JUNE with ABIDING

Today, June 1st

I turned the page of my calendar from May

to this quote and scene for June:

..."Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

which in simple terms means "don't follow the crowd"
From the Bible,we would turn to the Proverbs for such wisdom:
Proverbs 3:6
and
Proverbs 3:5-6
then with confidence
Psalm 23:3
But as we ABIDE in Christ and He ABIDES in us
John 15:4-5
we would hopefully not venture down just any pathmade by others without checkingand as we make our pathfollowing Jesusthe trail thatwe leaveshouldbeabetter choicebest for us & othersaccording to the teachings ofJESUSand the path He leaves in His Word
Isaiah 30:21
<>
John Piper wrote at Desiring God
"What Does it Mean to ABIDE in Christ?"

..." First, I think the essential meaning of our active ABIDING is the act of receiving and TRUSTing all that God is for us in Christ."

"The word "Abide" in our text (John 15) connotes the idea of remaining in a place; to continue to be present; to not depart, etc. Therefore, when Jesus told his disciples to abide in Him, He was simply urging them and commanding them to remain in vital fellowship with Him. According to John Piper, abiding in Christ is us trusting Him to meet all our needs and be all our treasure hour - by - hour. This is a most profound truth worthy of meditation. Most times we look away or become drawn from Jesus when we do not trust Him to meet all our needs, or don't regard Him as the treasure of our life and the fountain of our living. Indeed, the Living Christ is our Source and our Sustainer. We must daily remind ourselves of this blessed truth. We have no life outside of Him and we have no power nor wisdom apart from Him. This is why The Lord announced that "... For without me ye can do nothing." (John 15:5b). Our heart must daily trust Him. We must trust in Him hour by hour. There is a hymn that sings thus: "I need Thee, oh! I need Thee. Every hour I need Thee. Bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee." This is what abiding in Jesus looks like. It's a life of complete trust in Him who is the fountain of our life; and even more profoundly, He is our life. (see Colossians 3:4)." day 1 of 7 in a You Version plan "Abiding in Him"

Proverbs 4:26-27
26 Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. 27 Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.
or even better
Matthew 25:31-46
as a present day version of
Jesus' teaching to us
for such a time as this in 2025
from Rev. Benjamin Cremer Substack (Into the Gray) newsletter

"This isn’t a left or right issue. This isn’t a republican vs democrat issue. This isn’t a conservative vs progressive issue. This is about opposing cruelty. This is about stopping a bill that directly harms the most vulnerable among us. This is about pursuing the common good for ALL people. This is about upholding human dignity. Especially for those of us who follow Jesus, many of those who have written, proposed, support, and passed this “Big Beautiful Bill” are claiming to represent us while actively going against the very heart of Jesus’ teachings and harming the very people he called us to serve. All of us who share this county together have the opportunity to stand up for one another, especially the poor, the sick, the hungry, the stranger, and the imprisoned among us. I just want to encourage you to take this opportunity to do so. Raise your voice and ask your senators and faith leaders to stand up for us all and oppose this bill. In Matthew 25, when Jesus returns to judge the nations, he doesn’t say, “empathy has led to your downfall.” Jesus doesn’t say, “you failed to make sure your nation was dominated by Christians in power.” Jesus doesn’t say, “you failed to make your nation abide by traditional Christian values.” Jesus says, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’” -‭‭Matthew‬ ‭25‬:‭41‬-‭45‬ ‭NIV‬‬ Compassion isn’t a weakness. It’s the embodiment of truth." May 24, 2025, Rev. Benjamin R. Cremer, "Into the Gray"

[I was not sure if you can read on Substack so I added it here, but there was no copyright infringement intended by sharing his message that stuck me so profoundly when I read it, in lieu of the world events]
<>
As I pondered entering into ABIDING this June forward and read the Emerson quote on my calendar, it made me recall Rev. Benjamin Cremer's words and message from Jesus again & reflect on Matthew 25. Some commentators do not regard Matthew 25:31-46 as a Parable of Jesus, but I agree that "such decisions require a narrow definition of Jesus' parables". I consider this a Parable - the Parable of the Sheep and Goats, as part of Jesus' Olivet Discourse and one that we had better pay close attention to the words & message for us, in these days. There is much to consider in how we ABIDE. I pray that as I TRUST and ABIDE in 2025, I will draw closer to understanding & following the path that Jesus leaves ahead of me at all times to choose the path that is worthy of Jesus and one that I would leave for others to want to follow to Jesus, by choice - not by force. 

I have to listen to the message again of Pope Leo XIV again for today, June 1st (World Communications Day) but from what I heard in the background while the Mass plays behind me, I believe I heard him speak a message grounded in love and peace with unity as has been his theme, on this Jubilee of Families, Children, Grandparent and Elderly closing Mass.

Indeed the words shared in the Jubilee link indicate as I've written that in this day, there is a call to ABIDE in Christ Jesus' Peace, Unity & Love.{I had to add this when it came in my email}

[image credit: Sarah Young, Jesus Calling 📧]

Isaiah 26:3 NLT

The book I have for 31 Days of Prayers (I got for July, shared at the end of my blog 5/21) focuses on ABIDING in the Presence, ABIDING in the Provision, and ABIDING in the Power of God in all areas of our life - as the book shares "Scriptures to Pray for Your Life..."; covers all aspects in our lives. Day 1's Prayer - The Power of Connection (John 15:5) (the Introduction Part 1 of 3 Chapters is "An Invitation to ABIDE") with Chapter 1 on "What is Abiding?" so this will be my central focus in JUNE & JULY Praying ... to accept the invitation to ABIDE (as I hope I've been doing but if not, I will improve & be doing better, in Jesus' name & with Jesus!🙏As my last post indicated, June is the beginning of LGG "ABIDING in Jesus" starting June 9th {we can start with the 14 day plan in You Version} and then JULY 31 days of ABIDING🙏...

Let's explore what it "truly means to ABIDE" in Jesus together!

{and if not, or unable, ABIDE in Spirit & Pray}

Thank you! Blessings!

Abiding in Jesus,

💙