Abide in The Vine
1 st Peter 2:9 teaches us that we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that we should show forth the praise of Him who hath called us out of darkness into His marvellous light. 1 John 3:1-3 marvels at the greatness of the love of the Father that we should be called sons of God. It may be hard to believe, we may not feel worthy but if we live in any lower realm of revelation and responsibility, we sell ourselves short. We are also His temple, His chosen abode and dwelling place in the earth; a sacred, sanctified and holy place.
Psalm 127:1 tells us that except the Lord builds the house, they labour in vain that build it. In order to walk in our true identity as a radically loved son of God, He has to be the one that builds and breathes on our identity. Any aspect of our identity built on a person, place or thing other than Jesus will crumble in the end.
A key to finding peace in who you are while looking forward to who God is moulding you to be is found in John 15:5. Here Jesus tells us “I am the vine and you are the branches: He that abides in Me, and I in Him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing.”
Abide in Him and allow Him to abide in you. Jesus knows exactly who you are, good bad and ugly.
Yet He still extends this powerful invitation to abide with Him, take up your abode in Him and let Him do the same in you. As we cultivate and nurture our intimate love relationship with God, our identity is moulded and defined. The mistake I made, like so many of us, is not abiding. I never learned what that actually meant. I only read the scripture but never lived the reality of that. That is how I could “feel” I loved Him but couldn’t live right consistently and walk in my true identity. I had seen His goodness but not allowed Him in fully. I was trying to define my own identity according to the examples of what I thought godliness was yet the fruit was bad and amounted to nothing.
Basically, if we don’t know Him for who He really is – we will never find true identity. As believers, 1 John 4:17 tells us, “…as He is so are we in this world” but if you don’t know who He is, how will you know who you are? The simple answer is you won’t.
In Matthew 16:13-20 Jesus asks His disciples some searching questions about their view of His identity. Peter recognised Him as “the Christ, the Son of the living God”. Jesus immediately commended him for He knows true revelation of who He is comes from the Father in heaven. Jesus then goes on to say something interesting to Peter. He says, “And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church…”
Peter’s revelation of Jesus resulted in Jesus in turn declaring over Peter who he was. There is something about gaining a revelation of the Lord that unlocks your identity. How do we do that? Abiding in the vine and spending time to allow the reality of union with Him to become real to us.
Prayer:
Dear God, reveal Yourself to me. Give me a deep revelation of the Son of God that I may be moulded into His likeness and emerge in the fullness of the identity You fashioned for me before the foundation of the earth. Give me the grace to abide and an everlasting hunger to behold Your beauty in the secret place. Hide me under the shadow of Your wings and unlock who You created me to be in the mirror of Your word. Thank you Father,
Amen.
Contributor: Shennar Okirie
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