The Always-present God

Today we continue on a concept mentioned in yesterday’s post; to be in God’s Throne room 24/7.  It might sound absurd. How can I be busy with God all the time?  And then there is the question of missing the mark, to sin and fall short of His presence (Where did we even get that?).

So, first things first.  Missing the kingdom.  Is that even possible?  Well, no!  And here is my explanation.  The moment we have been baptized, we are dead to sin and alive through Christ, which is a topic on itself for another time.  We have a new identity.  We are now in Christ… not outside of Christ, in Him.  Jesus prays for His disciples in John…

"that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me." -John 17:21

See what this is?  God in us, we in Him.  There is no separating this unity.  What God has put together, no man can separate.  How else do we understand the scripture that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ?  We are in God and God in us.  That means that I am in the presence of God all the time, because God is in me.  Trying to move out of God’s Kingdom would be to try and get rid of your shadow.  When you confessed Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you gave up the option of living on your own, away from God.  God is always with you.

So, what are we missing then?  Why does it not always feel like God is near?  Well, our failure to observe.  Does scripture not say that He will never leave us, nor forsake us?  God is always present.  Picture this.  You are spending a day with a friend.  Wherever you go, that friend goes.  So not speaking with that friend or deliberately looking at them, does not mean that that friend disappeared for a moment, it only meant that you did not pay attention.  You weren’t aware.  You can spend an entire day like that with someone, without feeling any connection at all to that person.  Your relationship only grows, and knowledge is only gained from one another when you pay attention and engage this person.  It is exactly the same with God.

My challenge to you is then this; to not try and be in God’s presence 24/7, because that you are as we speak, but to be aware of God being in yours.

From the Throne room

My previous post was about making God our only source.  To not be faded or influenced by this world or the people around us.  Today’s post links up with that idea.  We received the mandate to minister to our fellow brothers and sisters.  When I say brothers and sisters, it is humanity wide.  Not just the Christian faith but all people in our surrounding vicinity.  The assignment, to preach the Gospel.  To minister Life.

We are in contact with people daily.  In some or another form.  Whether it is the person behind the counter or a waiter serving your table.  Whether it is your boss or the person you share an office with.  It can even be a man on a street corner or the person that engaged with your Facebook post.  We minister all the time, regardless of the whether you are aware of it or not.  This is a scary fact.  To how many people have you ministered negativity or death, without realizing or being fully aware of 

what you are doing or saying at that very moment?

I hope you are starting to see the gravity of the situation I am posing here.  This is not something ti take lightly.  The issue is, we have this “water-collector” image of what it is to minister.  We enter the Throne room, receive from God and the exit again to hand out or distribute what we have received, until we are maxed out.  Then we return to the Throne room in order to repeat the process.  But I do not for one moment believe this is how it was meant to be done.  I want to use the same scripture as yesterday for my reference;

Jesus gave them this answer: "Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”  -John 5:19

Jesus was in constant contact with the Father.  What God said and where God went, Jesus said or Jesus went.  When we then minister to people, we need to do it from the Throne room.  Ministering whilst sitting at God’s feet.  Not leaving God’s presence for even a second.  It is only then that I believe, we can minister to whom we need to, when we need to and in the fashion God wants us to.

So, the question then; Does that mean I need to be in constant contact with God?  Should I be in the Throne room all the time?  Always busy with God?

Yes… yes you should.

Our Single Source

A while back, a friend of mine made a comment about the people in our lives.  He said that we so eagerly want positive people, friends who holds us up and stays true.  People who are with us to the end and who inspire us.  But we are depending on the wrong source for inspiration.  Jesus was surrounded by people who doubted, who spoke negatively and who let him down multiple times.  The interesting part is that this never affected Jesus in any way.  He did not turn negative or also started to doubt.  He didn’t lose his hope in humanity once he was betrayed.

His secret?  His source.  Jesus spent time with the Father.  The Father was his source.  He depended on the Father for upliftment, hope and inspiration.  He simply moved among people and engaged with them as he saw the Father did: 

“Jesus gave them this answer: "Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”  -John 5:19

Don’t get me wrong, I am not asking of you to dump the friends you have and trade them in for people that is negative about life and has no faith.  What I am asking of you, is to not lock people out of your life, but to embrace whoever God puts on your path.  To use God as your single source and in that way, to be God’s hands and feet in this world.

Let’s make God our only source.

Making sacrifices with a smile.

The saying goes.. only mad men does the same thing, yet expect different results.  In everything we do, whether it be business, sport or relationships, we all have an ideal.  In order to reach that ideal, the key is to let go of what you hang on to.  Let’s take fitness for instance.  In order to become what you want to, you have to make changes, make sacrifices.  You need to eat right, sacrifice that daily slab of chocolate and spend time in the gym or running.  My point is this; the word “sacrifice” has always made me cringe.  As humans we don’t like letting go of what we have.  We certainly don’t appreciate being taken out of our comfort zones.  The problem with this view is that no change can happen unless you let go.  Let’s get back to the example of fitness.  The whole reason you aren’t fit is because you don’t exercise.  So sitting on the coach and wanting change is not the same as getting up and start making the change.

So it is clear, going about the same routine as we always do, won’t bring in change.  Now let’s draw that aspect through to faith.  Being in relationship with God is like staying fit.  It is a lifestyle. Switching it on and off as you like, is a convenience contract, it is not a relationship.  So with that in mind, it means you need to get out of your comfort zone.  You need to makes sacrifices and go the extra mile.  You need to work on this relationship, spend time with God.  With this there is an aspect we don’t enjoy that much.  The Bible speaks of picking up your cross and following God.  The disciples had to leave behind what they know.  That very thing that gave them security, they had to let go of, in order to follow God.  So now we are back to square one… sacrifices.

Luke 9:23  Then he said to them all: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.

Think about what you want most in life.  It can be that work promotion, that hobby you are working on.  For me it became fitness, so ill share my story.  I have the desire to look good and to feel good.  To push my body further and further each day.  To reach my maximum potential.  With this as my goal, sacrificing old eating habits is no longer torture.  To spend time in the gym and work later at night when it comes to studies is no longer an issue.  I go the extra mile because I want to.  I do whatever I need to do to reach my goals, with a smile.  In the same manner, once God becomes our sole purpose, our obsession, our focus… then going the extra mile is all worth it.  Then spending more time with Him is a joy, sacrificing our time and effort to be God’s hands in this world is no longer an issue.  All of a sudden the word “sacrifice” turned into “willingly surrender”.

Make God your focus, your ambition and your obsession.  And see what God can do in this world through you when you are absolutely sold out to Him.

Have a blessed day!    

Jesus Served with Humility

Jesus is the ultimate example when it comes to humility.  You can say that serving people was as normal to Him as breathing.  This is remarkable given the fact that this is the very embodiment of God, the Savior, the Healer, the Redeemer, and the Christ!  He had all the reason and all the credentials to go around and boast yet He always kept Himself humble.  Philippians 2:6-7 sums it up perfectly when the writer says:

“⁶Though He was in the form of God, He chose not to cling to equality with God; ⁷but poured Himself out to fill a vessel brand new; a servant in form and a man indeed.”

There are obviously the account of where Jesus washed the disciples feet that jumps to mind first when thinking of Jesus serving those around Him.  This is and always will be a brilliant example, yet it is not the only one.  In Luke 8 we see something amazing!  Verse 1 starts off by saying that Jesus was traveling from town to town, city to city.  But He wasn’t alone.  With Him went a crowd.  The writer tells that this crowd consisted of the twelve (probably disciples) and a larger group that included some very significant women.  These women are significant for this reason;

Luke 8:3 “There were others like Susanna and Joanna, who was married to Chuza, a steward of King Herod.  And there were many others too.  These women played an important role in Jesus’ ministry, using their wealth to provide for Him and His other companions.”

Now keep in mind that the culture of those days ranked women as quite low in society.  They had little rights and almost no say in any affairs.  Yet Jesus becomes subject unto them.  Making Himself dependent on them while they supply for Him and His companions.  The man was the one that had to look after women, yet in this case Jesus flips the cards. 

Jesus wasn’t interested in His glory, nor His name.  What mattered to Him was obeying His Father.  And the Father’s command is simple… love!  Once we let go of our names, egos and accomplishments, then we will find that it comes natural to simply love and serve.

The True Source of Life

Imagine wanting to buy a car.  Let’s say you have a Specific Lexus in mind.  Knowing about the car is essential.  Details like fuel consumption, engine performance and other creature comforts are needed in order for you to not only be comfortable with what you are buying but also to understand the vehicle and how to handle it.  There are many ways and methods to get the information you want.  You can have pamphlets, magazines, review videos, websites etc.  The trick however is this, no matter how much info you have on this car… no matter how much you know… you still can’t drive it unless you have it.

Christianity works on the same principle.  Knowing about God is essential.  A lack of knowledge on who God is and His character, ruins tears the church apart, yet to know God is not the same as having Him.  This might sound strange when I say “have” God since He is omnipresent, bigger than our minds can possibly comprehend.  But, what I mean with this statement is having an active part in the Spirit of God.  Allowing the Spirit of God to fill you.

We grew up with the Bible as the word of God and the word of Life.  But we need to understand that this word is not the Life but rather points to or testifies of the true Life.  In pursuing knowledge about God we need to keep in mind that a personal, intimate relationship is of absolute importance.  Without the Bible there is a lack of knowledge about God, but without His Spirit there is a lack of God entirely.  The Pharisees was seeking salvation and life in the scriptures yet did so without the Spirit and missed the true salvation and Life standing right in front of them.  Jesus spoke to them in John 5:39 saying:

“Here you are scouring through the scriptures, hoping that you will find eternal life among a pile of scrolls.  What you don’t seem to understand is that the scriptures points to Me.” 

In God is eternal Life, we don’t have to only read about life… we can now enjoy it!  

In His Footsteps

Reading through John 5 this morning, I came across something really interesting in verse 19.  This is a concept we are all familiar with but do we really grasp it.  Christ Tomlin has a song that says "Where You go I'll go, where You stay, I'll stay.  When You move, I'll move.  I will follow You."  Amazing words right!

John 5:19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.

Now keep in mind, Jesus said this right after He healed the lame man at the pool of Bethesda.  He healed the man, then ordered him to take up his bed and walk.  On a Sabbath day... this was an absolute taboo.  Now the Pharisees stood up out of anger most probably.  Not only did Jesus heal on the Sabbath, as was a very deliberate habit, but He now also ordered this man to carry his bed on a Sabbath.  When the Pharisees confronted Jesus, His answer is in verse 19.

Paul writes in Romans 6 and say that our old man now died with Christ.  That we have our new being in and through Christ.  So when we now have the Spirit of Life in us, and we have our being in and through Christ, we can no longer claim to live our own lives.  To surrender your hopes, plans, ambitions... to give your all to God is no light matter.  It is serious business.

What I want to get to is this.  Jesus did nothing out of His own but simply imitated The Father.  To walk in the footsteps of Jesus, means we; as God's children, now also imitate Him.  We do nothing out of our own but only act because we are led by the Spirit.  In this regard we can no longer allow success to increase our happiness or that defeat decreases it, since we don't act on our own but only do what we see He does.

And since we gave our all to God, our success, our life story; now rests solely in His hands.  Our happiness should then be found in Christ and not in our success or achievements.  The good news is that when we truly imitate God, and when we find our happiness in Christ and Christ alone, then nothing can steal our joy.  No comes the interesting part.  Give all this to God, your life, hopes, plans, dreams, ambitions.  Live through Him, imitating Him and Him alone and God has a promise...

Proverbs 16:1-3  1"People go about making their plans, but the Eternal has the final word. 2Even when you think you have good intentions, He knows your real motives.  3Whatever you do, do it as service to Him, and he will guarantee your success."

We now no longer live... but Christ lives in us.  We have our existence through Him.  He is not simply an extension to our current lives but rather, an entire new life.