I woke up this morning with the answer to the question, “How did you emerge on the other side of temptation?” running through my mind and heart before I read that question on a blog post just now. Here’s the answer that I woke up with: “Tune in to the risen Jesus. Tune out self-focused desires.”
Tuning in to Jesus and out from self-desire isn’t an easy thing to do. It’s not a once and done deal. Instead, it’s a lifestyle that we learn by seeking to do it throughout the day, every day, all day long. A medieval European monk (known as Brother Lawrence) called it “Practicing the presence of God.”
When temptations and distractions are interfering with our communication with the living Jesus and our hope has fled leaving our heart feeling like led, we mustn’t give up on the resurrected One who has complete victory over the devil and his demons. We need to earnestly pursue Christ’s presence more than ever by living a consistent 2 Chronicles 7:14 lifestyle.
I had another thought this morning before I got out of bed: “Any day not spent openheartedly interacting with the resurrected Jesus is off track.” Every time we drift off or feel pulled away by temptation, let’s quickly get back on track and humbly interact with the resurrected Jesus!
The Bible clearly shows that Jesus loves people and that He wants us to be free from demons that deceive, manipulate, and torment us. True Christianity isn’t theoretical. It’s about daily experiencing and living with genuine freedom from the control, guilt, and torment of sin.
It’s a great loss to celebrate Jesus as history and yet be unaware of and/or unsubmitted to His actual daily presence and Lordship. Religion prefers to follow a program instead of following the actual presence and power of the living, resurrected Jesus Christ. If Jesus is really risen from the dead, then Christians should act like He is by letting Him be the genuine Leader and Lord both in church services and in daily life!
If attending church isn’t empowering you to align your daily lifestyle with the resurrected Jesus, it’s not working for you. Try connecting your heart directly to the living Jesus.
An observation: Church is often . . .
More programmed than empowering,
More ceremonial than life-changing,
More tradition than transformation,
More ritualized than revitalizing,
More show than Spirit-led,
More hype than holiness.
I want more
Of the risen
Jesus!
Free Gas For Your Think Tank (A blog to jog your mind and unclog your heart . . .) 
“My King is full of mercy and goodness. Far from chastising me, He embraces me with love. He makes me eat at His table. He serves me with His own hands and gives me the key to His treasures. He converses and delights Himself with me incessantly, in a thousand and a thousand ways. And He treats me in all respects as His favorite. In this way I consider myself continually in His holy presence.” — Brother Lawrence
Brother Lawrence was a humble man who wanted to follow and obey Jesus with all His heart and to spend all of His time in the presence of His king!