Except Ye Abide

As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in Me. - John 15:4

"We know the meaning of the word except. It expresses some indispensable condition, some inevitable law....Let me learn the lesson. Abiding is to be an act of the will an the whole heart. Just as there are degrees in seeking and serving God, "not with a perfect heart," or "with the whole heart," so there may e degrees in abiding. In regeneration the divine life enters us, but it does not all at once master and fill our whole being. This comes as a matter of command and obedience....There is unspeakable danger of our giving ourselves to work for God and to bear fruit, with but little of the true abiding, the wholehearted losing of ourselves in Christ and His life....Our blessed Lord desires to call us away from ourselves and our own strength, to Himself and His strength." - Murray

So it is not like a light switch - I'm abiding, then suddenly not abiding.  It is a process.  It is the process that I have known and worked for my entire life - to gain a close relationship with Christ.  To be so intimate with Him, that I do not care what others say, or what others do, or what others think.  I am only thinking of Christ and bending my thoughts, actions, and will towards Him.

Lord, my prayer is that I do not let myself get into the way of abiding in You.  Give me the power to obey this command.  For abiding isn't something that is just beneficial to me and I should strive to do it. You have commanded it of me.  I must obey.