Abiding in Christ: The Secret of Continual Fruitfulness with the Holy Spirit — Part 1

# Living in the Spirit ## Abiding in Christ: The Secret of Continual Fruitfulness with the Holy Spirit — Part 1

**Key Scripture**

*"If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." — John 15:7*

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There is a question that lies at the heart of the Christian life: How does what Christ has accomplished for me become my daily experience?

The answer begins with understanding how God gives and how the believer receives.

**God is the giver.** He has revealed His will through His Word. His Word carries His intention, His authority and the power to accomplish what He has spoken. From creation, we see this pattern: God speaks, and what He speaks comes into manifestation.

*"For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast." — Psalm 33:9*

God does not need to struggle to accomplish His purposes. He speaks, and His Word accomplishes what He sends it to accomplish.

This is why Scripture says:

*"He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions." — Psalm 107:20*

The Word is not merely information about what God wants to do. It is the expression of His will, carrying His authority and purpose.

### The Finished Work and the Receiving Believer

Under the New Covenant, the believer approaches God from the foundation of Christ's finished work.

What Christ accomplished through His death and resurrection is not something we are trying to accomplish again. We receive the benefits of what has already been accomplished.

Paul declares:

*"For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen..." — 2 Corinthians 1:20*

This changes the way we understand prayer.

There are things we ask God for that He has already provided in Christ. We are not asking Him to become willing to give. We are learning to receive what He has already made available.

This gives us an important kingdom progression:

- God gives — δίδωμι (*didōmi*) - The believer asks — αἰτέω (*aitéō*) - The believer receives — λαμβάνω (*lambánō*)

God gives. We ask according to His Word. Then we receive what He has given.

The asking does not make God a giver. He was already the giver.

The asking brings the believer into conscious participation with what God has provided, while receiving is the act of taking hold of what has been given.

This is why Jesus said:

*"For every one that asketh receiveth..." — Matthew 7:8*

The question, therefore, is not only, "What has God given?"

It is also: "Have I learned how to receive?"

### The Parable of the Sower: Learning to Receive

This brings us to Luke 8.

The Parable of the Sower is one of the clearest pictures in Scripture of how the kingdom of God operates through the Word.

The seed is the Word of God. The sower sows the Word. The seed carries within it the potential for fruitfulness, but the condition of the soil determines what happens after the seed is received.

Jesus says of the good soil:

*"But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience." — Luke 8:15*

Notice the progression. They hear. They receive. They keep. They bring forth fruit.

The Word must not merely enter the heart; it must remain there.

The believer therefore does not simply need to hear the Word. He must learn to retain the Word, meditate upon it, believe it and allow it to govern his life.

This is the beginning of receiving what God has given.

The Word is the seed of God's provision.

When the Word concerning righteousness is received, righteousness becomes a consciousness. When the Word concerning peace is received, peace begins to govern the heart. When the Word concerning God's provision is received, the believer learns to live from God's provision rather than from fear of lack.

The Word must move from the pages of Scripture into the heart.

*Continue in Part 2: From Receiving to Abiding*

**Hassan Thomas Nenger** Author, *My Divine Identity as the Righteousness of God* Living in the Spirit Series