Last night I spent the night in a hotel room.

It was clean, nicely decorated, and the bed was fairly comfortable.

But, while I was laying in bed, I moved my arm against the headboard… and it felt like it was buzzing.

There was some sort of low-level vibration in the headboard and I felt it in the bed too.

It was a bit disconcerting.

When I went to breakfast, I noticed that the room next to my room was labeled, “Electrical.”

On my return from breakfast the door to that room was open and I peeked inside.

On the adjoining wall to my room… right where my bed was… were three enormous breaker boxes. The source of electricity for the entire hotel… and it was behind my head all night long.

No wonder my headboard was buzzing.

I’m not going to discuss the potential danger from electromagnetic fields.

Nor get into how our beds’ metal frames or springs act as antenna for EMFs.

Electromagnetic fields are all around us.  They’re powerful and impact our bodies to differing degrees… but that’s for another time and space.

Today I was reading John 15 where Jesus talks about the vine and how we need to abide in him.

It got me thinking.

If God is fully everywhere, all the time, in the universe… he’s more powerful than any EMFs.

And this amazing, mighty, all-powerful God invites us to live in HIS power.

Jesus tells us…

I am the vine; you are the branches.
Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit,
for apart from me you can do nothing.
John 15:5 ESV

As I attempted to sleep, the EMFs from that ginormous breaker box bombarded me all night long.  Nothing good comes from those errant EMFs.  We can’t run our coffee makers, our hair dryers, or our lights unless we plug them into the electric sockets in the wall.  Those EMFs need to be contained in a wire to which we connect our devices.  My curling iron will do nothing to make my hair look good if I wrap some strands of my hair around the cold wand while it is unplugged from the electric wall socket.

Why do we expect that we can function each day in God’s power if we don’t connect with him through his word and prayer?

The Tesla is an electric car that will run 300 miles based on getting a full charge at the charging station.  If the car doesn’t plug in… it doesn’t run.  And if it only gets a partial charge… it won’t go as far.

We fool ourselves into thinking that if we go to church on the weekend and/or have a quick Bible read with our morning coffee… we are charged up for the week or the day.

I’m not suggesting that we don’t benefit from that brief time.  We do.  It can be a game changer for our day.

But, it’s  just the first step.

It’s great that we plug in first thing.

But, how do we sustain it?

It isn’t practical for us to run around all day with an extension cord… and really they are only so long anyway.  It’s just as impractical for us to go to work and read our Bibles all day long… we can’t do both and be successful at either.

So what is it that Jesus is asking to us to do when he commands us to abide in him?

He wants us to live and move and breathe in him and in his power all day long… all night long. (Acts 17:28)

He doesn’t want us live independently of him.

If we abide in him… it’s like having his EMFs with us continually.  It’s a really good thing.

But, if we constrain him like the electricity in the wires of our house… we only benefit if and when we’re plugged in and we need to change to different plugs based on our movements.  Just like the Tesla has to find a charging station every 300 miles… no matter where the driver travels.

Abiding is continuous.  We don’t abide if we only have specific power sockets we plug into.

We don’t just start our day with prayer and Bible reading…. we pray through the day.  We pull up an app on our phone to remind us of a verse so that we can mediate on it during our day.  We thank and praise God for his creation, his work in our lives, and for the people he puts in our paths. We listen to God’s word as we drive.  We put on worship music as we work, work-out, or tidy the house.  We have a continual conversation with God… seeking guidance, asking for wisdom, and developing our relationship with him. And we pray for and encourage others in their faith walk. Our heart’s desire is to be in-tune with the Lord and his leadership in our lives.

This abiding… it’s a lifestyle.

Jesus goes on to say…

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you,
ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
John 15:7 ESV

What an amazing benefit for abiding in Christ.

Are you an “abider.”

What do you do that helps you abide?

I confess I am is someone who struggles to do this more often than I care to admit.

It’s so easy for me to get caught up in my own agenda, my own plans, my own desires… how it must grieve the Lord.

Our goal should be to make abiding in Christ a lifestyle.

To abide… it takes me choosing to love, honor, and follow God from the moment my eyes flutter open in the morning until I snap the light off next to my bed at night.

Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
Through Christ, God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing
that heaven has to offer.
Ephesians 1:3 GW

The EMFs that were being generated from the ginormous breaker boxes on the other side of the wall in my hotel room might be powerful… but God’s power is greater than anything we can imagine.  And because he so greatly desires that we choose to abide in him that through Christ he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies.

This week… let’s agree together to abide in Christ.

Are you in?

It’s JoyDay!

Always be joyful.  Never stop praying.  Whatever happens, give thanks, because it is God’s will in Christ Jesus that you do this. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 

One of my favorite things of the week is JoyDay!  I look forward to this time where we give thanks in community…. for the good and the no-so-good.  It’s an amazing way to re-set our compasses for the week.  To encourage one another.  And most of all to make our “joy-meters” soar.

Won’t you join me in thinking back over the last week and counting just ‘seven’  from a whole week’s worth of opportunities for gratitude?

I’ll start!

Thank you Lord for…

1. Your unmerited grace and favor in my life.
2. incredible pink and gray sunrises and sunsets.  Oh how the heavens declare the glories of your name.
3. Your incredible power at work in my life… thank you that you are always at work on my behalf.
4. the joy of a walk on the beach with Tim and watching all those little holes in the sand “magically” appear around my footsteps.
5. the pleasure of watching a tiny girl squeal in delight at the water and sand as her grandmother attempted to capture those tender moments in the perfect evening light.
6. my wonderful loving and faithful husband as he creatively worked for a solution to my problem.
7. a hard “no” when in my mind there should only have been a great big YES!

Now it’s YOUR turn!

Please join me by tapping in your ‘seven’ in the ‘share your extraordinary thoughts’ section below.

Thank you for stopping by and taking time to leave your sweet thoughts.

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