Discipleship Mini-series - Part 1 - Abiding in the Word

I strongly recommend listening to the audio, bellow is a brief summary of what is covered in the audio. Also the text bellow is taken from my post on Being a Disciple. I have broken that post down into 6 mini-posts where the focus is on the audio content.

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Abiding in The Word

31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
- John 8:31-32 NKJV

As a lifelong Christian, I am in grave danger of thinking I know the words of Jesus and neglecting to study them and allow them to challenge how I live my life. 

Jesus is speaking to Jews who already believed in Him, but simply believing in Jesus does not make someone a disciple. Hearing the words of Jesus is great, but merely listening to Jesus does not make you His disciple. According to Jesus, what makes you His disciple is your willingness to abide in His word.

Jesus does not want for us to simply be familiar with His word. He is not satisfied with us just believing in Him. Jesus wants us to live and remain in His word. Jesus was the living Word according to John 1 and He calls us to live in His word, to remain in His word.

Knowing the truth and being set free by it are also directly related to abiding in the words of Jesus, and being His disciple. According to Jesus knowing the truth does not come from simply hearing/reading the word, but rather from living it! (I have some posts that expand on the topic of abiding, The Simple Answer, Hidden in My Heart, Speaking of Love, and Tutti Frutti)