Part 2 of the receiving way

podcast link below:

https://anchor.fm/beth-madison/episodes/Part-2-of-the-receiving-way-e189t6a

John 15:1-8 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunesso that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 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 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. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

The next step in the receiving way is to remain. And if you’re like me, remaining is even more challenging than receiving. Receiving is to believe, trust, and know without doubt that God will do the work for me, in me, and through me without my help. (Realistically, my “help” is actually that striving I’ve been commanded not to do in Psalm 46:10 Cease striving and know that I am God.) In other words, receiving is to look expectantly to my God for His work to be done in His way and His time.

Remaining is accepting the outward quiet of the now and choosing to be inwardly quiet. To remain is accepting the now without making that phone call, email, or text that I think will seal the deal on that dream I’ve been sitting on my hands over here trying not to think about. To remain is accepting the stillness without frustration, pouting, or pacing that I think will accomplish much in the waiting for that phone, email, or text with answers I’ve been dreaming of. To remain is accepting today’s responsibilities without making that choice that I think will bring an end to this interminable waiting of not knowing the next step towards that dream.

In other words, to remain is to set my dreams, desires, hopes, plans, accomplishments, struggles, pain, people, and circumstances before my God as His own. To do as Psalm 131:2a Truly I have set my soul in silence and peace. To receive, to remain, to rest. To be His.

To remain is to acknowledge I’m not my own, I’m bought as His. Thus, all of this is His too. For Him to do with as He deems best. For all He does is best.

And His best is always good because He is good as in Psalm 145:9 and 17, The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made and The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does. I may not think God’s choice for my life as best or even good at the moment but I can rest and thus, remain in the truth that it is, because He is.

To remain is to rest there in His character. Just like Jesus told me to in John 15 – to remain. Eight times in eight verses. He knew I wouldn’t get it the first time or the 80,000^th time. Yet I know He loves me still (see John 3:16). And that truth keeps me pushing in closer to the Vine for He is the source of life for this branch. His death, my life. His life, my hope.

Since this soil scientist is all about acronyms, here’s one for remain that helps me to rest in the now of today:

R.E.M.A.I.N.

Receiving.

Every.

Moment.

Abiding.

In.

Nearness.

Most days I can’t handle more than this very moment. The weight of this moment’s pain and expectations is bigger than I can bear. But nothing is bigger than my Jesus!

Only {His} yoke is easy and {His} burden light (Matthew 11:30).

Only He stays in the days, months, years of struggling to stop striving.

Only He is enough in the waiting, receiving, and remaining.

Only He can and will do what He says He can and will do.

For now. For ever.

Ephesians 3:14-19 For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Dear Father God,

Thank You that all is enough and full in You. Thank You that what You do is always good for You are Good. Thank You that You call me to come and stay with You. Please help me to remain in this moment trusting You. Please help me to wait in faith for what You have planned.

In the strong Name of Jesus,

Amen.

If you missed part 1 of the receiving way, here’s the link for it:

https://soulscientistblog.com/2021/09/30/the-receiving-way/

Written by and copyrighted to Beth Madison, Ph.D., 2021