Yesterday we discussed being one with Jesus and the fact that this promise is for today and not some future time. We talked about knowing God's will for us and being in submission to Christ. Today let's ask ourselves why we have been offered this relationship. We will discuss this further, but the simple answer to why God would offer us the same access to Himself that He gave Jesus was summed up in one sentence. Jesus told us directly why, and it is all about love and a single belief...
I want to live the resurrection life of Jesus. I want to be one with Him and abide in Him as He abides in God. My heart is set on this occurring now... not that it would happen sometime in the distant future, but now. Are you living this life, and if not, are you striving for it every day, and with each breath you take? Do you long for the day when you will ask nothing of Jesus, but ask everything directly of the Father in Jesus’ name?
Have you received the Holy Spirit? Do you really understand what this means to us? Why did the apostles have to wait for this filling and what did they do as they waited? The answers to these questions might just surprise you. So let's have a brief lesson.
Am I praying continuously and without ceasing? How can I possibly do this with all of the happenings in my life every day? Yet this is precisely what Jesus is telling me to do and he never asks of me those things I am incapable of.
This morning we consider the decisions in our lives. Who makes our choices; are we making them based on logic and reasoning, or is God making them for us out of His wisdom? Have we turned our lives over to God, or are we still holding tight to the tiller of our lives and plotting our own course?
God is indescribably great and we are so utterly lost without His love and grace. We realize our faults and shortcomings, but are we bold enough to compare ourselves with the magnificence of His glory, or the perfection of Jesus? Would we faint at the very sight of them?
Does God visit with us day and night? Do we allow Him full reign over both our waking and sleeping hours? Have we ever had a divine visitation while sleeping, and if so, did we consider it real? This is the subject of my thought today.
Jesus wants more than a casual relationship with us, and in this desire of His, He is exhibiting the will of the Father. They don't want to just know us and have us know them, they desire for us to become one with them. To join in a relationship that is far beyond a spiritual acknowledgement...
What does it mean to "seek first the kingdom of God?" Some believe this means that we are to seek God totally and that all else will miraculously be provided. Then there are those who feel it means to seek Him first and foremost, but to continue living the life we currently live using His commandments as a guide. Then, there are also those who think it is alright to live without any change whatsoever, and to insert God into the cracks of their existing life as a stop-gap when trouble arises. Which of these are we, or do we seek Him in some other contrived way? How is it that we seek Him?
It is good to routinely ask ourselves challenging questions. My question today is "Am I seeking those things which are truly important in life?" I am contemplating what I actually hold as highest in my life by asking myself if those things are really as valuable as I believe them to be. Am I placing value on fleeting things at the expense of the eternal treasures of faith?
I am thinking today about the timeless nature of my relationship with Jesus; not on being either in or outside of time itself, but the unending nature of it. Do I truly understand His faithfulness and how incredibly deep His love is for me? Is my love for Him just as far reaching?
Do I spend an inordinate amount of time studying and trying to be like Jesus and too little time just living like Him? Am I wrapped up in searching for some hidden treasure or meaning in His words at the expense of just living out the obvious things He teaches us? Our goal should be to follow Jesus and learn at His feet, but we can't do that unless we are walking with Him and making camp where He makes camp.
Following Jesus into Transfiguration and on to Ascension is my thought this morning, but beyond that I also look forward towards Pentecost. Will I, can I, understand what Jesus felt and became during His transfiguration, at Gethsemane, and His Ascension into heaven? Perhaps not, perhaps not yet, but I can feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. The promise of "another", a comforter that is very real to us.
To consider yourself consecrated requires a complete dedication of yourself to God. He does not give a measure of Himself to us; He gives us Himself totally. This morning I am contemplating the path to consecration and what that actually means.
Troubles are a part of our lives. In daily life we face many trials, but as Christians and believers in God the Father, we face them from a point of great advantage and strength. We find confidence in God's ability to bring us through them, and they strengthen our faith, but what of the good times?