So we have God’s indwelling presence and his manifest presence in a group of people.

 No branch can bear fruit by itself;

No branch can have life, without it being connected to the main branch. All the branches draw their sap, sustenance from the main branch.

WHAT IS IT TO REMAIN/ABIDE/ STAY CONNECTED?

This requires commitment and covenant. It’s not transactional or conditional.

Another way to say abide/remain is to stay stuck in. Keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and not being distracted by anything else or anyone else.

Jesus is unconditionally faithful, committed to us. Are we unconditionally faithful and committed to him? Is it a relationship of convenience?

 To be disconnect would mean to get dismembered from the Vine.  The analogy is two fold, individual and corporate. Rom 12 This not only affects your relationship with Jesus but with one another as well.

This abiding is 24/7. It is not something we can or should turn on and off.

There is no religious-secular divide in our lives. We can learn to practice the presence of God in our everyday lives.

Jesus lived in a constant commune with His Father. Then He tells us to abide in Him in the same manner and tells us that apart from Him we can do nothing!! In Acts 17:28 we are reminded that it is in Him we live, move, and have our being!  

Its about being God conscious. He becomes our frame of reference for everything we do – in our families, at school, work, in our socializing; in everything.

God desires so much more for us but we often settle for just getting our foot into the Kingdom and not fully enjoying all that we can because of being in the Kingdom.

When we pray His kingdom come on earth. We don’t pray His kingdom come to church!! The church is the display and reign of the kingdom of God gathered. In the week the Kingdom is like salt and light scattered on the Earth.

Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

The branches get its nourishment, strength, fruit-bearing ability, it’s very DNA from the main vine.

We get saved when we believe in Jesus but we get sanctified when we believe like Jesus.

What is the DNA of Jesus?  All the qualities of God that we love. God is love, kind, gracious, slow to anger, forgiving, wise, giving, gentle, gracious, righteous holy and so on.

I will have God thoughts, Christ-like thought patterns that think more about others than myself.

II.              RESULT OF ABIDING

We will be fruity.

Fruitfulness is linked to my relationship with Jesus.  It is not about how well I administer or create programs.

It’s so simple to the point that we actually ignore it or miss it altogether. It’s about me “being” and not “doing”. The focus is on BEING to begin with and then the BECOMING will follow

Fruitfulness comes from intimacy and heart connection. Transformation comes from intimacy and heart connection.

Intimacy with Jesus not information about Jesus leads to transformation.

Abiding will make us live from His presence and not just principles.

John 5:39-40 

 ³⁹ You study^[a] the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, ⁴⁰ yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

When we come into his presence, we get a deeper revelation of who He is. Revelation transforms us, not information.

Knowledge of His word is only the gateway. Then we want a deeper understanding and communion with Him.

Today is an invitation to go deeper with Jesus

Obedience alone is cold, dry and faithless. It will not produce healthy fruit.  The Pharisees did that and it only made them blind to their sin and judgmental of everyone else.

III.             WHAT DOES NOT ABIDING LOOK LIKE?

·       Living to please me

·       Distracted

·       Religious duty

·       Not committed to things that matter to Jesus viz: Time with Him, how we interact with our family, our personal private holiness, our love quotient for other Christians, our diligence at work, faithful in giving, serving.

·       Attracted to worldly pleasures and self-indulgence.

HINDRANCES TO ABIDING?

·       The Bible will keep you from sin and sin will keep you from the bible.

·       Anxiety and fear cloud our thinking and clogs our hearts. Fear and love cannot co-exist. His perfect love will drive away fear and anxiety.

He gives us his perfect peace. Do you know what that is? It is himself – his presence. Peace is a person. Jesus is the prince of peace.

·       Unforgiveness and offense – This not only builds walls towards the people you are offended with, but it also affects your relationship with God.

How do I know that?

1Jn 2:11

  But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.

 We cannot love God and hate our brother. If I dismember myself from one part of the body, I also disengage with the Head i.e Jesus.

Are there people you are avoiding? Here at Word of Grace. You say I love Jesus, I love the worship and the word at this church but I’ll keep my distance from so and so or I’ll only interact with these people, but those people I don’t want to talk to. My friends, you are kidding yourself. Get it sorted because you will hit a heart block in your relationship with God.

Church is messy. Its made up of imperfect people like you and I. Jesus has shown us much grace.  Let us extend lavish grace as well.

IV.             WHAT DOES ABIDING GIVE US?

·       IT gives us Identity. We are called sons. We are no longer orphans. We are chosen by God (v16), we are called his friends (v.15). It will give you rest and you wont strive to prove anything to God or anyone.

·       This gives us security because you know Who you are and whose you are.

·       It gives us purpose and perspective. We will be clear on our calling and we will get committed out of joy and not duty.

·       Joy (v11). If your joy quotient is low, check your abiding quotient. They are directly proportional. The more you abide the more joy you will experience and vice versa.

·       Answered prayer ( v.7)

HOW DO I DO THIS?

Eg) I have a gift for painting, but if I don’t exercise that gift I won’t get good it and people won’t be able to say that is my gift unless they see proof of that.

In Acts 4:13 – They recognized that the disciples were men who has been with Jesus Therefore staying in connection is crucial.

TOOLS TO ABIDING

Colin covered this two weeks ( Click here for the message) ago in his message so I will mention it briefly.

·       Have a time alone with God every day.  

Your reputation is your reputation. As you do this every day you will build a strong relationship with God. How can you know God better? 

Read his Word. It has everything you need to know about him, his ways and his thoughts about you.

·       Pray in tongues. If you have not yet received this wonderful gift, ask one of us to pray for you.

·       Worship – put on some of our worship or go to YouTube and worship along with some of the songs you are familiar with. Let your heart become open and transparent before Jesus. Practice being 100%  with him.

·       Write down what he says to you.

As you do this every day. If you do this for 20 min each day you would have spent approximately 10 hours in the Word each month. You will see the difference in your life.

The word will transform you. The Word is Jesus. His presence and His word are a powerful combination that will transform you from inside out.

SO WHAT DO I DO?

•         Stay committed, stay focused, stay persistent.

•        Do not give up. Do not get distracted.

•        Yield to the loving pruning of God

•         Stay in fellowship, in connection, in communion in covenant with Jesus.

•        When we live like this there is bound to be fruit that counts.

To listen/read Part 1  click here

 Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org. 

I can be Single, Complete and Content | David Fernandes

I can be Single, Complete and Content 

This message was preached by David Fernandes at Word of Grace Church on October 21th, 2018. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here.

We all have certain belief systems and struggle with them. Life can turn bitter with worldly influence in many aspects of our lives. Marriage is no exception. People talk negatively about marriage unless they meet with God.

I did not believe in Marriage because I did not know God at that time. When I was around 32 years, I discovered there is no peace in my life. I had a great career and just when I was about to rise up in my career, I discovered that I had no peace.

 I met someone at a service and asked that person to pray for me. To my surprise, the man started praying for my common sense. In addition, I prayed to God asking him to give me peace. All of a sudden, I started crying and knew it was God. Then I asked the person how I could find peace. He said that I would not find peace unless I deal with my sin. I tried different things like meditation etc. However, nothing gave me peace.

On 8^th Aug 1992, I attended a meeting. All of a sudden, I started clapping, raising my hands and found myself surrendering to God. I cried desperately for peace. The speaker asked questions to the congregation – Do you believe in God? Do you believe he died for your sins? Are you willing to accept Jesus? I said yes to all the questions in my heart, went home and slept. I woke up the next morning as a changed man!

That morning, I went for a walk, experienced God in nature. My life got changed completely. I went to work and told everyone about what happened. My worldly view changed into Godly view. I became a messenger of God to preach the Gospel.

Gen 2:18 – The Lord said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

This is a simple verse, yet, changed the world.

Gen 2:22-25 – Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman’, for she was taken out of man.”

That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

The world challenges on this. We don’t get trained in marriage for a year, for 6 months, for 3 months and not even for one month. Yet a huge chunk of our lives in marriage.

1 Cor 7:8-9 – Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

Sadly, many Christians misunderstand singlehood and make it as a qualification for service. Singlehood is a grace given to a few.

GOD’S VIEW OF MARRIAGE:

1.   We are blessed to be a blessing

a.    Vision

b.   Purpose

Gen 1:27-28 – God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it…”

There is nothing like a marriage that has vision and purpose in it.

Does your marriage have a vision?

Once a pastor asked the bride and groom, why they wanted to get married? The answer from both of them was that both of them gave each other space !!! There is a place to give space but that cannot be the vision of marriage. The purpose of marriage is becoming one and breaking the space between each other.

Therefore, if vision is important then the choice is very important. Both need to be of the same vision and belief system.

The bible says, “Do not be unequally yoked”.

I have never seen it worked. Both the spouses should have a common faith, common goal and common vision. This is referred to as “Yoked to each other and to God”

What do you go for when choosing your partner? Money? Looks? These things are not wrong in themselves but cannot be the only thing.

1.  Vision for marriage

How do you want to serve God? This is not about becoming leaders in the church. It is about having Christ in the center and living according to the Word of God. Where is your marriage going? You can ‘t live a married life with a bachelor mindset.

Lynn and I met a couple. The husband is supposedly a Christian and the wife is a strong believer. All of a sudden, he started coming home late every day. But one day, the wife saw some pictures and found out that her husband had been attending salsa classes. When she confronted him about this, he agreed to it and said that salsa is more important to him than the marriage. That stood as a strong reason for her to divorce her husband.

Today the courts can’t cope with the number of divorces filed.

If you’re married, fight for your marriage. If you are yet to be married, wait for it and stay in control.

2.   God-given attraction and partnership

Gen 2:18 – The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

Attraction to the opposite is God’s purpose. The timing is the issue. Gen2:22 She was taken out of man …” This is the start of the story I want to talk about. This is being challenged today and we need to fight to keep it.

Singles – an attraction for the opposite sex is God’s design. But there is a time for it. Good parenting helps children to pace the attraction.

The purpose of dating should be marriage and it should start at the right time. This may sound old-fashioned. A fling dishonors both parties.

Dating period should be kept pure. Some people have doubts if they could smooch each other during the dating period. Will it help you keep your relationship pure? The answer is …?

Become one

This is a process of loving.

a.    Emotional understanding and oneness

1 Pet 3:7 – Husbands, in the same way, be considerate as you live with your wives and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

This is the answer to why get married – to become one in God

If you have different goals, how do you become one? If your prayers are not being answered, ask yourself how you are treating your wife!

So what is the goal of your marriage? It should be so that we can become ONE in God.

We need defined goals in our marriage and parenting.

How?

Emotional understanding.

Lynn and I are of two different personalities. We should all know the temperaments and love languages (Word of affirmation, quality time, gifts, acts of service, physical touch)

In the early days of our marriage, Lynn used to do many things for me where as I was longing for physical touch. Both of us were in a confusion about what each other likes to do or receive. But later we worked at it and got to know each other love languages and the oneness developed. It is a journey toward oneness.

b.   One mind

Seeking to understand one another. Good and effective communication, conflict management, forgive one another. You learn to resolve conflict and learn to become one mind. Without forgiveness, a marriage cannot last.

c.    Physiological union

Heb 13:4 – Marriage should be honored by al, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.

Sex is not just physical but physiological. It has to be of body mind and spirit. Men are like microwaves and women like an oven. You have to work at it learn to love each other. It must be a willing union even in marriage or it is rape.

Women need a lot of affection before going for lovemaking.

Things that stop you from having a good healthy sex life are – Pornography- it is an illusion and a sin that destroys your mind. Get help, talk to someone. Adultery, Masturbation and Prostitution

3.   Union for life

Mark 10:9 – Therefore, what God has joined, let no one separate.

When you look at the Bible, you see there is nothing new. There has always been a desire to break a marriage.

Matt 19:8 – Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning.

If you are divorced rest in the grace of God. God wants to bless you now.

Matt 5:32 – But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Are you divorced? I do not know your circumstances.  If you are remarried sort out the past. Else, things can turn upside down in the current marriage and lead to troubles.

Why does God hate divorce?

Mal 2:15 – Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So, be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.

The tragedy is the law is tampering with God’s order. What will happen to society? It will take a whole generation to see the consequences of our decisions.

The world is tampering God’s word, God’s order. However, we, as Christians, must exemplify God’s word.

I can be single complete and content or married fruitful and happy. The choice is ours.

 Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.