“Abide in Me” (John 15:4)

It doesn’t matter if a saint lives in palace or in a dungeon, he should experience “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17) as his normal, waking reality. If this sounds alien to you, you need to seek God with your whole heart to determine if you’re saved. 

 Don’t let anything keep you from regular, intimate relations with the Lover of your soul. The Apostle Paul was so close to Christ, he said, “it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). This was only possible because Paul was crucified with Christ. “Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” (Romans 6:3). If you’ve died with Christ, you’ll be able to understand what it means to, “love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). 

 I recommend you read His Word daily, especially before you go to sleep. It’s the primary way you’ll maintain a sense of His presence and have the confidence to know you’re in His will. Just as a husband maintains vital union with his wife through daily intimacy, so your spiritual Bridegroom will maintain vital union with you. Conversely, just as earthly marriages grow cold through lack of intimacy, so will your marriage with Christ. Every time you read Scripture, you’re made “wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work’ (2 Timothy 3:15-17).