Tag Archives: Being with Jesus

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Abide!

Being With Jesus:
John 15:5

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

As a society, we are busier than ever—and with that, we have much less capacity to experience and enjoy what’s most important in life. Cardiologist Meyer Friedman, a respected authority on the Type-A personality, says that modern America suffers from what he calls hurry sickness. We might define hurry sickness as the relentless drive to do more, have more and be more in less and less time.

That is nothing new; it has been the steady march of fallen humanity asserting independence from God. Even 200 years ago, Soren Kierkegaard said, “The press of busyness is like a charm. Its power swells … it reaches out, seeking always to lay hold of ever-younger victims so that childhood or youth are scarcely allowed the quiet and the retirement in which the Eternal may unfold a divine growth.”

Even believers have fallen pray to uncontrolled, purposeless. We have elevated intensity of living over intimacy with God and predictably, that is stunting the fruit-bearing, joy-filled, abundant life described here in John 15 that Jesus died to provide—and which is the most compelling witness, arguably, to a hurried, stressed-out world that desperately needs the Christ-follower to be an oasis of unforced centeredness in a sea of chaos.

Abiding & Fruit-bearingAs believers, we have been called to abide. And Jesus, who perfectly balanced the relentless demands of people and mission with quietness and solitude, is a great mentor for us. He knew how to make space in his life for what was most important in life: abiding with his Father. Mark 6:31-32 is a great example of how Jesus practiced abiding in his Father:

“Because so many people were coming and going that Jesus and his disciples didn’t even have time to eat, he said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’ So they left in a boat to a solitary place.”

Now we are not told what they did when they got there. They may have enjoyed a season of prayer. Maybe Jesus led them in a devotional. Perhaps they took a nap, or had a potluck, or played tag—all legitimate activities when you are with Jesus. We don’t know for sure, but we do know they did this:

  • They ceased their normal activity
  • They retreated from the demands of people
  • They set aside a specific time and place for quiet
  • They were with Jesus in an undivided way.

And that experience of abiding resulted in rest. Now that same practice of abiding will work for us too:

Pausing from our normal routine; scheduling a time and place for solitude and reflection; giving full and unfettered access into our lives to Jesus. That’s a simple but sure template for abiding in Christ if you’re looking for one.

Without a regular and fiercely guarded time for abiding in Christ, life will constantly remind you that this world demands your blood, sweat and tears. But by abiding in Christ, you will be reminded that your eternal soul belongs to Someone and someplace else.

In John 15:4, Jesus says, “Abide in me, as I abide in you.” That is not only a command, it is an invitation that requires a choice on your part. Jesus invites you to come away with him from the busyness of life and the bondage of hurriedness for a satisfying renewal of your soul. “Come with me” Jesus says, “to a quiet place and get some rest.” (Mark 6:31)

Will you? If you want to really live the fruit-bearing, God-honoring, joyful life Jesus came to give you, you have to make the choice to abide.

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“It is the responsibility of every believer to carve out a satisfying life under the loving rule of God, or sin will start to look good!”   (Dallas Willard)

 

Getting To Know Jesus: Most of your life you are required to “wrestle with the world, wringing profit from the earth” (Abraham Heschel), but Jesus calls us to carve out a regular time where we get away with him just to abide. Do that today…and everyday this week. And while you are with him, simply reflect on who you are and to Whom you belong and why he put you on this earth. And in those moments, gratefully remember intimacy with him is greater than anything else in life!

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Being With Jesus

Being With Jesus:
John 17:3

And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

More than anything, we were created for an intimate relationship with God. Now there are certainly other things that will please God and bring glory to him through our lives, but nothing is more honoring to the Creator than to walk in a close, personal and loving relationship with him.

According to the Bible, the only way that gets expressed is by knowing Jesus: by being in an all-consuming, life-altering journey that comes from persistently hanging out with Jesus as his devotee. In fact, the Apostle John, the one who knew and loved Jesus as much as any human being ever, said this was, in itself, eternal life.

Acts 4:13 shows us the inevitable outcome of being in that kind of intimate, persistent, loving relationship: “When the Jewish council saw Peter and John’s courage and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”

Peter and John had simply “been with Jesus” until they looked and acted increasingly like him—they had assumed his mindset, absorbed his characteristics and expressed his behavior. They had hung out so closely in such an intense way with Jesus that they had absorbed him to the point of now exuding him without even thinking about it. They had not only been transformed through their relationship, they had been conformed to that relationship! They had been changed by Christ.  But changed into what?  Into “little Christs”!

That is what you and I were created to experience: A relationship with Jesus whereby his life gets transmitted to us, and through us, so that we begin to transmit the infectious DNA of Jesus Christ.

You may not have a religious pedigree or be well-versed in theology. You may not be naturally winsome, or articulate, or even all that likeable. Your “cool factor” may be pretty much non-existent. Maybe you lack more than you have. That doesn’t matter! What you do have trumps all you don’t have: You have every possibility that Peter and John had to “be with Jesus”.

That is the greatest goal you can have—that at the end of the day, the only thing people can do with you is to take note that you have been with Jesus. They may not like you or be impressed with you and they may wish you would just go away. But when it is all said and done, all they can do with you is to admit, “obviously, you have been hanging with Jesus!”

Make that your goal today. And then start hanging with Jesus. Pure and simple—that is eternal life!

You were made for that! The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8:29, “From the beginning God decided that those who came to Him should become like His Son.” That is God’s inexorable plan: to make you like Jesus! He is orchestrating everything in your life right now for that purpose—circumstances, disappointments, temptations, opportunities, blessings. At this very moment, God is leveraging heaven’s resources to conform your character to Christ’s. That ought to give you confidence. As A.W. Tozer noted, “When I understand that everything happening to me is to make me more Christlike, it resolves a great deal of anxiety.”

So your journey into Christlikeness is not all up to you! God is rearranging heaven and moving earth to give you opportunity to be with Jesus—and to become like Jesus.

Yet divine transformation needs human collaboration. In a way, being with Jesus is on you! It is not just a mindset or a good intention. It is an intentional posture. As much as anything, to get intentional with your growth toward Christlikeness will require of you the daily practice of being with Jesus.

Divine transformation requires human collaboration!

I would simply suggest that each day—and throughout the day—you literally invite Jesus to join you in what is in front of you. Literally ask Jesus, “How would you handle this situation? What do you think about this opportunity? What should I do about this challenge? How would you respond to this person?” Just practice being with Jesus in the ordinary moments of your daily life.

To get practical with this, think about it this way: If you were to literally spend time with Jesus, what three attributes, attitudes and or actions would you witness in him?

For me, when I think of what Jesus would be doing in any of his ordinary days, one, he would be unbendingly truthful yet incredibly gracious with people; two, he would serve people—especially those we would consider the least worthy of his service; and three, even when he was treated unfairly, he would never retaliate; he would only offer love and grace in return.

Gracious, serving, forgiving—there are thousands of descriptives I could come up with—you too. So take a moment and write down the first three qualities of Jesus that come to your mind. Then your assignment this week will be to intentionally hang out with Jesus, consciously and consistently doing those three things you believe Jesus would do. Give that your best shot, and most likely, you will look a little more like Christ by this time next week!

And maybe people will take note that you have been with Jesus.

“‘Putting on Christ’…is not one among many jobs a Christian has to do; and it is not a sort of special exercise for the top class. It is the whole of Christianity. Christianity offers nothing else at all.” (C.S. Lewis)

Getting To Know Jesus: There are some spiritual disciplines that are obvious and essential to being with and becoming like Jesus: Consistent quiet times, Bible reading, Scripture memory, prayer, church attend-ance. I can’t encourage you enough to commit to those spiritual routines! One of the things I will be doing in 2015—and I would like to invite you to join me—is to read through the writings of the Apostle John, the one who knew and loved Jesus as much as anyone. So start with me on January 1 in the Gospel of John, and let the journey toward Christlikeness begin. Here is the link to the Bible reading plan I will be using. Enjoy the journey!