What Does it Mean to Abide?

Wednesday, January 4, 2012


Abide...we hear the word, but do we know what it means?  The word used in the New Testament commes from the Greek "meno" which has many different meanings...

To remain in a place and not depart from it

To continue to be present

To remain as one

To last or endure

To wait for

To survive

So to abide in Christ is to not walk away from Him and to be actively present in relationship with Him. It means to be as one with Him even when life gets hard.  To abide is to persevere, to wait for Him to redeem the hard struggles in life and to come out on the other side the victor.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know the testing of your faith develops pereseverance.  James 1:2-3


3 comments:

Lisa notes... said...

Excellent choice, Debbie. Abide is a much deeper word than I used to give it credit for. I still have much to learn about not only its meaning but how to live it out. I'll look forward to what you'll be sharing about your year with "abide."

Unknown said...

I love the word "Abide." It is a synonym for the word I chose for the year, "Dwell." I'm looking forward to seeing how God uses your word this year.

Bonnie Gray said...

Debbie - abide is a very faith delicious word.. it's a good one to have for the New Year. Thanks for sharing the beginning step of your journey in this faith prompt you've received from God, in the faith jam!