All tagged one
How intimate are we with Jesus? Is our relationship close enough, and deep enough, that we don’t keep secrets, and that we can do the grossest of natural things in front of Him without embarrassment? Can we sit under a tree for hours and tell Him our wildest dreams or confide in Him our darkest thoughts? I encourage each of us to not have a lukewarm relationship with Jesus, and to become more than simple acquaintances in our faith by allowing Him to abide in us, as we abide in Him.
Two individuals enter into a wedding ceremony, but God’s intention is that our vows begin the process of our becoming one flesh as our life together begins. This is a beautiful mystery, and it is fraught with hardship and challenge. Many think it occurs suddenly during the physical consummation of our union, but are we ready for the deeper spiritual joining that takes a lifetime to produce in us? Are we ready for the consuming fire of God that purifies and completes a marriage? Are we prepared to endure the fire and become one ash in the palm of God?
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...
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...
Today’s world is defined by words like independence, freedom, rights, being my own man, doing it my way, and so many other thoughts, words, and phrases that, although seemingly good in one sense, tend to divide us, and push us away from one another when applied wrongly to our faith. When it comes to our faithfulness in Christ, these words can often separate us in ways that are very different from the desire of togetherness that Jesus envisioned for us. We were meant to love one another, be one in Christ, one with God, and of one Church, but our worldly definitions of these words encourage wedges to be driven between each of Christ’s ideas of oneness. Are we truly one as Jesus espoused, and wants us to be?
Do you long to be in the presence of God? When you pass by a church do you admire the cross that crowns it, and think of Jesus Christ, and all He does for you? Do you dream of being in God’s presence, standing with Jesus before God the Father with your face aglow, and your heart nearly exploding with the joy He brings you? If so, you are not alone, and your soul is singing in unison with so many others.