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    Abiding: Living Life Abundantly
    Abiding: Living Life Abundantly
    Abiding: Living Life Abundantly
    Ebook161 pages2 hours

    Abiding: Living Life Abundantly

    By Ryan Shieh

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    About this ebook

    Are you allowing religious obligations to take the place of abiding with Jesus?

    Chances are, if you're reading this book, you've heard about Jesus, you believe in God, you call yourself a Christian. But something still doesn't seem right--you don't really feel close to him, and you don't really understand what it means to have a relationship with him. Do you have to behave a certain way? Do your good works have to outweigh your bad ones? Will your own efforts ever be enough?

    The fact of the matter is, a relationship with Jesus should never be a rules-based life based on feelings of obligation. Following Jesus should be a liberation, consisting of more freedom and intimacy than you've ever experienced before. If Jesus really died on the cross for your sins, really rose from the dead, and really promises to come back again--he must really want a relationship with you!

    How do we get there? The aim is not to be like Jesus to attain perfection. The aim is to walk with Jesus to experience transformation. It's not your behavior modification. It's his spiritual revival. Because God never wanted your works or your efforts; he wants your heart. And the more you walk with him and grow closer to him, the more you will become all he has created you to be. It's called abiding.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherChristian Faith Publishing, Inc.
    Release dateDec 1, 2022
    ISBN9798886167290
    Abiding: Living Life Abundantly

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      Book preview

      Abiding - Ryan Shieh

      cover.jpg

      Abiding

      Living Life Abundantly

      Ryan Shieh

      ISBN 979-8-88616-728-3 (hardcover)

      ISBN 979-8-88616-729-0 (digital)

      Copyright © 2022 by Ryan Shieh

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

      Christian Faith Publishing

      832 Park Avenue

      Meadville, PA 16335

      www.christianfaithpublishing.com

      Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

      All Bible references are from NKJV unless otherwise noted.

      Printed in the United States of America

      Table of Contents

      Endorsements

      Acknowledgments

      Introduction

      Goodbye Religion

      Relationship Building

      Trials Form Testimonies

      Faithful on Purpose

      Following Jesus

      Eternity Awaits

      Conclusion

      Discussion Questions

      About the Author

      To Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, who changed my life,

      You are so good and so full of grace and mercy.

      All praise, King Jesus.

      Let my life be a reflection of you.

      Endorsements

      Abiding has the unique ability to tap into real struggles that we face every day in our walks with the Lord, while highlighting biblical solutions. Not only does Abiding hit every one of us right where we're at, but you can't go more than a paragraph without scriptural support to solidify each theme. It's a difficult task to write supplementally to the greatest book the world has ever known, but Abiding stays true to biblical doctrine and is very evidently Spirit-led in the words written; I believe it will be a great encouragement to all who read it.

      —Ryan Metz

      Virginia Tech Baseball (2018–2022)

      Host of The Christian Athlete Paradox podcast

      The meaning of true intimacy with Christ has been lost in our generation and culture today. So many carry the tragic misunderstanding that God's love and acceptance is something that we must work for or even earn. This is why I am so thankful for Ryan Shieh and his heart to write Abiding, which describes the process of developing true intimacy with God. In this book, you will learn what it means to abide in Christ so that you may experience the abundant life he has always desired for you. My friends, it is time to stop playing the religion card and, instead, start growing in a relationship with him.

      —Zach Clinton

      President and host

      Ignite Men's Impact Weekend and the Built Different Podcast

      Acknowledgments

      Without question, this book is not made possible without the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit and my Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus. All praise to him who was and is and is to come.

      Holy Spirit, come.

      To my publishers, editors, and assistants at Christian Faith Publishing, thank you all for your help and contributions to making this possible. I can't express how grateful I am for our partnership, and I look forward to more works in the future.

      To my mom, none of these books would be done without your help and your support. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your love, your assistance, and your willingness to serve me. You are so kind and always put me first, and it doesn't go unnoticed. I love you, Mom.

      To my dad and brother, David, my two best friends, thank you both for the love you give me every single day. Dad, your support and guidance on my life is unmatched, and words can't express how grateful I am to be your son. David, I wouldn't want anyone else in this world to be my brother. You're such a light for the gospel, and I'm so proud of you. I love you both beyond words.

      To Willa Grace, thank you for being such a vessel for the Spirit to work. Only me and you know, but this book would not have been written without you. You support me and challenge me to keep my priorities straight and be a better man. I love you and can't wait to serve Jesus with you for years to come.

      To Zach Clinton, you are such a light in my life. Your words, your actions, your motives—everything you do points to Jesus. Thank you so much for helping me with this brother. I can't wait to grow with you over these next few years and look forward to seeing how God uses you in huge ways.

      To Ryan Metz, thank you so much for your help in this! You have been a reflection of Jesus ever since we first met, and you do such a great job carrying your cross. Brother for life. Hope to see you soon! Love.

      To everyone else in my life who has impacted me over the course of this project, thank you. You are so appreciated. Everyone at Liberty University, everyone involved in Liberty baseball, all the LU athletics assistants, and my friends, family, mentors, pastors, teachers, spiritual leaders, grandparents, teammates, coaches—I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

      Oh, and Oasis room 104. I love you all. My dudes for life.

      Introduction

      Knocking on the Door

      There's got to be more.

      One afternoon, as I just finished writing Restart, a previous book I had written, I sat at my desk and wondered, There's got to be more. More love. More intimacy. More faith. More Jesus.

      Ever since I was a kid, I've grown up in the church. I went every Sunday, participated in all the activities they had, went to vacation Bible school every summer—you name it. I was surrounded by God—but had no idea who he was.

      Fast-forward—senior year of high school. After a long break because of the COVID-19 pandemic, I finally had time to understand (kind of) what it meant to be a follower of Christ. Jesus died for your sins. God is good. You're a representative of him with whatever you do, so do it well. And while you're at it, try to get as many people into the kingdom as you can.

      Which, if you look at it from that perspective, is all fine and dandy.

      But there was—more.

      After finally finishing a book about God, I decided to actually read about who God is. Like really read—something I had never done before. The most reading I had ever done at that time was reading the road signs on the highway, and I still couldn't get home on my own! This was something brand-new to me. But I felt deeply convicted to slow down and actually meet and encounter God.

      So I read.

      And read.

      And read.

      And after a little over a year, I read through the entire Bible. For the first time in my life, I read all about God's time line, God's will, and God's plan for redemption. It was right there for my own access. The Bible isn't something you just take from and apply to your life. The Bible is God's living Word that gives you the completeness of his character. It's used for knowing Jesus, not bettering your morals. And after reading about creation from God's point of view, I concluded something that we don't hear very often: there is so much more.

      Those words bring me so much joy. Let's be honest. Chances are if you're reading this book, you are a Christian who knows about Jesus. At some point in your life, you were introduced to him at the perfect time in the perfect place, and you haven't looked back. You got saved, you accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, and from then on, when people ask about your spirituality, you call yourself a follower of Jesus.

      But it doesn't stop there. You begin to actually pray a little bit. You start to listen to worship songs, and you memorize all the lyrics. You get the very last spot in the parking lot (closest to the entrance of course), and you are fully convinced that it was God's hand working in your life. Life is good. And because life is good, you conclude God is good.

      But then—the initial excitement starts to fade away. You begin to recognize again that we still live in a broken world. We still have responsibilities to take care of. We still have problems. And after trial and tribulation, you begin to walk away from your faith because what you see in the moment has brought you to a conclusion that God is simply not as good as you thought he was.

      Why? Here's the problem: we don't know God. We know of him—but we don't know him.

      What? What do you mean? I go to church. I sing the songs. I even have a verse in my Instagram bio! I know God. Don't you ever accuse me of anything otherwise.

      But if you looked at the way we lived our lives, we could say something much different. And it's not even the sin that tells the story—it's everything. The choices we make. The decisions we follow through with. The way we love. The way we speak. The way we handle situations. What we choose to do with our time. It all comes back to the same question—do we really know God?

      Maybe today, you're wondering this for yourself, Do I really know Jesus? I mean, I want to have a good relationship with him, but I don't even know how. Where do I start? What do I do? Will my efforts ever be enough? And because we don't know how to get close to Jesus (which is a common drawback), we simply give up and forget to even try. We settle for something less than what God originally intended for us to have: intimacy.

      There's got to be more.

      And there is. After finally reading through the entire Bible, Old and New Testament, I saw how God clearly conveys his most important desire with his people. God wants a relationship with you. That's it. He doesn't want your works, your good efforts, your morals, or anything else you can think of that can earn you favor. God doesn't want your religion. He wants your heart.

      Maybe this sounds like you. You're a Christian, who's been saved, but you ask yourself the same question as I did. Is there more? Is there more to this whole Jesus thing than just going to church on Sundays? Is there more we aren't experiencing because we settle for something less? Is there a deeper life Jesus is inviting us to that we don't even recognize?

      Is there something we're missing?

      The answer? Yes. There is so much more than what we think. More love. More freedom. More intimacy. More direction. More goodness. More faithfulness. More connection. More of a relationship.

      There's more to this whole Jesus thing than just religion.

      Jesus Holds More

      Jesus said in John 10:10, I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly (NKJV). Obviously, we see here that the life Jesus is inviting us to holds more, bringing something divine. The word for abundantly in Greek, used here, is perissos, which means far greater, excessive, or exceeding than what you can think of. Jesus is waiting to show you this brand-new life full of overwhelming love, never-ending joy, and indescribable intimacy.

      But you have to want it.

      Notice—finding Jesus doesn't come by working for it. It's by simply wanting it. It's a free choice, not something you have to earn your way toward. James 4:8 says, Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. It's a relationship. A relationship is always formed by love, not by works.

      John 15:4 says, Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. Famous evangelist Dr. Tony Evans is quoted by saying, "Jesus doesn't want you to just learn about him, study some stories, post some scripture, and throw up some prayers. He wants a relationship with you. That's the kingdom encounter you need to pursue. It's called abiding." The Greek word for abide used in John 15 is menó, which means to remain or stay with.

      Abiding with Jesus isn't trying to impress him. Abiding with Jesus is being as close to him as you can. It's not about behavior—it's about love.

      That's all he ever wanted—a relationship. One that is built on his love, his grace, and his mercy. That's the more we're going to get

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