2 Cor. 6:2 “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
To everyone that wants to learn the art of living moment to moment, I want to say: the way to learn it is to exercise yourself in living in the present moment. Every time your attention is free to occupy yourself with the thought of Jesus, whether it is with time to think and pray, or just for a few minutes, let your first thought be to say “Right now at this moment I do abide in Jesus.” Use these times not to think about how you have not been abiding in Him. Take the position that the father has given you; “I am in Christ Jesus; this is the place has given me. I accept it; I rest in it, I do now abide in Jesus.” This is the way to learn to abide continually.
Abiding in Jesus is not a matter is not a matter of feeling, it is not a question of growth or strength in the Christian life, it is the simple question whether the will at the present moment desires and consents to recognize the place you have in your Lord, and to accept it. If you are a believer, you are in Christ Jesus. If you are in Christ Jesus, and you want to stay there, it is your duty to say, “Lord Jesus, I abide in You now; keep me now.”
If I can say, “Jesus is to me at this moment all that God gave Him to be: life, and strength, and peace,” as I say it, I just have to hold still, rest, and realize it, and for that moment I have what I need. As my faith sees how I am in Christ through God and takes the place in Him my Father has provided, my soul can peacefully settle down: now I abide in Christ Jesus.
When you are striving to find the way to abide in Jesus from moment to moment, remember that the gateway is to abide in Him at this present moment. Instead of wasting time and effort trying to get into a state that will last, just remember that it is Jesus Himself, the living, loving Lord Jesus alone that can keep you and is waiting to do so. Act by faith in Him for the present moment: this is the only way to be kept the next moment.
Every time you bow in prayer, first let there be an act of simple devotion: “Father, I am in Christ Jesus; I now abide in Him.” In the hustle and bustle of the day at work or at play remind yourself and the Father “I am still in Christ Jesus, abiding in Him now.” Even when you sin and you are upset about that your first look should be upward with the words: “Father, I have sinned; and yet I come, as one who is in Christ Jesus. Here I am, I can take no other place. Through You Father, I am in Christ Jesus; I now abide in Jesus.” In every possible circumstance, every moment of the day, the voice is calling: “Abide in Me, do it now.”
Whatever the present moment is, however unprepared the message finds me, no matter about the condition of my life, still I come to Jesus and claim an immediate surrender, this very moment. I know very well that it will take time for you to assert His power and get your life in order according to His will. This is not the work of a moment. But there are things that are the work of a moment, of this moment. One is your surrender of all to Jesus; your surrender of yourself entirely to live only in Him. Do it now. Surrender yourself this very moment to abide wholly, only, and always in Jesus. It is the work of a moment. And in the same way the renewed acceptance of you is the work of a moment. Rest assured that He has you and that He holds you as His own, and that each new “Jesus, I abide in you” meets with an immediate response from Him. No act of faith is in vain. He takes hold of us and draws us close to Himself anew.
Jesus says “Abide in Me, do it at once. Do it now.”
Let any Christian do this and he/she will quickly experience how the blessing of the present moment is passed on to the next. It is the unchanging Jesus that you link yourself to; it is the power of a divine life, in unbroken continuity, that takes possession of you. The “do it now” of the present moment, is nothing less than the beginning of the ever present now, which is the mystery and the glory of eternity. Abide in Jesus: do it now!
Dale
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