Jesus instructed his followers, “Abide in Me . . as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me” (John 14:4 NKJV). We were created to abide with God. Our heavenly Father, through his very nature, is relational. He has designed us to walk with him in an intimate relationship.
Followers of Christ abide with him the way a branch dwells on a vine—in a life-sustaining connection. We consume his Word through Scripture engagement and, as we do so, learn God's love and his designs for us. But often the difficulty is where to start and how to form this unique connection with our heavenly Father. After all, interacting with God is different than interacting with other humans on earth. Furthermore, one style of experiencing this type of relationship with God does not fit all. We each have unique ways that appeal to us of meeting with God.
The Abide Bible Course is designed to expose participants to different methods of interacting with God that Christ-followers have pursued throughout the ages. Each of these practices is firmly grounded in encountering God through Scripture. This is because the Bible is the authoritative “word" of God—the story that He provided so we can meet, know, love, and obey Him.