The ABCs of God's Love Letter: Abide

Welcome to
​The ABCs of God's Love Letter
25 Weeks. 25 Writers!

We will use the alphabet as an acrostic and study topics like: Abide, Beloved, Calling, Delight, Endure, Faithful, Garment, Hunger, Increase, Justice, Kindness, Light, Manna, Name, Ordain, Path, Quench, Ransom, Salt, Testify, Upright, Vanity, Wait, Yield, and Zeal.

Every week, we’ll discover a different topic. Each topic is accompanied by five Scripture verses—one for each weekday. The Bible study has a page for each verse. Those spaces will invite you to write the verses out and journal what you’ve learned.

Every time I read God’s Word I learn something new. I also find that Scripture writing really helps me meditate, and as I meditate, God always shows me just what I need for that day—it’s AMAZING!

​I pray you’ll join us and learn new and exciting things too from His Word. 

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This Week We're Looking at Abide

Have you ever noticed that we all seem to wear busyness as a badge of honor, yet we don’t seem to be accomplishing much? We are so afraid that someone might call us “lazy” that we fill every moment of our days with activity. We pride ourselves on being able to “do it all” yet at the end of the day we are worn out, worried and stressed to the max.

I believe God has a better way. That is why I have set an intention to focus on being fruitful instead of being busy. In searching the Bible to see how to do that, I discovered that, according to John 15:4, the way to become more fruitful is to abide in Christ.

"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me." John 15:4

Reading this verse made me wonder, just exactly how do you abide in Christ? We find a couple of clues as we keep reading further in John 15. According to verses 7-8, not only do we need to abide in Christ, but we also need to let His words abide in us. ​

"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be My disciples." John 15:7-8

The second clue we find in verse 10

"If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love." John 15:10

Before we can keep Jesus’ commandments, we must first know what they are. How do we know what they are? Well, they are in the Bible.

Finally, we find a third clue in 1 John:

"Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father." 1 John 2:24

What they “heard from the beginning” is referring to the Gospel—the transforming message of salvation in Christ. ​

Are you beginning to see a pattern? All of these Scriptures involve the Word of God. This reminds me of John chapter 1, which reveals that Jesus actually is the Word of God, who was with God in the beginning, then came to earth in the flesh. Therefore, I think it is safe to conclude that getting to know the Word of God is going to help us abide in Christ.

But what does the word “abide” even mean? According to Blue Letter Bible, to abide means: “not to depart; to continue, to be present; to be held, kept, continually; to continue to be, to last, endure, to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy).”

Some Bible translations use the word “remain” instead of abide. Therefore, if I want to be fruitful (bear much fruit), I must “remain” connected to Jesus (as a branch remains connected to the vine.)

Over the years, I have learned a few simple but fun strategies that help me to abide in Christ (to remain connected to Him, to continually stay in a state of expectancy—expecting that Jesus loves me, is with me, is protecting me, and guiding me.) The strategies are things I do throughout my day (and during my devotional time) to help me engage with the Word of God, which in turn helps the Word to get down deep in my heart in a way that actually transforms my life.

You can learn more about these strategies here on my blog and download a free printable art print and a coloring page of Psalm 91:1 (which talks about abiding in the shadow of the Almighty).

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JoDitt is a Christian author, speaker, and licensed artist. She creates Scripture coloring books for adults and loves helping women fall in love with the Word of God.

She has all kinds of cute, free printables over on her website. I hope you'll take a look! Sign up for her monthly newsletter for access to a library full of printables including Scripture art, coloring pages, journaling cards, prayer templates, Bible journaling templates, bookmarks, plus wallpapers for your computer and wallpapers/lockscreens for your smartphone.

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The ABCs of God's Love Letter Scripture Memory Cards

​The ABCs of God's Love Letter Bible Study is accompanied by a collection of 25 5 X 5 Scripture Memory Cards. We'll utilize this great tool to help us memorize a Scripture verse once a week that goes with the topic we're studying that week. Hiding God's Word in our heart is so important!

These square press prints are printed on thick, high-quality, matte art paper and include a small white border. They are available here in our Etsy shop. But WAIT, there's more! Just for you —> ​Use code SAVE50 at checkout for 50% OFF your entire order. FREE SHIPPING on orders $35 or more, otherwise, shipping is just $2.00, as always! ​

Check out these Scripture Memory Cards

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What does Abide mean to you?