“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” (John 15:7)

Abide defined: Accept or act in accordance with. Comply with, obey, observe, follow, keep to, hold to, conform to, adhere to, stick to, stand by, act in accordance with, uphold, heed, accept, go along with.

Abide in Jesus

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. ‘I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.’” (John 15:4-5)

“Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.” (1 John 2:28)

“The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.” (1 John 3:24)

Abide in Christ’s teaching

“Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son.” (2 John 1:9)

Abide in His love

“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)

“The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” (1 John 2:6)

“As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.” (1 John 2:24)

“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people” (1 Tim 2:1 NIV)

Leaders come and go. All are temporary. The Bible tells us to “pray for leaders who have authority over us” ….. “Without anger or disputing.” And, when you do so, “it pleases God our Savior.”

Pray for all people in authority!

“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time. And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a true and faithful teacher of the Gentiles. Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing." (1 Tim. 2:1-8)

“Sing to God, sing in praise of his name, extol him who rides on the clouds; rejoice before him — his name is the Lord. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.” (Psalm 68:4-5)

“The LORD will tear down the house of the proud, But He will establish the boundary of the widow.” (Prov. 15:25)

Protects strangers

“The LORD protects the strangers; He supports the fatherless and the widow, But He thwarts the way of the wicked." (Psalm 146:9)

Justice for orphans

“He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing.” (Deut. 10:18)

“There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, and there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want. The generous man will be prosperous, and he who waters will himself be watered.” (Proverbs 11:24-25)

Give generously  

“Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.” (Deut. 15:10)

Give according to the blessing

“Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you.” (Deut. 16:17)

 And you will be blessed

“He who is generous will be blessed, for he gives some of his food to the poor.” (Proverbs 22:9)

God loves a cheerful giver

“Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.” (2 Cor. 9:6-8)

 Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over!

“Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” (Luke 6:38)

“Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Cor. 6:9-11)

These people "won't inherit the Kingdom of God"

This verse lists a few kinds of people who won't inherit the kingdom of God: wrongdoers, sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, men who have sex with men, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, slanderers, and swindlers!

But, there is good news! 

There is hope for them! God has the power to change people, no matter how sinful they may be!

That's what some of you "were" 

This same passage says something else truly remarkable! “And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

God has the power to change people!

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Cor. 5:17)

It’s done by declaring and believing Jesus

“If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” (Rom. 10:9-10)

“For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.” (Rom. 6:14

We have obtained access by faith

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Rom. 5:1-2)

The forgiveness of sins

“For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Col. 1:13)

It is a gift!

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9)

“He gives justice to the oppressed and food to the hungry. The LORD frees the prisoners.” (Psalm 146:7)

He knows what you need!

“Don’t worry and say, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ The people who don’t know God keep trying to get these things, and your Father in heaven knows you need them.” (Matt. 6:31-32)

He won’t let you starve!

“The LORD will not allow a righteous person to starve, but he intentionally ignores the desires of a wicked person.” (Proverbs 10:3)

“For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.” (Psalm 107:9)

“The righteous eat to their hearts’ content, but the stomach of the wicked goes hungry.” (Proverbs 13:25)

 Seek God first, it's the key!

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need.” (Luke 12:31)

He supplies according to His riches

“And my God will fully supply your every need according to his glorious riches in the Messiah Jesus.” (Phil. 4:19)

He does it so you can have abundance for every good deed!

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.” (2 Cor. 9:8)

“The eyes of the LORD are in every place, Watching the evil and the good.” (Prov. 15:3)

His eyes move to and fro

“For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His." (2 Chron. 16:9)

He is always “there”

“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,’ Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day Darkness and light are alike to You.” (Psalm 139:7-12)

“Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death and of faith in God, instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.” (Heb. 6:1-2)

Grow up in all aspects of God

“But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ.” (Eph. 4:15)

Worthy of the Lord in all aspects and bearing fruit

“So that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” (Col. 1:10)

Grow up in respect to salvation

“Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation.” (1 Peter 2:2)

Grow in both grace and knowledge of Jesus

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18)