10/18/2017
How intimate are you with Jesus? Is your relationship close enough, and deep enough, that you don’t keep secrets, and that you can do the grossest of natural things in front of Him without embarrassment? Can you sit under a tree for hours and tell Him your wildest dreams or confide in Him your darkest thoughts? I encourage you to not have a handshake relationship with Jesus... become more than acquaintances in your faith and in Him.
“If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.”
John 15:6 ESV
I have known couples who say “I would never do that in front of my wife” or I would never tell my husband that I thought like that.” When I hear such things I wonder about the depth of those marriages. Although they are one flesh physically, they are missing out on the deep abiding trust and friendship that comes along with being husband and wife. They aren’t enjoying all the fruit intended in marriage. When a limb on a fruit tree doesn’t bear fruit it is pruned. The tree has one purpose and that is to produce... is your marriage producing all the fruit it should, or is it in danger of being pruned?
As a boy I had a friend that I did everything with. We would roam for hours in the neighborhood and surrounding woods. There was no subject that was taboo in our conversations, and if the urge struck us we would find a nearby bush and relieve ourselves without embarrassment or hesitation. Some of you might be aghast at that revelation, but what I am saying about our friendship is that it was based on complete trust and openness, spiritually, intellectually, and physically, and we were at complete ease.
When I met Jesus I went years without having such a relationship. I would tell Him things of faith and only things of faith. I would pray but wouldn’t confess my sins in detail because they embarrassed me. I was leading two lives... one in which He existed, and another that I kept to myself. Then one day that double life collapsed. I found myself on the precipice of disaster and I had to break that wall down... I was forced to go to Him and to trust Him with the other me out of absolute necessity, and to my amazement He comforted me, and spoke with me in a way that only intimate friends can. My handshake acquaintance became a dear and trusted hug when I see Him friendship, and I knew what it was to abide in Him.
John 15:4-11 talks a great deal about abiding. I read an article regarding this word. The part I found most interesting is that the same Greek Word that is translated as abide is translated differently in other verses. It can be found as these words and thoughts... “remain, dwell, continue, tarry, endure, and it means to be present, to be held or kept, to last and not to perish, to endure, and to survive and live in a condition of waiting.” After reading this I asked myself... “how deep do I truly abided in Jesus?”
God and Jesus don’t want there to be walls between us. They have no desire for a yours and mine relationship. Besides, we are only fooling ourselves when we think that a God who is with us always doesn’t already know of our secret life. He has seen our nakedness, and knows of our most disgusting sins... and yet loves us despite them. What we need to do is break down our imagined wall and begin to abide completely with God. We need to take our faith to completeness, and learn to be with Him rather than to come to Him.
I was talking over lunch with a good friend and Pastor yesterday. We were discussing how we didn’t have to think a great deal about what God wanted us to do in every little circumstance any longer. Our relationships with Him had reached the point that His will was coming naturally and without us always having to consciously search for it. You see, it is a lot like my childhood friend, and my wife... my relationship with God is becoming so intimate that I am beginning to know Him, even as He knows me. I don’t think about not committing that certain sin any longer, because it has become as foreign to me as it is to God... are you catching my drift?
When you see an elderly couple walking together, they look so natural... their gait is similar, they anticipate the other’s moves, and when they stop to eat they know the others likes and dislikes, so they pick a restaurant from a very short list because many have been automatically eliminated. This is what loving someone yields; it makes abiding in one another possible, and the longer you are together as friends, the deeper the dwelling, and being present, actually becomes. How close is your stride to Jesus’ and do you automatically know the table that will be acceptable to the both of you?
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for being present in my life. I thank you for allowing me to abide in you and to have a relationship that brings us closer together with each passing moment. Holy Father you are my God, my Father, my Advisor and counselor, but you are also my friend. I thank you Lord for the hand of friendship you extend to me, and I treasure the depth it brings to our being together and how it allows me to know you more intimately. Each day I find that there are new increases in my confidence and understanding of you; I know your will more completely, and by that, you can begin to give me a deeper knowledge of who you are. My prayers know the bounds of your will, and I am able to direct them in a manner that is pleasing to you. Even as I pray Father, I come to see that my desires have aligned themselves with yours. Walk with me always Jesus, and guide my stride to match yours... Dear Lord, let your table be mine, and as You wash my feet let me be comfortable in that act of love, and serve you, even as you serve me. Let there be no secrets between us, and give me comfort and joy as I abide in you. Praised be your name Father! Let my life abide in you, and please you always! Teach me Father that I can more perfectly reflect your image!
Rich Forbes