Abidingنموونە

You just finished a summer internship. Congrats! While you have learned, grown, and begun to abide in God, it can be easy to get out of the daily rhythms that come with the internship. The verse in Psalm 91 exclaims, "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty." There is a promise here to the people who dwell in the shelter of the most High. This speaks of what we learned this summer — praying secretly to your heavenly Father. (Mt. 6:6). This lifestyle promises an abided life that flows out of the Secret place. Now, what does this look like practically?

Step 1: Make a schedule and everyday appointment with God.

There are 168 hours a week, so breaking this apart will show that you have time. You need to make it for Jesus! I highly recommend making a Google document with the hours corresponding to every day. Have every 30 minutes what you will be doing. That way, you can make the most of your time and be diligent when returning to school.

Step 2: Pray throughout the day

Ever want to know a big part of God's will for your life?

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NLT) says, "Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus." Here, prayer is not so much vocally talking all the time but a posture of the heart. God desires that our hearts become houses of Prayers to God and that in all we do, say, think, and be in love. So, to do this throughout the day, set your heart and mind on things above, find loving acts to do, and know that you are abiding by God. Give thanks throughout the day in school for your friends, opportunities to talk about Jesus, what you did this summer, and your life. Have a heart posture of prayer unto the Lord!

Step 3: Abide in love

If you want to continue the feeling you had over the internship, you must abide in God's love. This is what you experienced over the summer and what your heart craves because you were made in God's image, which is the image of love! You are good and full of love at the core of who you were created to be! You were meant to show love, feel it, and be it. We do this when "we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him." (1 John 4:16). We abide in God by his word, prayer, and loving others. Jesus is just as concerned if we love others as he is if we read our bible and pray. When we live in the correct order of putting Him first, which is love, we live the abided lifestyle! We can't love God and not love people, and we can't love people and not love God. It goes both ways! So, loving Him first and constantly setting our hearts and minds to abide in his love will set us up for success!