I don’t know about you, but I’ve had a BEAUTIFUL week. Reconnection with old friends, deeper heart connections with others. I feel like I’ve had great news delivered to me DAILY, and my time with the Lord has been sweet. It’s been really quite lovely not working these past two weeks.
The Lord has been really speaking to me this week about ABIDING, and how learning to abide in Him is actually the key to opening up revelation and freedom in so many other areas in life. The word “abide” has become almost too common in many Christian circles, but I feel like He’s actually reigniting the fire of the true meaning of that word in the hearts of many believers across the globe.
I was reading in 1 John and realized that the word abide is not only all throughout the book of 1 John, but it’s also the same Greek word that Jesus uses in John 15 when He speaks of the vine and the branches. This is the Greek word meno (Strong’s g3306), which means to remain; to tarry; to not depart and continue to be present; to be held and kept continually; to last, endure, not perish; to remain as one; to wait for.
Ahhhh….the original meaning and context is always so much richer in the Greek.
You may have read this in a previous blog, but a few months back while in prayer, I was pushing myself to ABIDE and not just simply linger, I felt an overwhelming, weighty presence in the room near my bed where I was sitting. I opened my eyes and immediately went into either a trance or a waking vision where an angel stood before me with a gift box. When I opened the gift box, I found that it was filled with what I knew in my Spirit to be God’s Presence. As soon as I took the box from the angel, I felt myself return to my bedroom and the box disappeared, though the weightiness of His Presence did not. In the next few moments while processing what had just happened, I was actually confronted with a feeling that even hurts me to type out now – I felt mildly disappointed. The disappointment came not in the encounter ending, but in that the box wasn’t filled with breakthrough or prophetic keys of some kind. For a split second, I had believed the LIE that God’s Presence couldn’t fulfill everything I wanted and needed. I immediately repented for the wrong belief, and just as turned my thoughts back to the TRUTH, I heard the Holy Spirit say, “My Presence is not cliché, and it is not CHEAP! My Presence came at a great price. Many have died for my Presence. My Presence is not cliché, and it is not to be overlooked.”
The Presence of God is not just another cliché Christian concept. It’s not second best, unfulfilling or cheap. Jesus paid a high price for us to be able to step FREELY into the Presence of God. His blood, likewise, it not cliché. He also spoke to me the following:
There is an encounter coming for my people, says the Lord. An encounter with My Presence; with my very being. It is the very thing that many long for but overlook.
My Presence is a gift, says the Father. It's not to be held in a box, regardless of how decorated the box. It is to be experienced and consumed like a feast! And you are not to go anywhere without it (Exodus 33:15).
My Presence is not cliché! Do not treat it as common or trite. My Presence is LIFE ITSELF and my own Son died and rose again so that you could be restored to compatibility with it (2 Corinthians 4:14).
I AM THAT I AM (Exodus 3:14)! I AM destiny. I AM prophesy. I AM breakthrough. I AM the perfect, priceless gift.
And I have chosen to give Myself to you.
Wow…these words still grab my heart.
What I am embracing this week is the idea that I CAN – because of Jesus – come boldly into His Presence and just REMAIN. He is EVERYTHING that I need, so why wouldn’t I?
Abiding is more than just waiting and tarrying. It’s more than just holding on past the point of lingering. ABIDING IS A GIFT. It’s a gift – a key – that unlocks so much more for us.
And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. – 1 John 4:16
HAPPY HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS WEEK:
· I had a most refreshing zoom with my dear friend Mark Greenwood on Monday. It made my heart happy! Check out his book, “Awake to Righteousness,” on Amazon!
· Tuesday, I had the amazing privilege of getting to teach a group of HUNGRY Bible students about how to steward supernatural encounters. Gosh, what a beautiful and fun time, even if over zoom!
· Wednesday, we spent several hours speaking with a GORGEOUS friend and mentor in the faith
· Thursday night was spent chatting with our dear friends Tim & Rachel for hours
· I’m starting an online MENTOR group for women, focused on issues of identity and what truly happens at salvation. So excited….contact me if you’re interested!
Regardless of what this next week looks like, let’s work on ABIDING in His Presence just a little longer. He is worthy!
Xoxo
Mandy
